16ga.com ~ View topic - Sweet 3-shooter

Member Joined: 31 Aug 2005 Posts: 1257 Location: Nebraska

Time to pay the Cabela's bill so I ran by the store in case something else had to be put on the card--in particular they had a 16ga A5 listed that looked to be of gold trigger and possibly internally lightened. Sure enough, the frame milling is there and it's also stamped Browning 3 Shot on the forearm. Barrel's a plain version with machined matting, stamped **- so looks to be IC, and for 2 3/4" shells. This will probably conclude the search for a spare, open choked barrel for my current unmarked lightweight 1947 16ga. I didn't have my gauge along to determine constriction, my ** stamped barrel comes in at .017" and I'll be hoping for less than .010" in the new-to-me one.

On layaway, will pick this one up soon. No pics, except those Cabela's put up in their ad: Browning A5 Shotgun 16 GA

Very very very nice find. These are next to impossible to find let alone in this condition. It looks completely original. This A5 3Shot has the 25" non-ribbed barrel making it the lightest of the Sweets. It will shock you how lightening fast it feels to swing...like pointing your finger. The rib on an A5 is worthless for sighting. It is only window dressing. Amazes me why the vent rib is so popular...looks only. The wood on this one is exceptional, natural tiger stripe. This one is worth a call to Browning for a letter of authentication. I would not be surprised if Glen Jensen, Browning Historian tells you it has the word "Special" in the original order. That denotes the wood was hand selected and not the luck of the draw.

I cant wait to see your pics when you get it home. Welcome to the very few proud owners of the Browning A5, X Series, 2 3/4 chambered, unmarked Sweet Sixteen.

Member Joined: 31 Aug 2005 Posts: 1257 Location: Nebraska

I'm hoping it's a good pointer, certainly feels light. I've had a 1947 non-marked Sweet for over 2 years now, a 28" bbl'd gun with a Mod-choked solid rib that I really enjoy carrying and shooting. A gun to match a Model 12, maybe. Wink

At one point I owned a standard weight A5 made about 1929 or 1930 which was a grade II having a 30" Full choked solid rib bbl. Both with pretty nice wood, I figure the later gun is just a luck of the draw thing.

Here're the two guns from when I owned them both, grade II standard weight has darker blue and of course heavier engraving:

Member Joined: 31 Aug 2005 Posts: 1257 Location: Nebraska

Got the gun today, and it works just fine. Shooting skeet, factory Herter's 1oz game loads had 5 or 6 that did not eject fully. The bolt came back enough to lock but the shells hung in the ejection port. Most ejected a few feet away. Might have something to do with the ejector, however the magazine tube was also slightly gummed up. After the first round I switched to 7/8oz reloads with Green Dot and added a few drops of Slip 2000 on the mag tube. That seemed to be the key as those reloads kicked out 6-8 feet---even one off-sounding shell ejected. A wipe of the tube, spring and friction pieces will complete their initial cleaning.

These A5s are both X-serial numbered, from 1947 according to resources I've seen, and less than 2000 apart. Both barrels are bored .660", the Mod chokes down .017" and the IC .010". Answers my question about IC in A5 16ga guns, or at least on this one. Out of curiosity I tried the barrels on each receiver, fine fit all around. Both stocks have two holes drilled into them for balance/weight reduction. I do not have an accurate scale, can only say the 3-shot is lighter but no idea how much. Stamped barrel weights are 0kg925 and 0kg766, and if those are true finished weights of those pieces there's over 1/4lb difference right there.

Here are some shots of the pair to compare the forearm differences, one oddity I find is although the 3-shot shows more blue wear than the 5-shot its forearm cap shows less. No serial numbers on them so I supposed it could have been replaced at some point.

Here's a difference I noticed about the ejector on the 3-shot. It's a longer piece which extends forward and engages (for apparent retention) in the slot cut through the barrel extension while the 5-shot's ejector is shorter and is retained by a stud within its center cutout. Rolling change in production?

3-shot barrel on the top in this pic.

3-shot barrel on the bottom in this one.

Joined: 18 Jun 2014 Posts: 312 Location: Western Wisconsin

Beautiful pair! Out of curiousity, do you run 7/8oz in the heavy or light setting? My 1952 Sweet won't toss 7/8 on the heavy setting but will toss 1oz fine. Just curious.

