Quote:
Originally Posted by Reggie Bishop
Cool pic! I think the undoing of the A5 was the Remington 1100 more than its design. I suppose you could say the design of the 1100 was the undoing of the A5. I still love an A5 myself.
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Reggie,
Thanks. From a 1959 Browning magazine ad for the A5: "We could make it for less...but we won't."
The Model 11, Model 11-48, Model 58, Model 1100 all were cheaper. I guess it was like buying the Parker of Autos instead of buying a Crescent (did not want to offend any of the other big names). I myself was hooked on Beretta autos for their light weight while bird hunting when walking, but was late to the A5 club when weight was not a factor. Now they are my auto of choice and all of mine are from the 60s when the Belgians were the absolute finest for finish in my opinion. The complicated action and associated costs was one of the reasons for cheaper Japanese manufacture. They should not be allowed to call what they make today an A5.
They were $130 in 1959, which equals $1242 today. And that was a plain A5 with no vent rib and not the Light 12. Not cheap.