Inherited shotguns

TriggerMan

TriggerMan

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My wife's father passed away recently. At his passing he had several firearms that were split between my wife and her two siblings. Being the "gun guy" in the house, they became my responsibility to clean, store, and take care of. Many of the firearms were shotguns of one variety or another and to be honest, I'm not much of a shotgun guy. I was wondering if some of the more knowledgeable people here could help me with some background knowledge on some of these items. These items are not for sale as they have great sentimental value to my wife. I'm just looking to see if anyone can shed some light on some of these firearms, their rarity, and weather or not they have any sort of special monetary value I should know about. I have searched online for all of them. Some of them like the Browning Light 12 and the Wichester Model 101 aren't too hard to find stuff on but some of the more obscure models are leaving me a bit puzzled. I have included some pictures of them. If more detailed pictures would help, let me know which ones and I will post them. I will also post below all of the markings that I was able to find on the guns themselves. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

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O.F. Mossberg & Sons
Bolt Action .410 3" Chamber
Model # 183D-C


Ranger Over&Under 12 Ga
Model #103-5


J.L. Galee & Sons Sole Distributor
"Monte Carlo"
12 Ga Side x Side


Winchester Model 101
12 Ga Over/Under

Remington Nylon 66 (Green)
22 LR


Browning Arms Company
Light 12
Made in Belgium

Is the Light 12 considered an A5? Can anyone tell me what the switch that moves forward and backward on the left side of the reciever on the Light 12 is for? I've never owned a Browning shotgun before.


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@NiceOldDouble

The little black .22 is one of the remington nylon stocked ones I believe, spensive lil things

I *think* that lever is utilized to turn off semi auto mode, but it’s been 10+ years since I had one in my hands
 
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Smgchandler said:
The lever is for single shot when flipped - If you wanted to fire one shell and hold the other shells in magazine tube. It prevents the shotgun from allowing another shell to be chambered.
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So having the switch forward towards the barrel allows auto loading or prevents it? I'm interested because out of all of the shotguns, I'm planning on using the light 12 and the Winchester 101 for skeet myself. The others will just be put away in storage.
 
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Forward it allows shell to chamber and flipped toward rear keeps shells in tube if I’m not mistaken. Hold upside down and look into chamber and you can actually see the arm that prevents shell from leaving tube
 
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That lever, as stated above, cuts off the magazine allowing you to replace the shell in the chamber without having to empty the magazine. It also allows you to unload the chamber easily without emptying the magazine. Do not count on it to make it into a single shot since the lever may be flipped during recoil to allow another round to be fed into the chamber. I am not sure whether it is part of the designed function or whether it occurs all the time, but it does happen. It is a wonderful shotgun. Make sure you understand how the friction rings need to be set for light and heavy loads.
 
Charlie said:
That lever, as stated above, cuts off the magazine allowing you to replace the shell in the chamber without having to empty the magazine. It also allows you to unload the chamber easily without emptying the magazine. Do not count on it to make it into a single shot since the lever may be flipped during recoil to allow another round to be fed into the chamber. I am not sure whether it is part of the designed function or whether it occurs all the time, but it does happen. It is a wonderful shotgun. Make sure you understand how the friction rings need to be set for light and heavy loads.
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My only experience with auto loading shotguns is with the Remington 1100 and 1187. There are two brass collars/rings in the action of the Browning under the forearm. I'm guessing these are the friction rings you are speaking of. They fell out the first time I disassembled the gun for cleaning and so I was never sure I replaced them in the right order/position. I tried to find a manual or instructions that spoke specifically about those brass rings but never found any info on them. Are they the friction rings you are referring to? None of my Remingtons had anything like them. Is there any info or instructions you could point me to? I want to try the light 12 out but want to be sure it's back together correctly before doing so. Thanks.
 