Member Joined: 31 Aug 2005 Posts: 1257 Location: Nebraska

Light setting and the friction pieces are set with gaps in line. I'm figuring the oil on the mag tube is a deciding factor. I also held the gun more firmly into my shoulder to try to help the cycling. Something I'm curious about is the effect the weight of a given barrel has on function of these actions. I'd think a 30" ribbed barrel and a 24" plain barrel show a given gun a widely differing resistance to function. Maybe, anyhow.

Member Joined: 08 Jul 2013 Posts: 325

Great find! Congratulations.

I have 2 Sweet Sixteens, an X prefixed 1948 unmarked and a 1957. The '48 will not cycle Herter's, not even my fairly stout reloads, but the '57 loves 'em. I tried all the tricks, including using a half sized friction piece. Since the gun cycled Remington RGLs, I cut down a few of the Herter's to 67mm and they cycled just fine. I can't find any measurable differences between the guns and have just decided to feed them what they like. Chances are your gun is similar to mine.

Member Joined: 31 Aug 2005 Posts: 1257 Location: Nebraska

Thanks, rudolph. I believe the Herter's case mouths just barely drag on the gun's ejection port, sometimes enough to hold them up enough to keep them from clearing and other times not enough to hold them. Since the bolt is locking back, apparently enough energy is present to cycle the gun if the shells clear the port. Only thing I've noticed is the ejector's tight fit in its race. Whereas other A5 ejectors I've had have ranged from a very slight drag to sloppy loose, this one is nearly bound. I worked a little gun oil into it at the range, will next rinse it with solvent and re-oil, but I think using not-so-long cases should cure the hang-ups.

I am an A5 fan. The Sweet Sixteen 3 Shot is my favorite A5. Yours is a great looking example.

I have had more Herters hang up than any other 16ga light load in my A5s. I had three of fifty fail to fully eject from my FN Sweet Sixteen at the Minn. 16ga Shoot last spring. It was set for the light loads with a freshly cleaned and lubed mag tube. That gun has never had a failure to eject issue with Remington Winchester or Federal ammo. I have noticed the rim of the Herters seem to have more of a ramp than the Federal shells. The difference is slight but detectable with my thumb nail.

Thanks for sharing your 3 Shot with us.

Member Joined: 08 Jul 2013 Posts: 325

It looks like your 3-shot has the early style of ejector with a narrow part that fits into the hole in the barrel extension. Later the ejector was simplified, and eventually the hole was deleted.

Member Joined: 31 Aug 2005 Posts: 1257 Location: Nebraska

Heavy spring pressure locks it in its groove, but pressure on a brass punch disengaged it enough to slide it out of engagement to clean the gummed up surfaces.

The Herter's rims could easily be a part the issue. I've seen an Ithaca M37 and a Remington auto (48?) fail to extract factory Herter's cases.

I called Browning today to speak to Glen but was told he has retired as of this week. The lady at customer service told me they did not know if anyone would be picking up the research of serial numbers but she was able to tell me the gun was made in 1947. Smile

I called early this am and got the message he retired yesterday. The customer service dept said all the x series were standard weight and the Sweet Sixteen was designated by the S not X. I tried to share some info but she said "My book says the S designates Sweet Sixteen and the S began in 1953." I thanked her and asked what the plan was for the Historian position. She said it will be filled but not within the next couple weeks.

Member Joined: 17 Feb 2007 Posts: 497

Good find !

Member Joined: 31 Aug 2005 Posts: 1257 Location: Nebraska

We'll see, Rockie, I hope to get it on birds this week to know for certain!

As an aside, I don't think I've seen the definitive explanation on the subject of Browning Imp Cyl choke markings. On the barrel of my gun it's two asterisks and a dash, in that order. I've also seen the dash as the first marking before the asterisks.

Two Sweets are up now on Gunbroker, the one from 1948 shows the same as mine, **-, and the one from 1957 shows -** . Anybody know how randomly this was applied, or whether there was a year of change from one style to the other?

Member Joined: 07 Jan 2013 Posts: 398 Location: Virginia

I don't recall a discussion on the sequence of the Browning IC markings. My 1951 Sweet is marked **- and so is my 1946 American Browning 20-gauge.

Is the "Browning 3-Shot" lettering on your forearm red or black? Most I've seen are black, but my 1932 vintage 3-shot has red letters.

kgb, That's a great find you made there!