Should I buy a Belgian 12 gauge light A5 for $450? Should I chop it to 18.5”
- Thread starter heronblue7
- Start date
Yes and no. No choppy! If it’s in pretty good shape it’s worth way more than the 450
I’ve been looking for a mossberg 590 for a week and all the gun shops are sold out around here. The A5 is the only suitable home defense 12 I can find for 25 miles.
Buy it, don't chop it... 590's will be back soon enough.
Get an old barrel off fleaBay and chop that.
Get an old barrel off fleaBay and chop that.
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I bought one a few years back 1930's If I recall from the serial number. It was already chopped. It's my house gun. I found a long bbl for it and used for some water fowling before the lead ban. Cool gun! It had a sling stud installed on the magazine cap. I suggest you buy it. Find a junker barrel and chop that one.
Good Luck!
Good Luck!
Don’t chop it. Get a barrel offline and chop that. That way you still have the original gun.
I am sure there are places to get
But, here you go...
Briley MFG - Briley Browning Shotgun Magazine Extension 12 Gauge (BPS 3", 3.5" Chamber, Vintage A5)
Briley Browning Shotgun Magazine Extension 12 Gauge (BPS 3", 3.5" Chamber, Vintage A5)
Two cool things: 1) the stock is the Prince of Wales stock and it's got the old-school safety! Nice find.
How about a Gen 2 G17? The glock will actually function with +P defensive ammo!
The A5 will run 2 3/4” buck. Pretty sure that’s adequate. Hopefully it’s still there today.
Your pain and misery, and willingness to share it, helped me fix one friends' three Wilson 38supers oh so easily, in an afternoon, with Wilson parts he forgot he had, when he bought them years ago, rather than go through shipping them back in the middle of covidcrazy.
I thank you !
Meant no pain Brother, was a playful jab, although I would happily add your A5 to my A5 Family. I have a chopped one that once made a Motivational topic pic riding in a Kawasaki mule. Geno recognized it right off and called me on it.
@heronX
My 18" chop is my hog trap cleaner. It kills very well with 4 and 5 shot.
Because it has no choke, it sucks real bad at the trap past 15 feet with all the buck shot brands I have tried.
My last personal chops had internal chokes added, and improved cylinder works great with any buckshot I have used at the trap.
Chopping a barrel to no choke can have bad results when you need a specific shot pattern to stay alive. None of my chops were satisfactory until I added the chokes.
I have a Remington V3Tac13 that reinforced that lesson on choke and 10feet performance.
Rgr, and in say 8 of 10, they do. I am having that 2 of 10 detail.
Primary load right now is the federal LE low recoil load. For the low recoil and speed of follow up shots.
Experimented with the V3 and 18chop, vs the choked units, and learned the distance/pattern acceptable level for me and ran with it.
As I have a reliable source of said feed material, that played a big part in my decision making.
Thanks and VR
Noice!
Are all barrels interchangeable with 12 gauge A5’s?
Can I put a 3” chambered barrel on a light 12 A5?
I’m looking at barrels and it seems it’s gonna be expensive to get a second barrel.
I might be able to save $100-$150 by swapping it out for a Japanese barrel, but it would require multiple transactions and time.
Maybe i’ll just plan to buy an extra barrel for bird season next winter.
NO! you cannot put a 3" mag barrel on a light 12.
Japanese light 12 barrels will interchange on a Belgian light 12.
No worries! I knew you were just messing with me! I'm glad you were able to fix a fellow Wilson 1911 cult members weapon for them. I have been shooting my Wilson with the Wilson loaded HAP stuff. Shoots good with it and is functioning fine. I carry it in the front pocket of my overalls every day. Its really getting some good wear marks on it. If I have to go to the big city I carry a HK USP loaded with that "hot" Winchester ammo.
Sorry I'm not sure about the interchangeability of the barrels. The waterfowl barrel I bought was from a guy who was an A5 fanatic and he set me up. I'd stick with 2 3/4 inch 00 or #4 buck loads. For as close as its going to be used for it will be fine IMHO.
I would use those for home defense mostly inside 20 yards. 50 yards max
For anything beyond 50 I wold just use an AR
Be advised, a Light 12 A5 does not stand up well to a sustained diet of heavy loads. Mine is retired because of that. After years of high base heavy # 2 and # 4 loads it developed a bulge on the rear top of the receiver. The gas recoil system is not strong enough for the heavier recoil pulse of high velocity shells and over time will ruin the receiver and internals.
It's called a Light not because of the weight, it's Light because it's designed for light upland game loads, not heavy waterfowl or buckshot loads.
That's a great price, buy it and find something else for buckshot. A cheap 870 is perfect, lots of after market barrels.
It's called a Light not because of the weight, it's Light because it's designed for light upland game loads, not heavy waterfowl or buckshot loads.
That's a great price, buy it and find something else for buckshot. A cheap 870 is perfect, lots of after market barrels.
Cheap defensive shotgun. Beretta 1201fp. Bought some police trade-ins a few years back for, I believe, a little over $300/ea. It's a Beretta, but the action is like a Benelli. 20" cyl w/ rifle sights.
Pro: Cheap semi-auto. In my limited exp, 100% reliable even w/ cheap birdshot.
Cons: No support, factory or aftermarket. Heavy recoil; comparable to a similar sized 870.
Worth checking them out.
Pro: Cheap semi-auto. In my limited exp, 100% reliable even w/ cheap birdshot.
Cons: No support, factory or aftermarket. Heavy recoil; comparable to a similar sized 870.
Worth checking them out.
How many thousand of rounds are you talking here? I've never heard of the receiver bulging. As long as that recoil spring is in good shape and the friction rings are set appropriately I don't believe there is anything in the manual saying you cannot shoot "high brass " shells. Just curious as I've never read this before and I peruse/lurk on shotgunworld quite a bit. Granted, 2 3/4 are a little bit hotter than they used to be.
The bulging is known, recorded, and stated by Browning to be caused by improper friction ring settings, worn recoil spring, and the accompanying forend wear that let's the barrel tang go far enough back to cause hump battering.
Their recommendation was replacing the spring and ring at x rounds (dont remember the exact #), use the correct lubricant to reduce barrel velocity, and replace the battered forearm as needed.
Further warned of over lube soaking and softening the inner forend "stop" area that created greater crush, enhancing the added rearward travel leading to hump battering.
The tolerance is close enough, that one loose lead pellet behind the bolt can create a batter hump on a correctly fitted gun.
I own one of those pellet humped shotguns because the store couldnt sell it to anybody in good faith, yet browning replaced the spring, ring, and forearm, and declared it serviceable, and it's still running for me 20 years later.
VR
So it's more that the gun's are not properly maintained then, than an actual design defect. Granted, I guess one could say they are complicated and overly complex, but I've always thought of it as a rather eloquent design that actually lasted far longer than most systems out there as far as how far the original design took the gun (and the Franchi 48 AL).
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