Those are the friction rings that need to be positioned correctly. Google should have plenty of information. The Auto 5 is a long recoil operated system while the Remington 1100 and 11/87 are gas operated. The Browning A5 is not the same as their Auto 5. The A5 is, from what I can gather, inertia driven like a Benelli.
 
A Light 12 is an A-5. As you might guess, The Light 12's were a little lighter than the standard A-5; the mechanical aspects were identical.

Charlie's description of the side lever is correct. Assuming the gun is fully loaded, with the lever in the rear position, the shell in the chamber will be fired, ejected, and the action will lock open. The shells in the magazine will be held in the magazine by the lever. If the lever is to the front, the gun functions as a normal semi auto, ejecting the spent shell and loading the next shell in the magazine tube. John Browning was a very enthusiastic waterfowl hunter, and this feature was designed to let a hunter quickly change loads if needed. For instance, if you were after ducks and had duck shells in the gun, but a big goose came into sight, you could quickly flip the lever rearward, eject the duck shell in the chamber, and quickly chamber a goose shell. You didn't have to empty the gun to quickly change the shell in the chamber.

It could vary, but most Auto 5's I've seen have a brass friction ring, tapered on both ends, and a steel ring, tapered on on end and flat on the other. The lug on the bottom of the barrel is also tapered on the rear side. The placement of the rings determine how much of the recoil they absorb, affect the function of the gun, and the recoil impulse delivered to the shooter. Refer to an owner's manual for the placement of the rings for the load you're using. I don't want to tell you something by memory, because mine sucks sometimes.

On the left side of the barrel, right in front of the receiver, there should be a combination of "*" and "-". Usually three, sometimes two. These markings will tell you the choke of the barrel.

The A-5's could hold 5 shells, 4 + 1. If you're hunting where a 3 shell max is required, you can put a "plug" in the magazine tube, thru the hole under the nut on the end of the forearm, to limit the A-5 to 3 shells.

These shotguns are a wonderful design by JMB, and Fabrique Nationale did a spectacular job of building them. I'm a big fan.

Yours is an awesome example.
 
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The Remington Nylon 66 is a very light and reliable 22. I started shooting with a black one. Bought a brown one a couple years ago here, my grandsons love shooting it.
 
OK. I did find some info on the friction rings. It makes it much easier to find info on something when you know what to call it lol.

I still have a problem though. All of the instructions and videos I have found talk about the bronze and the steel ring and how to arrange them for heavy or light loads. I think I understand that now. Here is a picture of those two parts.

20220219_185037.jpg

Now my problem is that this gun has a third ring that no one seems to talk about in any of the videos. This is the oddball piece that I don't know what to do with.

20220219_185043.jpg


In total, this shotgun seems to have three rings.

1 - split bronze ring with split steel spring around it. One flat side one tapered side.

1 - steel ring flat on one side tapered on the other

1 - Bronze ring not split flat on both ends.(This is the one no one seems to talk about in the videos).

Here is a pic of all of the pieces together.

20220219_185050.jpg

Any idea where the solid bronze ring goes?
 
Look in the forearm and see if that mystery ring came from there. I have never seen a ring like that as part of a recoil system. Where was it when you took off the barrel?
 
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Look at part #60. No idea. Just guessing
 
Charlie said:
Look in the forearm and see if that mystery ring came from there. I have never seen a ring like that as part of a recoil system. Where was it when you took off the barrel?
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The first time I took the forearm off the solid bronze ring just kind of fell out. This is why I never got a good look at the arrangement. It fell out before I knew what was happening. Being that this gun was owned by another person, I don't know what they did with it or if that part is even associated with this firearm at all. I have looked online several times and watched videos, looked at manuals etc and nothing I have seen thus far mentions this extra ring. I actually found a diagram inside the forearm of the shotgun itself and again there is no mention of this extra part anywhere.

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I have no idea what to do.
 
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Also look at the barrel band that fits over the magazine tube to see whether that mystery piece can fit inside it. It might not be an original part.
 
