Not a Double but....

[Alfred Houde]

I should know this, but I'm asking anyway. Are the barrels interchangeable on the Browning Auto-5?

I have a standard 20 gauge, Belgian gun. 2 3/4" chamber. It has a modified choke barrel. Recently, I found a Belgian made skeet barrel, 2 3/4" chamber.

Will this work with my gun or were they fitted?

Thanks in advance.

[Bobby Cash]

In a word, Yes.

[Jerry Harlow]

Should work. Not fitted but excellent close tolerences. Regular weight barrels and light weight barrels interchange. All standard weights to Light Twelve, Sweet Sixteen, and Light 20 and vice versa. The light weight barrels you will see holes drilled.

Magnum to standard or light, and vice-versa do not work.

[Brian Dudley]

Belgian and Jap barrels also interchange. As long as you are in same gauge and shell length of course.

[Jerry Harlow]

I have a standard 20 gauge, Belgian gun.

Alfred,

All 20s except for the Magnums are "Light Twenty"s, even though they may be marked just Twenty. The Light was added later. Look at the barrels and there are holes in the barrel ring, no matter whether it says Light Twenty or just Twenty. My 1963 just says Twenty. I don't know the year when the designation changed.

12s and 16s have Standard, and Light and Sweet.

[Mark Garrett]

The only issue you may run into is, the forearm barrel channel may need to be relieved to accommodate a slightly different barrel profile.

In the 16ga the 2 9/16 " ( prewar ) will not interchange with 2 3/4 " or vice versa . 16ga's were either Standard or Sweet no designation for Light .

Really early 12ga do not interchange .

[Jerry Harlow]

Alfred,



12s and 16s have Standard, and Light and Sweet.

Meaning: Light Twelve and Sweet Sixteen.

[Alfred Houde]

Thanks all. The skeet barrel fits like it was originally made for it. I was pretty sure it would work, I was thinking of the Ithaca Model 37 where they only interchange after a certain serial number. Thanks again for all the input, and Merry Christmas.

[Jay Gardner]

The only issue you may run into is, the forearm barrel channel may need to be relieved to accommodate a slightly different barrel profile.

In the 16ga the 2 9/16 " ( prewar ) will not interchange with 2 3/4 " or vice versa . 16ga's were either Standard or Sweet no designation for Light .

Really early 12ga do not interchange .

What differentiates a standard Belgian-made 16 and a Belgian made Sweet Sixteen?

[Alfred Houde]

Early versions of both had 2 9/16" chambers. I believe that both are true 16 gauge frames. The difference between the two is weight. The Sweet Sixteen had holes drilled in the barrel ring, additional milling of the receiver, and the stock had additional milling under the butt plate to remove weight. I think the early Sweet Sixteens also were enhanced with a gold plated trigger and safety.

[Kevin McCormack]

Alfred, where in H*LL did you find that "late Chaco" (modern dark brown) A-5 auto case!!??? After working through my A-5 addiction, gone to counseling and joined a support group, I started winnowing thru my A-5 collection and wound up selling all 13 of them with their original Hartmann or Airways cases except for my Eastern Shore of MD classic Standard 12 28" VR for use with non-tox and my great Jap 3" Mag Invector 28" for use as a dedicated steel shot gun. The Standard had its own Hartmann but I looked for years for an appropriate vintage "late Chaco" for the Jap 3" Mag. Presto1 - walked into our seriously degraded local gun show a few months ago (now mostly black guns & accessories, MREs. and unisex body armor) and glommed onto a brand new one for peanuts!! Only one I saw for sale before or since; man was I glad to get it!!

[Alfred Houde]

Believe it or not, I found mine at Green Top Sporting Goods. When they were making the move across the road to the old Gander Mountain building they had a clearance sale and there it was.

Back then, they stocked a lot of Browning products to include the higher grade guns. Not so anymore. Today they stock just the Grade 1 Citori, maybe the Cynergy, pumps and autoloaders.

[Kevin McCormack]

Yeah Alfred; I used to stop at Green Top regularly when I went up and down I-95 cruising the almost-major guns shows around Richmond (Mechanicsville; Fairgrounds; Great Southern Weapons Fair at an armory whose name I can't recall) before the internet changed a lot of things so far as time and gas went. Also hit a lot of scary 'firehouse shows' along the way! I remember when GT was a wide-spectrum Browning dealer; I guess sheer economics of inventory changed all that. The best place I know of nowadays for a great selection of Brownings is Miller's Gun Center in New Castle DE. Its on Rt. 1/13 just north of the New Castle Co. airport and within 5 mins. of the DE Memorial Bridge. They are a major specialty Browning dealer and cater most heavily to trap, skeet, & SC shooters. Browning makes up a specialty gun for them - mostly O/Us with their own engraving patterns, wood, barrel lengths, choke tube varieties, etc. They're tiny by comparison to GT, Cabelas, Bass Pro, or Gander Mtn. - about the size of an old-fashioned service station, but they have everything under the sun for a claybuster. Used guns for sale as well, and sometimes a "jewel in the crown" comes out of the woodwork trolled in by a local who needs money. Great examples are a screaming Fox/Becker custom pigeon gun and a bona fide FN Browning A-5 Grade IV in its original faux black elephant hide truk case with papers & patterning target. They're a place I still stop at regularly if I'm within a 50 mile detour. Tremendous selection of ammo of all types and of course no sales tax in DE!