Earlier in the year, a nice, but worn, 16-gauge, 1928 A5 (Serial Number 62364) snuck into my gun cabinet. The little stowaway had a few things going for -- and against -- it.
In the "going for" category:
- Mechanically, it was fine. Dirty, but fine. It functioned perfectly, and I could actually hit an occasional clay bird with it.
- It had been properly converted for 2-3/4 inch shells by Browning. (Thanks to Keith Groen for his excellent thread on this subject: viewtopic.php?f=53&t=79647)
- It was almost completely original, with an uncut stock and original butt plate. The one variation from new was the aftermarket Poly Choke. (I know, I know, purists gag at the mention of them, but I _like_ having a Poly Choke on a working gun. Plus, the previous owner knew that Poly Chokes are typically frowned upon, and so that gave me the leverage to negotiate a very good price.)
In the "going against" category:
- Although it had not been abused, it had been heavily used. The checkering was heavily worn in spots, as was the bluing.
- The bluing had a mix of light corrosion and stains. The worst was the top of the receiver, which had a nice coating of brown frost.
- The barrel had a full collection of minor nicks and scuffs and scratches.
- The forearm was cracked. My fault. Damn it.
Because I bought it at a good price, at least some level of restoration became financially practical. I considered the well-known restorers, but I was intrigued by the work of Old South Restoration. I didn't want a "better-than-new" gun, but rather, I wanted this "field grade" gun to look at least close to what it might have looked like from the factory.
Although OSR does do some very impressive presentation pieces, they also said they could do something closer to the original, something more proletarian. The price? $650. Turnaround time? 3 to 4 months I was told. So I shipped the gun off to Dyersburg, Tennessee.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And seven months later, it arrived back home ...
![Image]()
First reaction? Wow. The stocks look new, with the slight gloss I expected. The checkering looks new also, with no signs of stray chisel marks. The forearm crack is repaired and invisible. The bluing is a lovely satin, just as I've seen in photos of pre-WWII A5s.
On closer examination, I'm still thrilled. Screw heads? Perfect. Bolt finish? Perfect. There were even some nice touches I didn't expect for the price. For example, on converted A5s, an unblued band of barrel is visible outside of the receiver. OSR preserved that.
How does it function? Fine, but only after a bit of typical A5 fiddling. I shoot and reload light target loads, and OSR installed new friction rings and a new recoil spring … a pretty stiff recoil spring. I simply swapped it out for the spring from another Sweet Sixteen, and all was well, perfect function with the empties landing 6-8 feet from the ejection port.
Issues? Not many. In a few areas where the corrosion was heavier, some of the engraving depth has been lost, but that's not OSR's fault. I didn't pay for the engraving to be recut. However, in retrospect, I wish OSR would have suggested me that service.
Indeed, the communication from OSR could have been better, but in the end, it's the finished product that counts.
And the finished product is beautiful.
Thanks to all!
Dave
In the "going for" category:
- Mechanically, it was fine. Dirty, but fine. It functioned perfectly, and I could actually hit an occasional clay bird with it.
- It had been properly converted for 2-3/4 inch shells by Browning. (Thanks to Keith Groen for his excellent thread on this subject: viewtopic.php?f=53&t=79647)
- It was almost completely original, with an uncut stock and original butt plate. The one variation from new was the aftermarket Poly Choke. (I know, I know, purists gag at the mention of them, but I _like_ having a Poly Choke on a working gun. Plus, the previous owner knew that Poly Chokes are typically frowned upon, and so that gave me the leverage to negotiate a very good price.)
In the "going against" category:
- Although it had not been abused, it had been heavily used. The checkering was heavily worn in spots, as was the bluing.
- The bluing had a mix of light corrosion and stains. The worst was the top of the receiver, which had a nice coating of brown frost.
- The barrel had a full collection of minor nicks and scuffs and scratches.
- The forearm was cracked. My fault. Damn it.
Because I bought it at a good price, at least some level of restoration became financially practical. I considered the well-known restorers, but I was intrigued by the work of Old South Restoration. I didn't want a "better-than-new" gun, but rather, I wanted this "field grade" gun to look at least close to what it might have looked like from the factory.
Although OSR does do some very impressive presentation pieces, they also said they could do something closer to the original, something more proletarian. The price? $650. Turnaround time? 3 to 4 months I was told. So I shipped the gun off to Dyersburg, Tennessee.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And seven months later, it arrived back home ...
First reaction? Wow. The stocks look new, with the slight gloss I expected. The checkering looks new also, with no signs of stray chisel marks. The forearm crack is repaired and invisible. The bluing is a lovely satin, just as I've seen in photos of pre-WWII A5s.
On closer examination, I'm still thrilled. Screw heads? Perfect. Bolt finish? Perfect. There were even some nice touches I didn't expect for the price. For example, on converted A5s, an unblued band of barrel is visible outside of the receiver. OSR preserved that.
How does it function? Fine, but only after a bit of typical A5 fiddling. I shoot and reload light target loads, and OSR installed new friction rings and a new recoil spring … a pretty stiff recoil spring. I simply swapped it out for the spring from another Sweet Sixteen, and all was well, perfect function with the empties landing 6-8 feet from the ejection port.
Issues? Not many. In a few areas where the corrosion was heavier, some of the engraving depth has been lost, but that's not OSR's fault. I didn't pay for the engraving to be recut. However, in retrospect, I wish OSR would have suggested me that service.
Indeed, the communication from OSR could have been better, but in the end, it's the finished product that counts.
And the finished product is beautiful.
Thanks to all!
Dave