Numrich has some Auto 5 forearms that have some sort of sleeve that is about the same size. I think it is an aftermarket device to reduce the chance of the wood splitting. The only split forearm I have had in decades of Auto 5 shooting was in my newest Light 12. It split very quickly because the wood was not even where the barrel band contacts if as the barrel slams forward. That caused torque that split the wood. A few minutes with a pocket knife and a bit of epoxy fixed it right up. I did get a new forearm just to be sure.
 
Will it fit inside the wooden forearm? Maybe some sort of bushing?
 
Well, I haven't seen them all. But I've never seen an A-5 with that third bushing you have.
 
@TriggerMan ,

Depending upon what year your A5 was manufactured, it may have a two-piece lifter / speedload feature.

With the bolt locked back, the first shell you feed into the shotgun will be picked up by the lifter and chambered…IIRC, that feature started around 1954 or 1955.
 
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Charlie said:
Loading some shells into the magazine should push it out to the end of the tube. See if the mystery ring can fit up inside the tube in the forearm from the rear.
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OK. I fixed the magazine spring plug. The gun was only holding 3 shells in the magazine. It's holding 4 now plus 1 in the chamber so it's at least back to its 5 round capacity. As far as that extra bronze ring, it doesn't fit in the forearm or the part of the barrel that goes around the magazine tube. I'm starting to believe it's just not part of this gun. I'm not sure how it got inside of it. The only place that I have found it's capable of going and still allowing the gun to be reassembled is either on top of the recoil spring before the friction brake or on top of the friction break before the barrel loop and magazine cap. Placing it in either location allows reassembly but puts extra compression on the recoil spring equal to the height of the extra ring. Would that serve any worthwhile purpose?20220219_212236.jpg
 
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Dale Gribble said:
@TriggerMan ,

Depending upon what year your A5 was manufactured, it may have a two-piece lifter / speedload feature.

With the bolt locked back, the first shell you feed into the shotgun will be picked up by the lifter and chambered…IIRC, that feature started around 1954 or 1955.
Click to expand...
Would this be the manufacture date stamped on the barrel? 12-70? Maybe December 1970?

20220219_202914.jpg20220219_202808.jpg
I'm not sure what some of these markings mean. It has an "*" mark in one place. Is that the choke of the barrel?

20220219_202825.jpg
 
I think it is an extra nonoriginal part that may have been made to increase the spring tension. I would put it aside and get a new recoil spring if the old one is too weak. The previous owner may have made it so he could shoot heavy shells because he did not know how to adjust the friction rings for heavy loads. Who knows? New springs are easy to find.
 
@TriggerMan

Serial # should be stamped on the underside of the receiver at the magazine loading port…we should be able to find you a DOM with that.

IIRC, the single asterisk on the barrel indicates it is a full choke.

The markings on the barrel in photo #3 are proof marks.
 
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Dale Gribble said:
@TriggerMan

Serial # should be stamped on the underside of the receiver at the magazine loading port…we should be able to find you a DOM with that.

IIRC, the single asterisk on the barrel indicates it is a full choke.

The markings on the barrel in photo #3 are proof marks.
Click to expand...


The serial number on the receiver is 6247. There is a smaller 5G stamped above the serial number. I'm not sure if they are part of the same number.

20220220_095319.jpg

I ordered a complete rebuild kit from MGW this morning. Since a lot of things seem to be suspect on this gun I want to make sure everything is in good working order before trying to shoot it.

www.midwestgunworks.com

Browning A-5 Shotgun, Factory Part - Rebuild Kit, 12 Gauge

Check out the deal on Browning A-5 Shotgun, Factory Part - Rebuild Kit, 12 Gauge at MGW
www.midwestgunworks.com www.midwestgunworks.com
 
Yes.

I think production moved from Belgium to Japan (Miroku) around 75 or 76.
 
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That is a good looking group of shotguns! Need to head up to Rocky Creek and shoot some clays. 😀
 
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