New Browning A5 in 16 ga.

Dakotazeb

Dakotazeb

Well-known member
I heard rumblings on another forum that Browning may very well be coming out next year with a 16 ga. based on the new A5. It would be tough for me to give up my 1960 Sweet Sixteen but I could be tempted. :)
 
I would need to "remodel" the gun so I can shoot...keep my 1942 A5 as a back-up - perhaps a collectors item!
 
"Give up your 1960..."; who are you kidding Zeb? Don't you mean add to your collection?
 
JMc said:
"Give up your 1960..."; who are you kidding Zeb? Don't you mean add to your collection?
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I have never been one to collect guns. If I don't use them they are gone. And now as I get older and know my hunting days are limited I will probably start thinning out what I do have. So if Browning would in fact come out with a new A5 16 ga. I would have a difficult decision to make. Every time I take my 1960 Sweet Sixteen out in the field I like it more. To replace it would take a lot but I would take a serious look at a new A5 Sweet Sixteen if they become available. The fact that it would probably be lighter weight and handle steel shot is what makes it attractive. But there is something about the solid steel of my '60 model that just feels and looks right.

SweetSixteen2.jpg
 
I understand as I've been through three Benelli's and a Beretta but keep coming back to my Sweet 16...
 
Beautiful guns, fellas! If I took a photo of my 12 - A5 you would choke: black plastic forend and stock, front post/handle and rear post so I can reach the safety and trigger. Ugly, but it works. Wood forend continued to crack, plastic seems to work best. 1942 vintage gun!

I think George has seen my configuration...

Would love to shoot a 16; the 12 pounds my shoulder with more than 1oz. However, I would need to remodel the gun.
 
Dakotazeb said:
I have never been one to collect guns. If I don't use them they are gone. And now as I get older and know my hunting days are limited I will probably start thinning out what I do have. So if Browning would in fact come out with a new A5 16 ga. I would have a difficult decision to make. Every time I take my 1960 Sweet Sixteen out in the field I like it more. To replace it would take a lot but I would take a serious look at a new A5 Sweet Sixteen if they become available. The fact that it would probably be lighter weight and handle steel shot is what makes it attractive. But there is something about the solid steel of my '60 model that just feels and looks right.

SweetSixteen2.jpg
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Do I need to make you an offer ?

Agree that the steel shot issue is a significant one, the softer no-lead alternatives are pricey.
 
BRITTMAN said:
Do I need to make you an offer ?

Agree that the steel shot issue is a significant one, the softer no-lead alternatives are pricey.
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Not yet. I still have 14+ boxes (10/box) of Kent TM. I don't hunt a lot of land requiring non-tox so those should last me several years. And contrary to most experts I still don't think it would hurt my Sweet Sixteen with IC choke if I shot a limited number of #4 steel through it each year. But I'll use the TM first
 
I don't think a new one would be an upgrade. It probably wouldn't have the mag cutoff, would be lawyered up for idiots, and probably wouldn't be "sweet", it would just be a wimpy 12 just, trying to sell it to us 16 ga fanatics.

My sweet sixteen is beat to hell and back, bought it used and it was rough then. I look ke not worrying about looks, may go plastic myself.
 
Dakotazeb said:
Not yet. I still have 14+ boxes (10/box) of Kent TM. I don't hunt a lot of land requiring non-tox so those should last me several years. And contrary to most experts I still don't think it would hurt my Sweet Sixteen with IC choke if I shot a limited number of #4 steel through it each year. But I'll use the TM first
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I had the choke opened to a LM in my '54 Sweet 16, been shooting #4 steel reloads through it for many years. I like that gun more and more every year.
 
jarbo03 said:
I had the choke opened to a LM in my '54 Sweet 16, been shooting #4 steel reloads through it for many years. I like that gun more and more every year.
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I'm assuming you have seen no ill effects on the Sweet's barrel from shooting #4 steel?
 
Have seen no signs of anything. I have occasionally used #2 for geese, but mostly use nothing larger than #4 with steel. Seeing how many different birds I can check off the list with the 16, up next is turkey.









 
It would be interesting to see if they bring it out. I have a couple buddies that got the new 12 gauge A5 when they came out and they weren't really impressed. They sure don't make them like the used to. I'll stick with my old model 24.
 
Walker said:
I have a couple buddies that got the new 12 gauge A5 when they came out and they weren't really impressed.
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If they made the new "A5" as a gas-operated gun with the retractile barrel like the old A5 I would have bought one the day it came out.

If you ask me, they shot themselves in the foot with the new A5. (sorry, couldn't help that one:D)


Nick
 
A 20ga version will come long before a 16ga and that hasn't happened yet. Ah but one can dream.

I have fired one 16ga shell this year so far. It sucks being sick...
 
As to ill effects of steel in the older, softer barrels -- this interests me, also. When I've got to shoot non-tox from an older Superposed or Auto 5, I try to always shoot Tungsten-matrix, but it's gotten so expensive as to be almost prohibitive, at the same time the performance of steel shot continues to improve.

I've been told -- but I don't know if it's true -- that modern steel shell are far safer for some older barrels than the early steel, largely because the shot cups hold the shot all the way out the barrel, so that there's little (if any) contact between the shot and the barrel. The cups are better designed to open and disperse the shot after barrel exit, which is part of the reason so many duck hunters use true improved or even skeet chokes for decoying ducks. I know that I do, and I'm still surprised to see a tight pattern out on the water when I finish off a wounded duck.

Still, I'm not sure enough of all this information to trust shooting steel shot out of my old Brownings, and would love to hear from someone who's a real authority on the issue. I guess your experience with number 4 steel in your Sweet Sixteen may be a pretty good indicator that the risk is low.
 
I've read again on some different forums and on the internet that Browning is in deed going to offer the new A5 in a 16 ga. in 2016. Someone said they saw a 2016 Browning catalog at a gun dealer and it listed the new A5 in 16 ga. I looked on Browning's web site and they don't have the 2016 catalog out there yet. Anyone else been seeing any news on this?
 
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