Zebulon said

  

When you get back in town, come have some coffee. 

  

I’m back now, and don’t threaten me with a good cup of coffee! 🙂 We can try and throw Mike in there too!

I just sent Jeremy my particulars. I’ll come up there if next time you come down to the edge of Dallas County. 

Pick any day next week except Thursday and any time mid-morning through early afternoon.  Jeremy gets a vote, too.

Bo Rich said
Maverick, I thought that Milo used a Model 100 in .308 on his record deer.  

  

I have read the following online. 

The Hanson Buck was shot on land belonging to Milo Hanson. Shot with .308 Winchester 150 grain factory ammo – three shots hit the buck. The rifle was a Winchester model 88 with a Weaver K4 scope. The distance was about 100 yards for the inital shot, running straight away. A large fragment of the first bullet is embedded in the left main beam, causing a crack and significant removal of antler material. The main beam is structurally sound. The Hanson Buck antlers are incredibly wide and uniform with great tine length.

The buck was an estimated 3 1/2 years old. The estimated body weight was 200 pounds. The body was not large compared to many mature Saskatchewan bucks.

While reading the posts on model 88, I looked for some mention of the magazine capacity on the various calibers. I owned a 1955 model 88 243 caliber. The magazine held five shells. I understand that the capacity was changed to only hold 4 to be in line with the other calibers. Is this a true statement?

RR

88 man said

Win61 said

While reading the posts on model 88, I looked for some mention of the magazine capacity on the various calibers. I owned a 1955 model 88 243 caliber. The magazine held five shells. I understand that the capacity was changed to only hold 4 to be in line with the other calibers. Is this a true statement?

RR

  

I believe all mags only held 4. I doubt with 5 in it it would lock up in place. I could be wrong though 

  

My Model 88 was an early one, within the first 6 months of production. It held five shells in the magazine, it fed and ejected flawlessly. I thought that all 243 magazines held five until a friend bought a 1957 model that would only hold 4. Sorry, I no longer own this excellent rifle. I regret selling it. 

An article was written on this subject. I may have the article in my files. If I find it, I will post it.

RR

Chuck said
I have my dad’s 1955 Browning A5 Light 12.  It has killed so many birds I could never count how many.  I did not kill any of them though. 

  

The A5 is hard to wear out. I admired them behind glass at Oshman’s as a boy, but only shot my first one, a borrowed 16 gauge Standard,  in my early Twenties. Had a Belgian Light Twelve for a while, the year before FN changed to the square knob grip. Got a Miroku-built Light Twenty for my son, restored a well-used 1962 Sweet Sixteen and let somebody talk me out of it, and then did without until about twenty years ago. 

I walked into a Pawn Shop and spotted a really nice, 1960 “hybrid”: a 90% Belgian Standard Twelve with a Miroku-built,  30″ vent rib, Invector Plus barrel. Uncut stock with horn buttplate and a single FULL tube.  $400 USD and I took it home. Bought a Belgian CYLINDER bore plain 26″ barrel for it on eBay and that was my dove and quail gun for some years. No choke at all but Winchester AA trap loads shot a  55-60% pattern. 

One day, a year or so after Browning quit making the Auto-Five and nice Light Twenties and Sweet Sixteens were pricing up on Gunbroker, i saw this 1955 Light Twelve, 28″ plain full choke barrel in what turned out to be virtually new condition. It had been the retirement gift for an SFPD detective and neither he nor his sons ever shot it but kept it as an icon of sorts. Finally, a great nephew inherited it, shot two rounds of trap in uncle’s memory and then put it up on GB underdescribed and underpriced for its condition. I jumped on it but then had to go to a barrel dealer for a brand new, short Invector Plus barrel I like. For half the price of the gun.  If I had been thinking, I should have just mailed the original barrel to Briley for tubes — he makes them for Browning, anyway– and saved about $200.

Nonetheless, the gun is happy in its work, except for the one time I took it on a  Fall Season teal hunt up on the Caprock. I set the bushings for high base loads but the 1500 fs steel shells were vicious to shoot and I stopped early because I feared the recoil stroke was peening the action. I’m not a waterfowl hunter anyway but  have thought about replacing the lightly used but aged spring set. When still set up for high velocity loads, the gun functions just fine with one ounce dove and quail shells. 

That’s pretty much my Auto-Five history. 

Chuck said
Bill my Dad always kept 2 shotguns of the same exact model his whole life.  So he did have another A5 but it had that ugly choke on the end of it.  He sold it when he bought his Benelli’s.   He actually sold my first shotgun to buy his second Browning.  Mine was a 1930 Model 12 in 16 gauge.  I could not take it with me when my Mother absconded from Iowa to Ca. If it didn’t fit in the box it stayed behind.

  

Ouch. That would have been tough to take, particularly at the time. 

One of the good things about the A-5 is all the barrels ever made for it by FN or Miroku will fit any receiver of the same gauge by either manufacturer. An impressive engineering and manufacturing feat, as Clarence once noted.  

That means you can get a fine used Auto-Five that’s been chopped and desecrated with a Cutts Compensator, at a discount.  And then go barrel shopping. Admittedly that’s with a 12 gauge gun. Technically you can do it with a 16 or 20 but barrels are more seldom and costly. 

Not nearly so easy with a Model 12. I once bought a handsome Heavy Duck with a Polychoke, thinking I’d replace the barrel. I waited and waited until I feared the flesh would rot off my bones. Never found one and sold off the gun.