At
the 2012 SHOT Show in Las Vegas, Browning had several examples of the
“new A5” on hand, production models of which are scheduled to
be released this summer. The new A5 has little in common with the John
Browning Automatic-Five, far more related to the 1960s Bruno Civolani
action purchased by the an off-shoot of the Benelli motorcycle company
in 1967 or so, given the “inertia action” moniker. While it
has already been dubbed the Brownelli, Browning calls it the Kinematic
Drive, tuned to perfection. The
A5 walnut version is surprisingly light, noticeably lighter than the synthetic
stocked A5s. I'll guess it is at 6-3/4 lbs., or even a tad lighter. This
is what Browning has to say about it.
Barrel
- Lightweight profile • Flat, ventilated rib
Action - 3" chamber • Recoil operated Kinematic Drive is ultra-reliable
and cycles a wide range of loads
Stock - Gloss finish walnut with close radius pistol grip • Sharp
22 lines-per-inch checkering • Shim adjustable for length of pull,
cast and drop
Features - Vector Pro™ lengthened forcing cone • Three Invector-DS™
choke tubes • Inflex II Technology recoil pad • Brass front
bead sight • Ivory mid-bead sight • One 1/4" stock spacer
and one 1/2" stock spacer, plus lengthened screws for total adjustment
of 3/4" • Included ABS case
The
barrel is noticeably light and responsive, featuring the “Invector
Double Seal” choke design introduced on the Citori 725. It has speed
loading, introduced on the original A-5 and carried on with several previous
Browning models in one way or another, including the Double Auto, B2000,
Browning Gold, and the Maxus. It is a feature I personally am enamored
with. It has a magazine cut-off as well, located on the bottom of the
receiver. It also has a “feature” I find worthless, a center
bead. It is especially worthless with a square or “humpback”
style receiver. Hopefully, it is easily removed or broken off, joining
the countless other center beads that have hit the garbage can around
here.
The
new A5 is light, responsive, comes up well, has an excellent trigger,
and I found it to be very comfortable to shoot, albeit with 1145 fps 1-1/8
oz. Federal Gold Medal target loads, the only available ammo at the Boulder
City range. It seems to have no problem cycling lighter loads, a good
thing. The new A5 is available in a 3 inch chamber only, at least for
now. Based on the name of model, comparisons will try to be made to the
original A-5, but efforts like that are fruitless. A 3 inch A-5, the A-5
Mag, is a heavyweight pig compared to the new A5, requires adjusting friction
pieces based on specific shell and still does not have near the load range
capability of the new A5.
Along
with the Invector DS choked Vector Pro barrel, the Browning Kinematic
Drive seeks to improve on the genre of Benelli inertia guns, with a four
lug bolt head that unlocks withinin 40% less travel. Browning says the
result is 10% faster cycling compared to Benelli shotguns. Also, according
to Browning, the new A5 cycles with 7/8 oz. target loads on the low end.
A
full review of the new A5 will follow as soon as they become available.
It looks to be an enjoyable, low-maintenance hunting gun. It is far easier
on the eyes than the latest breed of plastomatics, and the shell-handling
and trigger are both superb based on the A5s I fired in Las Vegas.
Copyright
2012 by Randy Wakeman. All Rights Reserved.