Hi All,
Yesterday I finally picked up the Auto Five from the gunshop. due to the stupidity of our laws it was classed as a firearm with all the same restrictions as it held more than two cartridges in the magazine, however it's now been converted so the magazine can only hold two cartridges and so now is a Section 2 shotgun and is on my shotgun certificate. The gun was made in 1954 and has a 24 1/2" barrel or maybe it's a 25" barrel but it's shorter than I recall when I agreed to buy it. Quite nice wood and the classic rounded "Prince of Wales" pistol grip and the fancy engraved horn butt plate which has "Browning Automatic" embossed on it. Now the bad bits ................... some previous owner has not maintanined it very well and both sides of the action show slight rust pitting and the barrel has some light pitting inside. In time consideration will be given to restoration of the finish....................... careful consideration that is.
Ths good thing is that I ahve always wanted an auto five but never managed to acquire one as those I cam across were always just out of my price range, however over the last few years they seem to ahve lost their value here and this one cost all of £70 ($140 US) the conversion cost £40 and I also acquired a new set of springs from a friend in the US which the smith fitted for me so now it's play time and I need to wander up the back field to try it out
. So total cost was £145 ($290 US) not bad for a classic A-5 
.
Yesterday I finally picked up the Auto Five from the gunshop. due to the stupidity of our laws it was classed as a firearm with all the same restrictions as it held more than two cartridges in the magazine, however it's now been converted so the magazine can only hold two cartridges and so now is a Section 2 shotgun and is on my shotgun certificate. The gun was made in 1954 and has a 24 1/2" barrel or maybe it's a 25" barrel but it's shorter than I recall when I agreed to buy it. Quite nice wood and the classic rounded "Prince of Wales" pistol grip and the fancy engraved horn butt plate which has "Browning Automatic" embossed on it. Now the bad bits ................... some previous owner has not maintanined it very well and both sides of the action show slight rust pitting and the barrel has some light pitting inside. In time consideration will be given to restoration of the finish....................... careful consideration that is.
Ths good thing is that I ahve always wanted an auto five but never managed to acquire one as those I cam across were always just out of my price range, however over the last few years they seem to ahve lost their value here and this one cost all of £70 ($140 US) the conversion cost £40 and I also acquired a new set of springs from a friend in the US which the smith fitted for me so now it's play time and I need to wander up the back field to try it out
. So total cost was £145 ($290 US) not bad for a classic A-5 .
