Browning a5 ammo

[Durtywrench]

Got a new a5 and was wondering what ammo will run her reliably from break in to broken in.. Ran some 1145 fps federal and went into manual action mode.. Also did some BnP slugs and acted the same .. Need suggestions on what ammo and / or load minimums for her to run reliably..

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[jon49erfan]

I use 1145fps, 1 1/8oz  Winchester AA in mine. Also have used the 1oz Winchester Super X and it worked fine.

[roxymajor]

I have suggested to my A5 customers that they shoot 1200fps 1 1/8 oz Winchester AA or other premium quality semi-auto type equal.  I would not shoot the 1145fps until well broken in (1000 rds) and would not shoot them in a match.    I have some shooters shooting 1145fps 1-1/8 oz premium shells with no issues if they keep the gun oiled and clean.  

Concerning recoil (not reliability), I have put random 1145 and 1200 shells in the tube and have a hard time telling which one is which. 

 

[AFguywhoshoots]

I agree on the 1200 FPS and premium shells. That is when mine is happiest. For slugs, B&P will not cut it. I had some success with Fiochi 7/8oz slugs, but started having issues with them. I am going to try a box of Prime slugs through mine and if I can't get them to run reliably, I will go to the Federal Truball. Those are 100% all the time. 

[Hoosiershooter]

I shoot nothing less than 1200. For me the difference in splits isn't worth what could 20+ seconds clearing malfunctions. I shoot mostly Prime slugs and Federal truballs. No issues with either.


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[Durtywrench]

Today i used 4 different boxes of ammo all rated at 1200 fps.. All did not run 100%. In fact winchester AAs ran the worst. Gun is perfectly clean and oiled . Solid mount into my shoulder.. So I just need to break it in more ?


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[bwikel]

Run a couple of boxes of heavy field load through it then try the 1200 fps loads again. It needs some time to wear in a little since it is new and tight. I would forget tying to use B&P slugs they just don't have enough recoil to operate the system 100%. I have had good luck with Remington LR slugs, Federal Truball and Rio LR slugs. None of these have short stroked in my gun after it was broken in.

[Durtywrench]

Thank you all for advice. Will keep wearing on her


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[AFguywhoshoots]

So I did try out the Prime slugs I have. Only shot about 10, but all cycled fine. I think I will give them a try and see if they run better in mine than Fiochi did.  

[Tomblues]

I am new here - I hope this thread is still active.
I inherited a 1939 A5.  Nothing special about it in terms of engraving or other enhancements, but it is special to me as it was my grandfather's.  My father died many years ago, and mom kept it locked in a chest for decades.
I went with a shotgun expert-shooter/friend to a range.  The staff pro there - don't know if he is a full smith - opened it, said all looks well, and we went out to the skeet range.  It went ok sometimes, but hung up others: the round got trapped in the port, preventing the next round from being pushed into the chamber.  I had to pull back the slide and manually remove the spent shell.  Again, this only happened sometimes.
We asked the pro about it.  I regret to say I knew nothing about the ammo we got at Walmart before going out - I took the rec of my friend on what to buy.

Talking this up on Facebook, 3 ideas have surfaced: the ammo cartridge was too long for this gun (most seems to be 2-3/4), or power was too much or too little, or the main spring is bad.  Any ideas?
Many thanks, Tom

[Nugget]

This era of a5 takes 2&1/2 inch shells. 2&3/4 inch are too long.