doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Not A Double But A Classic

Growing up here in MS most of the hunters had beat-up pumps, some had Rem. 1100�s (with a can of WD40 setting beside them in the dove field), and a few serious hunters had the Browning A5. I can�t remember any SxS, or O/U�s in the dove fields while growing up.

I had an uncle that loved guns. He was not wealthy, but he was able to buy five or six nice guns. One was a nice A5. My uncle would say �it was made in Belgium�. When he said it, he would have a gleam in his eye like the almighty himself made it.

I guess that A5 started the obsession with guns that I have today.

When I was a kid A5 ownership was for the fairly rich but Superposed ownership put you a step above that. Heck back then most hunters owned one shotgun and maybe one rifle if the shotgun did not do double or triple duty. When I got my Model 12/28ga I was the only person shooting a 28. Not in my family but I bet in a three county area. The Western Auto only ordered shells for me they did not stock them.

One man's heavy butt is another man's lively barrel.

I do agree though, balance is not their strong suit.

They did, however, sell pretty well for the times. Butler claims over 190k during their roughly 6 year run. That compares fairly well to the Remington 58 (which was a mess reliability wise) and the then still in production 11-48.

None of these were much of a threat to the A5.

Anything 'Winchester' was stupid expensive to produce and the gun was dropped more due to profit margin than sales. I can't imagine what a 'floating chamber' cost to machine.

My '50' is a custom job put together by a late friend. It was his idea of the perfect shotgun. It's a novel 'blast from the past'.

The older I get the more I appreciate the 'time machine' aspect of the shooting hobby. It even looks from the scuttlebutt on the web that I stand about an even chance to acquire a 'surplus' 1911 from the CMP project. That will be a fun one too.

Well Jones, after just getting off the telephone with customer service at Browning Arms Company, I can tell you where the advice to use 6 or so drops of 30 weight motor oil on the Browning A5 friction sleeve came from.....it came from John Moses Browning himself. I�m sure you would think of John Browning as an A5 expert, right?????? Also, the old A5 manuals actually have that recommendation in print. Anyway, I asked if Browning still would recommend usage of 30 weight oil for that purpose and the answer was yes. So, in the final analysis, I think maybe you should be less than tactless in the future when you chastise someone who you disagree with, especially when you don�t know all the facts. Owning 5 A5�s does not constitute being an expert. I only own 3 and certainly and am no expert v

I guess the advice isn�t so unsound since it came from the inventor, John Moses Browning

From correspondence JMB to Winchester circa 1900 cited in Browning/Genty:

"... the gun requires no oil at all, and if you should oil it, it is not necessary to fill it full."

The 'oil' of the time, and well into the 20th century was whale oil. Light petroleum oils such as are common today were not common in Browning's day.

SAE wasn't organized until 1904, and didn't define '30 weight motor oil' until 1911.

The design does not require 30 weight oil, and in fact 30 weight oil will likely lead to complete failure to cycle in cold weather.

Your quoted advice from Franchi is closer to correct.

As I stated, this is a friction system. Friction adjustments are provided. If any lubricant is used in the system (tallow, Rem oil, other lightweight lube of your choice) the primary property needed is temperature stability. It needs to not get significantly more viscous as temperature drops.

30 weight oil does meet that criteria.

Whatever. Frankly, I don�t care what you use on your A5 friction sleeve.....use dog poop if you want. Browning has recommended 30 weight oil in the past and that recommendation is written in their owners manual for the old A5 shotguns. You have an inflated opinion of yourself/your expertise, my friend. Wow.

Perhaps one of our members who collects such source material (old A5 manuals) will stop by and post the necessary reference.

The most recent A5 owners manual I find online under the part about cleaning says the tube should be 'lubricated lightly with an oiled patch'. They were not specific as to the lubricant.

They should have been.

'Oil' covers quite a bit of territory.

One could use 'navy black' and still be in compliance with their instructions. Dog poop would likely void the warranty.

Delivered with a new A5 standard 12 gauge, circa 1952:









I would expect that the oil Stan might use in an A5, in a dove field at 100 degrees, might be different than what I might use in a frozen cattail slew at -15. Circa 1952, there were fewer choices. If a guy were to use 30 weight oil, it is a far superior product, today, than what was available then.
The gun these instructions came with has a drop or two of either Rem Oil, or Breakfree CLP on it. The last few times it has been out was in conditions with extreme cold using rather high impulse pheasant loads of 1 1/4 oz. The gun worked just fine.

Best,
Ted

Thank-you Ted.

An owners manual that speaks common sense. 1952.

A modern day automotive oil of any viscosity grade is far superior than any oil available in 1952. The advances in lubrication technology have been enormous.

The one thing that hasn't changed much though is the actual viscosity of a given grade of oil.