Browning Auto-5

History

One of American gunsmith John Moses Browning's most famous designs (and one of the most popular shotguns of all time) was the Browning "Auto-5". The Auto-5 became the world's first truly successful semi-automatic shotgun and gained worldwide popularity. Gun production spans the globefrom Europe to the U.S. and finally Japanand spans nearly 100 years of uninterrupted manufacturing.

During World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, the weapon featured prominently in operations, allowing it to fully utilize its lethality at close range.

Design work on the Auto-5 began in 1898, and the following year Browning patented its "self-reloading" design. This action (called "long recoil") depends on the temporarily attached bolt and barrel bouncing back at the same time to help re-cock the hammer for subsequent shots. In this action, all spent cartridges are ejected as the barrel is returned forward without the bolt. When the bolt finally moved to its original position, a new shell was inserted from the waiting tubular magazine - and the gun was reloaded. This configuration now allows the gunner to fire all shells in the magazine within seconds.

A key feature of this semi-automatic loader is its independence from the manually operated pump-slide mechanism.

Browning, who previously worked for the Winchester Repeating Arms company, brought his new designs to the company on new terms. After a deal with Winchester failed, Browning took his job to rival Remington Arms.

However, with the death of the company's president, fate intervened at this point, forcing Browning to look elsewhere at the same time. He found a buyer in the Belgian group Fabrique National (FN) and increased production in 1902.

In 1905, Browning finalized an agreement for Remington production in the United States, which was sold under the Remington Model 11 product label.

FN production spanned from 1903 to 1939, spanning World War I and the beginning of World War II. As the German invasion of Europe loomed, Auto-5 production ceased in Europe and was transferred to the United States via Remington Arms, where both the Auto-5 and their Model 11 were produced. Remington produced Auto-5 guns from 1940 to 1946. Savage Arms also produced the Auto-5 from 1930 to 1949, offering these under the 720 and 745 names. With the end of the war in 1945 and the dust finally settling in Europe, FN resumed production of the Auto-5 in 1952, which continued until 1976.

In 1975, B.C. Miroku of Japan took over production of the Auto-5 under license and ended production in 1999 when it completed its final form. The last of the original Auto-5 shotguns were delivered in 2000.

The Auto-5 served long, healthy service in the U.S. Army, culminating in the Vietnam War.

In total, more than 2.7 million Browning Auto-5 shotguns have been produced worldwide, and are used by many soldiers, security personnel, law enforcement officers, sports shooters for their basic firepower, inherent reliability and durability on the battlefield and the first choice for casual shooters.

The official name of the Auto-5 is "Browning Automatic 5". Browning himself admired this particular design as one of his best achievements in the field of firearms. Auto-5s are also known as "humpback whales" due to the special design of the receiver.

In 2012, Browning released a new, revised Auto-5 line with simpler movements incorporating a "short recoil" (inertia type) system to continue the well-known Auto-5 tradition. According to Browning, the modified form was so different from the original that parts were not interchangeable between the old Auto-5 and the new Auto-5.

The revision was required due to the high production costs associated with the original Auto-5.

Browning Auto-5 Specification

ROLES

STRUCTURAL

PERFORMANCE

VARIANTS