Military browning auto-5
I bought an a-5 with a straight grip stock. the stock has a rack number and the springfield armory crossed cannons, there are no military markings on the receiver and the original barrel is missing.
there is no inspectors mark either.
I was first told that the gun was likely used for recreational purposes and would have been available at a military base shooting or hunting club for active duty members to check out. That seemed to make sense to me and I accepted the possibility, no big deal.
I talked to another gunsmith and explained the gun to him. he said in unequivical terms, "right at the beginning of WWII our government bought every gun they could get their hands on to support the war effort"
this gun was made in 1939 so the time frame works (sort of) but I need someone who knows for sure to confirm it or point out a websight where I could find the answer.
thanks for your help[8D]
there is no inspectors mark either.
I was first told that the gun was likely used for recreational purposes and would have been available at a military base shooting or hunting club for active duty members to check out. That seemed to make sense to me and I accepted the possibility, no big deal.
I talked to another gunsmith and explained the gun to him. he said in unequivical terms, "right at the beginning of WWII our government bought every gun they could get their hands on to support the war effort"
this gun was made in 1939 so the time frame works (sort of) but I need someone who knows for sure to confirm it or point out a websight where I could find the answer.
thanks for your help[8D]
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Hello Scott,
To the very best of my knowledge, the US Government did not buy a single Belgian made shotgun for the war effort... they did buy a bunch of guns from Winchester, Ithaca, Remington, and Savage though.0 -
With the straight stock it sound like one of the old Browning Messenger guns. Many thousands of these were made, but most were actually produced by Remington under a license from Browning. The vast majority of WWII semi automatic shotgun purchased by the US military were Remington Model 11s. These were bought for training purposes but there is PLENTY of photo documentation that shows the Model 11 in the hands of US Marines in the south and central Pacific.
Exactly how the Corps got it's hands on them is rather mysterous [8D].0 -
quote:Originally posted by tommyjoe
Excuse my ignorance. What is a Browning messenger gun?
Tom
I am sorry!
The Browning Messenger Gun was designed to be a sort of semi auto "coach gun". This was a very basic stripped down automatic with a straight stock, plain forend--no checkering but having very deep grasping grooves and a 20" plain barrel. The magazine capacity was 4 shells plus one in the chamber. It was soon discovered that FN could not produce a really cheap version of the Browning shotgun and even with all of the fancy features eliminated the Messenger Gun cost a lot of money. The end result was that Remington began producing the guns under a Browning license and at a much lower cost.0 -
I wonder if this is a remington model 11 stock someone just put on this gun as a replacement. the straight grip stocks are kind of hard to come by so they may have just put this one on to fill the need without worrying about the originality. I guess I could take it off and see if the serial number matches the gun.... 0 -
If I remember right the A5 has 2 extractors & the M11 has 1. May help tell what it is. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by tommyjoe
This perks my interest. I recently got 2 Remington straight trigger guards. Found some info here on Ask The Experts. Seems that Rem. UMC produced some straight gripped mod 11 trap guns. I'm partial to Rem 11's
Tom
the receiver on the remington is definatly different, barrel won't interchange. not even sure if the butt stock would swap.
by the way, I was looking for a straight grip stock and I put an ad the wanted forum0
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