[skog]

I saw one today and am not familiar with it. i grew up on an old belguim A5 though. the one i saw was a A500 NIB ducks unlimited special edition with a terry (redkin?) reciever. the recieve was grey but looked painted or powder coated. had semi lighting stock and felt really nice. It had a 28" barrel with invertor chokes and 3" chanmber. they wanted 800 for it. is this a good deal. any information about this gun would be greatly appreciated.it also came with a 2 year warrenty. 1 year from browning and 1 year for the gun shop.

thanks
skog

 

[AG]

According to the BBGV the price for the A500 in its 3 variations (A500-R recoil operated action, A500-G Gas operated action, and A500-G sporting clays eddition) the top price range is from $475 -$555. That is for 100% condition guns.

The asking price appears to be a little high.

 

[skog]

how do i find out what type of action it is?? because it is NIB and a ducks unlimited version with the special reciever could that raise the price that much??

thanks
skog

 

[AG]

From 1987 to 1990 the R type was just designated A500. then called the A500-R from 1991 to 1993.

The A500-G was manufactured from 1990- 1993.

So from 1990 to 93 the guns should be designated by action type.

If it is just A500 you probably have the recoil opperated action... I would ask to see the box ... it should have all the info you need ... as far as the DU version ... I have no info as to how that may impact price.

My personal opinion ... the gun does not appear to be an extremely successful model for browning indicated by its very short run.

Not sure why because I have very limited info, I would see if you can get advice from someone who has owned one.

 

[fivemile]

I have never owned an A500; but two of my good hunting buddies bought them and both had numberous problems until they both sold their guns. Things like ejection, jams, etc.

 

[jjmc]

I have an A500G with thousands of rounds through. It has never jammed. Some people didn't like the fit of these guns. If the A-5 is OK with you the A500 will fit fine. Remember there are both A500R and A500G. Totally different actions (recoil vs. gas). Do some searches on waterfowler.com and other shotgun sites and you will hear good things about the reliability. It was a marketing problem for Browning so they dropped the gun. Too much like an A-5 and not competitive with the other Gas autos out there. Hence the development of the the Gold. If you look at the gun as a collector piece the DU guns really aren't worth any more to most people. I have a couple of DU guns and I just took them out and used them.
There are a lot better deals out there than the one you described. I bought my basic A500G for about $350 as a backup duck gun. I ended up liking the feel so I use it for all kinds of high volume shooting.

 

[wwb]

As to the DU edition affecting the value.... the DU guns usually have a little nicer wood (not really a higher grade, just hand-picked for figure and density), and sometimes they have a little engraving. We're talking DU edition raffle guns here, not DU dinner guns, which are quite elaborate.

Anyhow, to have ANY value above the parent gun, it must be unfired, 100%, with the original box. Most of the time, they are worth no more than the parent gun. Sometimes, as a shooter, they'll bring just a few bucks more than the parent gun if you can find someone willing to pay a little extra for the wood and a little engraving.

 

[Tick]

Hey Skog I know this is an old thread , but was wondering if you ended up with the A 500?
I seen one at a gunshop in Kalamazoo MI last weekend but thought it was an A5 till I called to see if they still had it.
I then found out what it was, came here & did a search to see what I might learn.
They are pretty guns, to bad they don't seem to impress people