Browning A5 and clones

[MCVetSteve]

I just got a screamin deal on what appears to be an Auto-5 clone made by a company from Japan called “Yamamoto Firearms mfg co.” It’s marked “Pointer” on the left side of the receiver. From what I could find the company in question made these from about 1963-1972. It’s a 12ga with a 2 3/4” chamber and a 28” vent rib barrel. Brought it home, checked out how to make it run, did a quick function check, and then ran some #8 target loads through it. It didn’t cycle. I had to run the action manually for all 7 of those rounds. Brought it back to the house to field strip, clean, and lube it to see if perhaps it being dry was the reason it wasn’t running. My other hypothesis was that it was the “xtra-lite” Winchester target loads, unfortunately the only 12ga I had. Anyway, field stripped it, busted a little surface rust off, sprayed some goo gone into the action before relubricating and reassembling. Good thing it turned out to not be difficult, because I forgot to take pictures. Got it all back together, performed another function check to ensure I reassembled it correctly, and stuffed some shells in it. This time the wife decided to come and shoot it too, she went first. It ran all 5 rounds beautifully, and patterned where it seems like it should? I don’t know enough about shotguns, honestly. Anyway, just thought I’d share a happy story

 

[THE JOKER]

https://www.bevfitchett.us/browning...ge/friction-ring-setting-for-light-toads.html

 

[Shadowrider]

The Brownings are setup to run at least 1 1/8 oz loads. Below that and they can short cycle. Usually a 1 1/8 will run at a lighter dram weight as long as your friction rings are set right, mostly anyway.

 

[Aries]

Maybe your wife is just better than you?

 

[MCVetSteve]

Maybe your wife is just better than you?

Well I am both a marine AND left handed so you may be right.

 

[MCVetSteve]

After the wife shot it and it ran perfectly, I put 3 more shells in it and it failed to eject the 1st one just like before.... so I had to think, what is it she could be doing that I must not be? Turns out I wasn’t pulling it into my shoulder enough, it probably didn’t hurt that I cleaned and lubed it too.

 

[jakeman]

After the wife shot it and it ran perfectly, I put 3 more shells in it and it failed to eject the 1st one just like before.... so I had to think, what is it she could be doing that I must not be? Turns out I wasn’t pulling it into my shoulder enough, it probably didn’t hurt that I cleaned and lubed it too.

Check the friction ring. Before you do anything else check the friction ring.

I don't know about the 1 1/8 oz loads. I've shot probably thousands and thousands of 7/8 & 1 oz loads thru A-5's and if the ring was right they ran like a singer sewing machine.

Check the friction ring.

 

[Cat City Slim]

Auto 5s and their clones don't like light loads. Anything under 1 oz loads don't produce enough energy to fully cycle the barrel against the recoil spring. Your pointer is a nice shotgun, by the way. They are pretty good quality. Be aware that most of the parts won't interchange with Auto 5s.

 

[jakeman]

Auto 5s and their clones don't like light loads. Anything under 1 oz loads don't produce enough energy to fully cycle the barrel against the recoil spring. Your pointer is a nice shotgun, by the way. They are pretty good quality. Be aware that most of the parts won't interchange with Auto 5s.

That's just not true, at least about the Brownings. I've never shot a clone and have no desire to shoot one.

I own close to a dozen A-5's. I've shot thousands and thousands of 7/8 oz loads in my A-5's.

If the friction piece and ring are positioned correctly they will properly cycle very light loads.

I can't tell you how many A-5's I've "fixed" for people that couldn't get them to cycle. I've never picked up an otherwise properly functioning A-5 that wasn't cycling that had the friction pieces positioned correctly. Not once. I've seen older used guns that didn't have them, but that generally presents as a different problem entirely.

Could you intentionally load a shell so anemic that it wouldn't cycle the bolt, probably, but I've never seen a commercially available load that an A-5 wouldn't eject if it was put together correctly.

https://www.google.com/search?q=bro...yAhXJaM0KHXd0ADUQ9QF6BAgQEAE&biw=1745&bih=881

 

[MCVetSteve]

Check the friction ring. Before you do anything else check the friction ring.

I don't know about the 1 1/8 oz loads. I've shot probably thousands and thousands of 7/8 & 1 oz loads thru A-5's and if the ring was right they ran like a singer sewing machine.

Check the friction ring.

The friction ring is the brass ring that has another little steel ring around it? That was in front of the recoil spring when I took it apart, so I put it back there. The magazine tube had a little bit of corrosion on it that I scrubbed off, the brass ring had some other corrosion that I scrubbed off, the spring had some corrosion as well, all scrubbed off easily and smooth and lightly oiled before it went back together. I didn’t realize the brass ring was a friction surface. Again, after I realized what “recoil operated” implied, and realized that I was doing essentially the same thing as “limp wristing” for a semi auto handgun, it ran the next two shells just fine. Further, I remembered that the first time my wife ever shot a shoulder fired weapon as an adult was the AR that I bought her and while under my not so expert tutelage. It hurt her collarbone and I told her to pull the buttstock into her shoulder pocket, so I realized she must have been doing that more than I was.