Hello everyone, new member here with a newly bought Auto-5, after some help on what year and type my new purchase is - thank you in advance!

I believe it's an FN made Acier Special, owing to the markings, but the serial numbers don't make sense to me - hoping someone more experienced can let me know what I've got.

Receiver serial number is 462920 with a strange black crinkle finish.

The top of the barrel is marked FABRIQUE NATIONALE D'ARMES DE GUERRE HERTSAL BELGIQUE.

The side of the barrel says: ACIER SPECIAL with an f , *H and lion/PV, with 12-70 in the horseshoe.

The bottom of the barrel is stamped with CHOKE 18.3 *F and a kind of double && sign.

I had thought it was a 1927 Acier Special, (which works if I ignore the first 4 of the serial number, which i think looks like a slightly different font/size)... hopefully someone can confirm

Please see the attached photos - thank you so much,
Olly

Two more photos that will hopefully help

I get 1957 for that serial number. Other evidence: The cross bolt safety debuted in 1951. The rear corners of the ejection port were rounded beginning in 1958.

Aah thank you - yeah I had thought the safety might have meant it was a later model...

trouble is on the Browning website the 1957 serial numbers read:

1957 - Serial Numbering System changed again. M=Standard Weight. G=Light Weight. M22000-M85000
G23001-85000

And the serial number doesn't match that...

Curious where you got the info from?

Thank you so much

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Welcome to SGW ! !

The Blue Book of Gun Values has all the various gauges & models sorted out in groups w/SN's.

As stated, 1957 - someone applied an aftermarket finish to it, enhancing it's value to some, and seriously degrading it's value to most others.

It's a "shooter" grade, so go shoot it.


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Aah thank you!

On the finish... is it definitely after market? or was it something occasionally applied by the manufacturer to the Acier Specials?

FN never made a model called Acier Special. Acier is a reference to the steel in the barrel. FN also used Cockerill in their barrels.

"Acier Special" (special steel) is simply what was placed on the gun to enhance the product to prospective buyers.

My 20ga SxS is marked as an "Acier Mannesman Special"

Browning Auto-5’s were marketed the world over by Fabrique Nationale in Belgium, which owned the rights to the Browning name as a trademark. But guns imported to the United States were exclusively imported by another company — Browning Arms, based in Utah. So when you go on the Browning website you’re going to see information about US imported guns. And beginning in 1947 the serial numbering systems started to differ. Your gun is identified as a world market shotgun by the ACIER SPECIAL marking on the barrel. In 1957 world market guns were still sequentially numbered, whereas US imports used letter prefixes and the numbers started over.

Speaking of the Browning website, it’s full of omissions, contradictions, and errors. And even the factual information pertains only to the 12 gauge. This is a much better reference:

http://www.nramuseum.org/media/940941/s ... acture.pdf

And for the full story, this is the book on the subject:

https://www.fnbrowning.com/browning-auto-5-shotguns

There is a Revised Version of that book out. I bought it in 2011 with ISBN: 0-9707997-6-4 I don't know if it is still available but both books are a great reference for the Auto-5.