doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Question about OLD shotgun- but semiauto

Hello,

I am familiar with the Browning Auto-5 shotgun and have one made by FN in 1948.

I also just stumbled into a deal I couldn't pass up on a Savage 720, the Savage licensed copy of the Remington model 11 licensed copy of the Browning Auto-5, as I understand it.

I know which parts are interchangeable- that isn't my question.

My question is: would you think the steel quality in the Savage 720 barrel was better/same/or worse than the steel quality in the Remington model 11? The Savage was from around 1938.

And I also was wondering if you think those barrels are good to go for threading and installing steel-shot compatible removable chokes, in the extended choke designs, so the constriction in the choke is more outside of the barrel?


I am in California where lead shot is disappearing, and illegal for hunting purposes.

I am debating what to do to make this shotgun last the longest time: go with threaded chokes and extended tubes or open choke up to light modified and keep steel under 1350fps and #6 shot or smaller.

What are your thoughts?

Does the FN have a 2 3/4” chamber? If it is 2 1/2” I for sure wouldn’t bother with the notion of putting choke tubes in that one. The proof marks on the FN barrel will be 65 for the short chamber, and 70 for the 2 3/4” version.

Actually, I wouldn’t bother with tubes in either gun. Just open the chokes and use them for steel when you have to. Choke tubes are kind of a nuisance, my guns that have them always seem to end up with an IC or MOD, and get left that way.

Some of the Brownings had pretty thin steel in the barrel, out in the choke end. Bulged barrels in Browning A5s was a thing before steel shot came along. A choke job, with multiple tubes might be worth more than either gun, at this point.

Best,
Ted

The Savage 720 was made c. 1930 - 1949
Savage/Stevens doubles, pumps and SAs were advertised as having some variant of 'High Pressure Compression Formed Steel Proof Tested' (sometimes 'With Nitro Powder')
The 620 in the 50s was listed as 'Special Alloy Gun Barrel Steel Proof Tested'
It is probably safe to assume that the barrels of the 720 were not then 4140.
No one is going to recommend steel for pre-WWII A5s, M11s or 720s, but steel loads today do have thick plastic shot cups to protect the barrels. Using open chokes is of course critical.
There is another concern about the non-compressible steel shot causing microfractures in the shorter forcing cones of that era, and it is my (and certainly other will disagree) opinion that lengthening the forcing cones is a reasonable idea when forced to used steel shot.
IMHO dealing with the frustrating reality of steel shot mandates is worth using these neat old guns.

Practice with lead.
Waterfowl with bismuth.

Money wise, you’ll never shoot enough bismuth to warrant all the barrel and choke work on a $300.00 shotgun to shoot steel.


Oh, and I have a REM m-11 12 ga and a Savage Arms “Montgomery Wards Ranger 16ga”, both with polychokes.

That was the hot economical setup around here after WWll. If you had money you could spring for the Browning w/ the mag cutoff.

These are very durable and plentiful shotguns.
$300-450 around here depending on condition.

The OP is in Kalifornia where several gun clubs have mandated steel only target loads, and legislation has already been introduced to outlaw lead shot target loads statewide.
And BTW California residents cannot bring ammunition purchased out-of-state back into California.

He could move to Arizona

I missed that possibility.

One “could” buy an old barrel and have it machined to modern specs, saving the original.
Some shops have racks of old barrels just hanging there for years. Might just find one.

I believe Brian Meckler did that Many years back on another site.
But you end up way into an old gun.

When you see the same 50+ 1940’s auto loaders Standing in line on the rack, untouched for years,
You conclude you are better off to put $400.00 into a Turkish auto when they go on sale.

I might put 10 rounds a year through my 16, if that.

It’s just another symptom of time passing.

I'm a diehard dove and duck shooter/hunter. I haven't shot them with anything other than a double gun (or a single shot) in so many years that I can't remember the last time. I can still shoot lead at doves and quail. And, I gladly pay the price of bismuth, and reload bismuth for some guns, in order to be able to use my beloved vintage doubles for ducks.

I could save a little money and go back to using steel in the old Beretta 390, but sometimes the juice just ain't worth the squeeze.

A second barrel for that FN might cost as much as another FN. Browning barrels to fit A5s are not cheap anymore.

Brian ordered and bought one of the nicest Bruchet Darne 16 gauge guns I ever had the pleasure of handling. It was a svelte looker.

Hope he is well.

Best,
Ted