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    Shotgun Chronicles Volume II - Semi-auto & Pump Shotguns: Essays on all things shotgun
    Shotgun Chronicles Volume II - Semi-auto & Pump Shotguns: Essays on all things shotgun
    Shotgun Chronicles Volume II - Semi-auto & Pump Shotguns: Essays on all things shotgun
    Ebook192 pages1 hour

    Shotgun Chronicles Volume II - Semi-auto & Pump Shotguns: Essays on all things shotgun

    By Nick Hahn

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    About this ebook

    This collection of semi-automatic shotgun stories, published in the past 10 years in the Double Gun Journal and other publications, features articles ranging from detailed, historical information about particular guns and gun makers, to more person accounts of favorite and unusual shotguns. If you have even a passing interest in popular shotguns, especially semi-auto shotguns, this anthology is sure to please.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGun Digest Books
    Release dateMar 13, 2013
    ISBN9781440238307
    Shotgun Chronicles Volume II - Semi-auto & Pump Shotguns: Essays on all things shotgun
    Author

    Nick Hahn

    Nick Hahn is one of today's foremost experts in the world of shotguns, their history, and their applications. He is a leading author on the subject, and his writings appear regularly in Double Gun Journal and American Waterfowler. He also contributes articles to Shooting Sportsman, Sporting Classics, Wildfowl, the Upland Almanac, and Gun Digest.

    Read more from Nick Hahn

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      Book preview

      Shotgun Chronicles Volume II - Semi-auto & Pump Shotguns - Nick Hahn

      CHAPTER 1

      The Other Autoloader

      Despite the tremendous popularity of the over under shotgun, and the resurgence of the classic side by side, when it comes to shotguns, in the U.S. the repeaters are ahead in popularity. There are many reasons for the repeaters’ dominance, the lower price being one of the most important. Whatever the reason, the repeating shotgun sees the most widespread use among shooters, and there are basically only two categories that really matter; the pump (slide action), and the autoloader (semi automatic). The autoloader is preferred by many today.

      Among today’s autoloader users, the vast majority use the gas operated variety. Some of the most popular brand names are gas-operated. Only the Benelli and its subsidiaries Franchi, Breda and Stoeger still continue to market non-gas operated autoloaders. Today’s gas operated autoloaders are very reliable, soft shooting, versatile, and well balanced, a far cry from the early versions which had problems handling different loads. As one noted shotgun authority put it recently, the autoloader has reached the zenith of its development in reliability and handling qualities.

      The Bernardelli Automatico V.B. was an unusual autoloader that utilized a inertia type system. It was made in 12, 16 and 20 gauges, although here in America, when they are found, they are usually in 12 gauge. It used a box magazine that made it somewhat cumbersome.

      The gas operated autoloader gained its popularity with the appearance of the Remington 1100 in 1963. Prior to that, they were either not reliable or could not handle high and low velocity loads interchangeably. There were the Remington 58 and the 878, the Beretta and LaSalle. The High Standard, which was marketed as the J.C. Higgins Model 60, made its first appearance in 1956. However, the early gas operated autoloaders tended to be either heavy and bulky like the J.C. Higgins, or incapable of handling all loads like the early Remington and Berettas. The recoil operated autoloader still ruled the roost.

      The basic difference between the gas operated autoloader and the recoil operated version is that in the former, the operation of the gun is dependent upon gases that are bled through small holes or hole at the bottom of the barrel (located about mid point between the chamber and the muzzle), which push the gas piston that in turn push the action bars rearwards to cause the ejection of the empty and the reloading of a fresh round. In the recoil operated autoloader, whether long recoil, short recoil, inertia, or floating chamber, all of these actions are operated by recoil force rather than by escaping gas forces.

      The Armalite AR-17 was another very unusual autoloader. It was extremely light, made of alloy and plastic. It used a short recoil system like the Browning Double Auto and it also was a two shot, like the Browning.

      Some today are unfamiliar with the recoil operated autoloader since many of the older models have been discontinued and are found only in the used gun racks. Compared to the slick and shiny new models found today, the old timers look downright plain if not shabby! But for many years, since its introduction in 1903, the recoil operated autoloader was the king, especially if it was a Browning made by FN. One could say without reservations that the granddaddy of them all, of all autoloaders is the old Browning more commonly known as the A-5.

      The Browning A-5, the brainchild of John Moses Browning, utilizes what is known as the long recoil system. The operation of the action is dependent upon the recoiling barrel which moves the full length of the action, ejecting a spent case and reloading a fresh round just as the movement of a pump handle on a pump gun would do. In short, the recoiling barrel (which rides on a heavy spring wrapped around a magazine tube) performs exactly the same function that the forward arm of a shooter does on a pump gun. It is a very simple system that when properly set up with friction rings correctly, can be extremely reliable as millions of Browning A-5s and its progeny have proven.

      The Cosmi, a very expensive, hand built autoloader has been around for over a half a century. It also utilizes an inertia type of sytem, but it also breaks open like a double gun!

