Well, it is certainly unique. Someone took a lot of effort to engrave it like that and it appears to be a pretty good job. I think you got a deal on it. I just got my A5 back from Art's and he certainly does a good job. This it the third gun he has refinished for me and If I ever have another done, it will be his shop that does it. They will gold plate the trigger for you if you want. The other guns were returned in about eight weeks but the A5 took a full three months to get back. It was worth the wait. Good luck with it.

 

After Art's got done working their magic.

 

Very nice!

 

OUTSTANDING!

And welcome to the forum.

Just curious, why do you think it's Japanese? The safety is from the '50s, the barrel has Belgian proof marks, and the stock is pre-'67. I think they started making them in Japan in 1976.

 

OUTSTANDING!

And welcome to the forum.

Just curious, why do you think it's Japanese? The safety is from the '50s, the barrel has Belgian proof marks, and the stock is pre-'67. I think they started making them in Japan in 1976.

Thanks! It is a 1954 Belgium Browning. From what I have been able to learn from Dave Buffingtons thread these were sent to Japan and sold in the BX and PX to American GI's. They would then take them to Japanese engravers who would embellish them. I have heard that some of these engravers worked as contract labor for the BX or PX. Supposedly the GI's would trade cigarettes for the engravings so these are termed "Cigarette Guns". So yes its Belgium, just Japanese engraved.

 

A couple more pictures.

 

That is a wonderful gun and a wonderful restoration.

 

Awesome gun. Here is the link to Dave's gun.
viewtopic.php?f=53&t=354768

 

I was curious how it got a gold trigger. The early 50s serial number prefix "L" was for the Light Twelve with gold trigger. The "H" prefix was for the standard weight, blue trigger. The mid 50s prefix for the Light Twelve was "G" and the standard weight was "M." Standard or Light it deserves a gold trigger.

 

I was curious how it got a gold trigger. The 50s serial number prefix "L" was for the Light Twelve with gold trigger. The "H" prefix was for the standard weight, blue trigger. The mid 60s prefix for the Light Twelve was "G" and the standard weight was "M." Standard or Light it deserves a gold trigger.

Very observant! Actually Art's called me when they had it apart and asked if I wanted it gold plated before they reassembled it. They thought it would look good gold plated and I agreed so there you have it! Thanks for linking Dave's thread also. I definitely feel his is of much higher quality but there are some definite similarities. I am looking forward to him commenting on this thread.

 

Thanks for the great pictures! That gun was a deal, and certainly worth restoration. Enjoy it, and welcome to the forum.

 

Thanks for the explaination. Usually when I see pictures of an Auto-5 purchased from a PX overseas, it's a World Market gun. Yours is definately a US Market Browning. Maybe it depends on where in the world the PX was located?

 

There's a couple steel receiver DA's floating around with this same pattern to. They pop up for sale every once and awhile.

 

Pictures - Engraved Brownings
[ Go to pageGo to page: 1 ... 5, 6, 7 ]
Have a look at this post page 7. I believe you will find that Anglo Bee engraved your gun at the Browning factory.

 

Nice Gun, a good friend of my father was stationed in Korea during the war, he bought a Steel receiver DA from the PX and had the same engraving done in japan, Arts restored the gun a few years back. His DA has the stock carved and ivory inlays in the stock as well, I would love to buy it.

 

Interesting story on the provenance of this gun. Almost as nice of a job on the research as Art's performed on the restoration. The wood is almost as fantastic as the engraving !!
Nice find !! Congrats !! You did it justice !!

 

Gorgeous!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Very nice!!! Can I be the putz that asks how much and what the turn time was?

 

Yeah no problem. Turn around time was about 4 months. Total not including shipping was $950.00. That included rebluing the whole gun, refinishing the wood and recutting the checkering, quite a bit of hand sanding as the gun had a lot of pitting, especially on the barrel, and rejeweling the bolt. Also they replaced the butt plate and refit the stock. Pretty much made it new again. So the restoration was about a little more then 4 times what I paid for the gun, and worth every penny!

 

Pictures - Engraved Brownings
[ Go to pageGo to page: 1 ... 5, 6, 7 ]
Have a look at this post page 7. I believe you will find that Anglo Bee engraved your gun at the Browning factory.

It would br great if it could be attributed to him but with no signature anywhere I am still inclined to believe it was done in Japan sometime in the 50's.

 

I kind of like the original bolt jeweling. Was there a problem with it?

 

Well thats a good question. When Dave got his gun back the bolt was plain where his before pictures clearly showed it jeweled. I called and inquired about that and told them I wanted to make sure mine came back jeweled. It did but it was redone and had a $50.00 charge. I can only assume that somewhere in the restoration process it is removed either manually or chemically and has to be redone. Though honestly I am not sure and didnt think to ask that specific question. Maybe someone familar with the process can chime in.

 

It would br great if it could be attributed to him but with no signature anywhere I am still inclined to believe it was done in Japan sometime in the 50's.

I have to agree. Factory engraving was done at FN. Also the gun clearly had the standard engraving (including JMB's likeness) which was buffed off in places and added to in others.

 

A simple Google search led me to this site and Dave Buffingtons threads about his very similar gun. That certainly cleared up questions I had for nearly 25 years! Thanks Dave!

Oh, my pleasure! These Belgian-made/Japanese-engraved guns are unique and beautiful in their own, well, unique way. I'd absolutely love to find someone who actually dealt with the Japanese engravers.

Congratulations!
Dave