Browning A5 12 Gauge
Model: 0118003004
Browning A5 12 Gauge
Model: 0118003004
Full Specifications
About This Firearm
The Browning A5 is a walnut-stocked semi-automatic 12 gauge built for upland and field hunting. It has an MSRP of $2,030. Browning's Kinematic Drive works the bolt off short recoil, and Browning rates it reliable with field loads down to one ounce with no adjustment, in a gun weighing 109.0 oz.
Three Invector-DS chokes in full, modified and improved cylinder come with a T-wrench, and the barrel is back-bored behind a lengthened Vector Pro forcing cone with a black nitrided chamber. The gloss walnut stock takes spacers and a shim kit, so length of pull, cast and drop all adjust. A fiber optic front sight sits on the rib and nothing sits at the rear. Browning no longer makes the A5 barrels cut for the longest magnum shell, so the longest steel waterfowl loads are out of reach on this gun.
If you're cross-shopping, the Benelli M2 weighs 108.8 oz, a fifth of an ounce under the A5, and runs a comparable inertia action, so the Browning's money goes into walnut and finish. It holds three rounds to this gun's four. The Beretta A300 Ultima has an MSRP of $899 with a gas action and no minimum load at all, and it carries 121.92 oz, 12.92 oz more than the Browning for the softer push.
Best For
Strengths & Limitations
- The receiver is polished black aluminum alloy, which keeps a 28-inch bird gun down to 49.63 inches overall without taking steel out of the barrel.
- The chamber is black nitrided, which is the surface a shell sits against in a gun stored loaded or left dirty overnight.
- Browning assembles the A5 in Portugal and warrants it through its own network, so service does not go through a third-party importer.
- At an MSRP of $2,030 the A5 is $531 above a Benelli M2 that weighs almost the same and runs a comparable action.
- Gloss walnut and polished steel want drying and oiling after wet weather, where a synthetic gun can be wiped down and put away.
- The magazine holds four rounds, which is the field standard and no help in a state that lets you load more for non-migratory birds.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is this the same gun as the original Auto-5?
No. The two share a name and the humpback receiver outline. The current A5 is short recoil operated, which the long-recoil original was not.
How light a load will it run?
Browning states reliable performance down to one-ounce field loads with no adjustment, which is a lower floor than the three-dram minimums the inertia guns in this class name.
Can a red dot or a scope be mounted for slugs?
Not from the factory. The receiver is not cut or drilled for an optic, so a slug setup means a clamp-on mount that uses the existing hardware.
What does the back-boring do?
Browning opens the bore behind the lengthened forcing cone, which it credits with steadier patterns across shot sizes, and the Invector-DS threads take steel-rated tubes.