      Browning’s A-5 with its long recoil system produced a whole bunch of look-alikes, and outright copies. Remington produced its famous Model 11, under Browning license, which was almost exactly like the A-5 with some modifications and Savage produced its 700 series, also under Browning license. Remington streamlined the receiver of their Model 11 and simplified the friction ring system and came out with a new model 11-48 in 1948. This was a very successful design and although displaced by the 1100 in 1963, continued to sell well into the 1970s as the budget priced Mohawk model. Overseas, the Italians in particular took to the autoloader and produced several versions of the old A-5 that were somewhat modified. Luigi Franchi came out with a lightweight, more streamlined version in 1948. Franchi’s version is sold to this day as the Model 48 AL. Breda made a finely finished autoloader that could be completely disassembled without tools, and it also had interchangeable chokes as early as the late 1940s. There were other Italian autoloaders that were never imported into the U.S. The Japanese made several versions. Miroku made a simplified A-5 clone (it was actually made by KFC for Miroku) that was marketed under Charles Daly label in 1960s. SKB made models 300 and 900 (not the XLs, which were gas operated) which were mechanically almost identical to the Franchi, imported from 1960s into the 1970s. Even the Russians of the old Soviet Union produced their version of the recoil operated autoloaders, the Models MU21 and MU22.

      The Browning Double Auto was way ahead of its time in design. It used the short recoil system, had a beautiful balance, but unfortunately never caught on.

      The long recoil autoloader first introduced in 1903 by Browning is still being produced, not as a Browning (the A-5 was discontinued in 1998), but as Franchi 48AL, over a 100 years after its first appearance! However, despite the fact that Robert Stack won the world 20 gauge Skeet Championship with a Remington Model 11, except for the streamlined 11-48s in smaller gauges, especially the 28 and .410, the recoil operated autoloaders never caught on with trap and skeet shooters.

      From 1903 until the 1950s, there were no other autoloaders in the U.S. that were successful other than those with the long recoil system. In 1953, John Browning’s son Val came up with a design that was very different from the standard long recoil operated autoloader. Val Browning tweaked the existing short recoil system which had been used in the Johnson Automatic rifle, a rifle that was used by some Marine and Army units during WWII In the short recoil system, the barrel moves but about an inch or so, only far enough to start the breech block moving then the breech block takes over on its own inertia and completes the cycle of ejecting the empty and reloading a fresh round. It is a very simple and extremely reliable system that does not require any friction rings and can fire both low and high velocity loads interchangeably.

      Browning called their new autoloader the Double Automatic. It was designed to fire only two rounds. Lacking a magazine tube and all the stuff that goes with it, the Double Automatic had a balance that was as close as one could get to a double gun. It was extremely well made and began to arrive in large numbers by 1955. But alas, because it was but a two shot, and had a loading port on the left side of the receiver, it never really caught on, although some recognized its qualities and latched on to them. It was made only in 12 gauge although a couple of experimental 20 gauges were made. It sold well, but not well enough, so it was discontinued after an 18 year run. Incidentally, it was also with the appearance of this new gun that the old humpback was renamed the Automatic Five or A-5, to differentiate it from the newer Double Automatic. Prior to that, the old humpback was simply called the Browning Automatic as indicated on its butt plate.

      The Browning Double Auto was way ahead of its time in design. It used the short recoil system, had a beautiful balance, but unfortunately never caught on.

      At about the same time, Winchester introduced an autoloader that was also quite innovative. Actually, although the Browning Double Auto was developed in 1953, the Winchester appeared earlier in larger numbers in 1954. The Winchester Model 50 employed a floating chamber that previously had been used in a .22 caliber pistol, the Colt Ace, and the Remington .22 rifle Model 550. The Colt Ace had been in production since 1935, so this was not a new concept. Still, it was new when it came to shotguns. In this system, the barrel is stationary, does not move at all. Instead, the chamber is a separate piece of tube that is sleeved into the barrel and it slides back and forth. At the shot, the recoil force causes the chamber to jabs back and moves the breech block, which completes the cycle on its own inertia, ejecting the empty and reloading the chamber with a fresh round. This was a very simple and effective method of harnessing the recoil energy. Unfortunately the gun did not catch on The Model 50 with a steel receiver was very butt heavy because it had its recoiling mechanism in the butt stock. Most shooters found it to be not just butt heavy, but simply too heavy over all. The Model 50 in 12 gauge weighed close to 8 ¹⁄2 pounds and in 20 gauge it was around 7 ¹⁄2 pounds! Although it was made in trap and skeet versions, it never gained popularity because it lacked proper balance for clay target shooting.

      Winchester tried to change that and came out with a better version, the Featherweight Model, a gun with an alloy receiver. This made the gun lighter and shifted some weight to the front. It was an excellent gun, but still it did not sell well. It was trying to compete with the Browning A-5, which had been in production for over 50 years and had become a legend with field shooters. Among newer guns, the Remington 11-48 was a sleek looking, popular autoloader especially with skeet shooters.

      Winchester tried harder, came out with the Model 59 which used the same system but with a barrel that even today would be considered revolutionary. The Winchester Model 59 used a thin steel liner that was wrapped with 500 miles of fiberglass thread to make what they called a Win-lite barrel.

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