Browning A5

[Will]

Just curious if anyone has obtained one of the new A5 20 gauge guns in camo for turkey season. If so, how did it shoot?

[Tom007]

Just curious if anyone has obtained one of the new A5 20 gauge guns in camo for turkey season. If so, how did it shoot?

Be careful if it has the same action/bolt system as the new A5 Sweet 16. I had ejection problems that are common with this new inertia ejection system. Sometimes if you don't have it firm against your shoulder, it won't cycle correctly. This is evident while sitting against a tree in a Turkey situation. Videos on you tube show that the Sweet 16 won't cycle if you hold it away from your shoulder when firing. I got rid of mine for a SBE 3 20 gauge which I love. Best of luck with whatever you decide. Check the reviews. Be safe

[Ihuntoldschool]

Good point. It's an inertia gun like every other inertia gun a firm shoulder mount is key. This is certainly not unique to the Browning kinematic action.

No hip shooting, no overhead or behind the back trick shots. And I wouldn't recommend holding that thing out from your shoulder giving it room to build up momentum before it whacks your shoulder.

If its the dead of winter and you're layered in thick , heavy winter clothes then yeah that can interfere with a firm shoulder mount on ANY inertia gun. The lighter the load the more likely you'll have the occasional cycling issue.

The DS guns shoot really well . I would bet it's lights out with TSS.

[Tom007]

Good advice. The Sweet 16 fired flawlessly from a bench when I patterned it. It also fired perfectly standing up. When I duplicated the condition where it did not cycle the 2nd shell in to the chamber by sitting against a tree in a Turkey situation, it failed. The angle of leaning away from the tree, looking through the Red dot just created a weak shoulder contact leading to cycling problems. The Gun barely kicked even with Apex TSS Turkey loads. You tube videos highlights this problem if you find the reviews. I never had this issue or any cycling problems with the SBE Benelli's which are also inertia driven. This is just what I experienced, I harvested 2 Tom's with the Sweet 16, both times the gun didn't cycle the 2nd shell. I decided that I didn't want to take a chance on failure during the moment of truth, so I moved on to the SBE. Maybe the 20 doesn't have this issue, you can do the research and check it out. Good luck with whatever you end up with.

[the Ward]

I've shot my Vinci one handed and from the hip many times at our private range shooting clay targets with various loads, and never had a cycling issue. The gun has to move some to cycle, it's in the name, inertia. If an inertia gun is prevented from recoiling at all, it won't cycle. I have no idea on how well the Browning system works though, I've never shot one, so I will defer to other's experiences. Too light of a load and too low of velocity can cause problems, and Benelli advises this in the owner's manual.

[Tom007]

I've shot my Vinci one handed and from the hip many times at our private range shooting clay targets with various loads, and never had a cycling issue. The gun has to move some to cycle, it's in the name, inertia. If an inertia gun is prevented from recoiling at all, it won't cycle. I have no idea on how well the Browning system works though, I've never shot one, so I will defer to other's experiences. Too light of a load and too low of velocity can cause problems, and Benelli advises this in the owner's manual.

You are correct Ward. I am a big Browning Fan, I have Over-Unders, and the Gold Slug Gun(gas operated). They are fantastic Guns, no doubt. The New A-5 inertia on the Sweet 16 definitely has cycling issues. This video outlines the problem. I have shot Benellis for years, never had one issue. I even tried holding the SBE's away from my shoulder, cycled flawlessly. This is my experiences with these two guns.

[the Ward]

I watched that too, I was bummed he was having issues with it. I was really close to getting the 16 gauge, and I saw some  folks were experiencing issues like the ones you related to here.  I hope they get it straightened out, haven't heard of many problems with the 12 gauges since they updated the bolt design. At least I think that was what I remember reading somewhere that was the problem with the early a5s the first year or two? His videos are pretty good, they helped me decide on the sx4.

[the Ward]

I haven't heard anything about issues with the 20, I'm not sure why the 16 has been a hit or miss on reliability. Ammo perhaps?