Which A5?

M

Mgorv

New member
I need a little help with this life altering decision. I had my heart set on a Citori 725, but after shouldering a new A5 I am sold on the way it throws up and fits me, and I really like autoloaders. Here's the deal. My neighbor to the east has a mint Belgium made A5, 60s vintage I think, 28 in, 12 gauge with a modified fixed barrel that he will sell me for 800 bucks. I don't think it's the light 12. I can buy the new A5 version with a composite stock from Bud's for 1163. Do I spend the extra money to get the chokes, the different action, and the new trigger, or do I buy the older one? The older one is in like new condition. I'm shooting an M2 now, and I think the action on the new A5s is similar. It would be nice to have two guns to shoot. What do you guys think?
 
I guess it depends on what you are going to use it for, upland or waterfowl hunting. If you are going to use it for strictly upland hunting, I would get the Belgium made A-5, but that's me.
 
which A5

I am strictly a pheasant hunter. I have enough trouble hitting those, so I'm gonna let the ducks alone.
 
As 870-Lefty said, a lot depends on how you intend to use it. But also bear in mind that the Belgium A5 weighs almost a pound more than the new A5. The older A5 12 gauges are quite heavy and a load to tote in the upland field all day. With the new A5 you also pick up the versatility of interchangeable chokes.
These facts plus your statement of really liking how the new A5 comes up and fits you, I think the answer is to buy the new A5.

All this is coming from a guy that just loves his 1960 Belgium Sweet Sixteen and didn't particularly care for the feel of the new A5 when I first picked one up.
 
I agree with Zeb, go with the new A-5, with the move more and more to non toxic shot restrictions. You would find yourself limited to shooting very high priced ammo in the old Auto-5.
 
Dakotazeb said:
As 870-Lefty said, a lot depends on how you intend to use it. But also bear in mind that the Belgium A5 weighs almost a pound more than the new A5. The older A5 12 gauges are quite heavy and a load to tote in the upland field all day. With the new A5 you also pick up the versatility of interchangeable chokes.
These facts plus your statement of really liking how the new A5 comes up and fits you, I think the answer is to buy the new A5.

All this is coming from a guy that just loves his 1960 Belgium Sweet Sixteen and didn't particularly care for the feel of the new A5 when I first picked one up.
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Dakotazeb, I am with you on what you say. I like the light weight of the new gun. Just for laughs I carried a 3.5 BPS Browing pheasant hunting all day the year before last just to see if I got tied by the end of the day. YES, my arms were killing me! (But, I had fun and shot good with it.)
 
I've been shooting a 1941 A5 for 50! years and it gets heavier each year, but it still works great.

The wood on some of the older guns get brittle, especially the forend. I have replaced mine a few years ago. Not sure what new features the new A5 has; Browning claims less recoil and easier loading.

I would go for the new gun...
 
Thanks for the advice

Ok I'm going to go with the new A5. I might even buy a wood gun for a change. I have a 26 inch barrel on my M2 and I'm tempted to order the 28 inch on the A5. Any thoughts on that? Sometimes I think I swing through too fast with the 26 and shoot in front of the birds. I'm hoping the humpback on the A5 helps me get my head on the sight plane better because even though I shoot quite a bit, I am really pretty inconsistent, especially after I've walked four or five miles. I've read that people tend to shoot their A5s pretty well, and I hope it's the same for me. Thanks for the help.
 
The 28" barrel may add some weight? Not sure...

As to swing through: most shooters aren't moving through the bird and are behind most of the time. I see very few (if any) head shots on pheasants.

I bought a 26" barrel a long time ago - for grouse, and never used the 28" again. The 26" shoulders faster for me, althouigh most of my shots are from the hip...
 
hip shooting

shooting from the hip, hell, that's all i have done since i started posting, besides, being in the west, isn't that what they all did, ya can just do it better with a side by side, 14 ga. or otherwise

cheers
 
ou

ya the 725 is nice, almost twice the price though. You start hiding cash around the house for guns and the wife finds it, then you got some explaining to do.
 
I'm a long time A-5 shooter; Light 12 and Sweet 16. My 1961 Light 12 is the first gun I ever bought and have seriously considered being buried with it. That sort of places me in this arguement. I don't think the new A-5 is even a hollow replacement for the all steel original. BUT, if I were buying something today, I'd go with the new A-5 pretender. Its more adaptable to the changing shooting environment now and in the future. I have too much time and too many memories attached to the old A-5 to change now. But go with the newer gun and hope in 50 years you feel about it as I do my old reliables.
 
good advice

I'm sure that's the direction I'm headed, and will probably stick with the 26in barrel like I have on my M2. It probably doesn't make much sense to have two autoloaders, but I have to say that the A5 goes up and fits me better than the M2, but both are decent guns I think. I'm tempted to go composite now with the new A5 because the wood one has this ridiculous (imo) large white mid barrel bead on it that almost covers up the red one at the end of the barrel, and I just don't see a need for that. They also have a sling stud in the beautiful walnut grain stock that I think detracts from the gun. The composite stock has the stud, but no white bead, so I'll save a 100 bucks and go with plastic I think. I love the wood stocks on guns but it just drives me nuts when I start scratching them up. We hunted a farm in SD last year that had all kinds of holes, I'm assuming they were woodchucks, and I fell down numerous times. The plastic stock on my M2 didn't care a bit.
 
I replaced my wood (A5) forend with a composite that I found on the Internet, at a very reasonable price.

My guns get used, sometimes dropped, in and out of vehicles, hit with branches - they seem to take a beating and lose their furniture appearance after years of use.

If I were to buy the new A5, I would chose the composite stock.
 
carptom1 said:
I've hunted with the old guy johnny and his old guy buddy kirk. He's not kidding about shooting from the hip. Pretty damn good shot. Pretty damn serious hunter too.:)
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:thumbsup: Jon is somewhat handicapped by a bad shoulder and has a really different way of getting his gun up. It is almost like he's shooting from the hip. But like carptom said, he's a serious hunter and a good shot. Plus just a real nice guy. Hope to see Jon at the Pheasant Fest this weekend.
 
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