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Thread: Got me a Rifled Barrel for my old A5

  1. #101
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    Got to shoot the gun today, and the intention was to sight it in and shoot some groups. That was a fantasy as there was an event going on at the Range and the wind was blowing hard at 40 MPH sideways!

    I might add that this was a trip I was seriously loaded for. I had all my shotguns and all my loaded shotgun ammo with me which required the big truck to haul. I also had my chrono and the bench rest etc etc. Now I have to go out and unload it all and put it all away.

    So I only got to shoot a few rounds. Results were encouraging!

    First: The gun goes bang every time. It also runs like advertised, which is a big win for me, as it means that I can disassemble and reassemble a Browning A5 correctly!

    I had the Miroku Smoothbore Slug barrel on the gun so no bore sized slugs today. I also had to shoot offhand as the bench was already taken by someone else. This was the first day anyone has been able to shoot at the Ojai Valley Gun Club Range for months so there was alot of people there.

    Second; I can also Eyeball the set up of Sights pretty close,,, as the very first shot went dead center on the Hanging Silhouette Chicken at 50 M I was aiming at! 6 of the next 7 shots also hit said chicken. I shot the last two Lee Slugs I had loaded at the 100 Meter Hanging Pigs and was close, but no hits.

    In all the gun shoots well and is easy to run and will get easier the more I play with it. Can't wait to shoot the Hastings barrel! but I still need to actually put the gun on paper and see what is happening. Might go to the Santa Barbara Range next week and sight it in there. That range is shielded from the wind and is more conducive to 50 and 100 yard shooting that mine is.

    Here's some pics of the chickens.

    Randy
    "It's not how well you do what you know how to do,,,It's how well you do what you DON'T know how to do!"
    www.buchananprecisionmachine.com

  2. #102
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    Thats awesome!

  3. #103
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    Hopefully I'll get to shoot at some paper targets this week so I can dial in the rear sights on both barrels with "base line slugs" which in the case of the smooth bore will be Federal Low Recoil cuz that's what I'll have to shoot at Front Sight. I think the rifled barrel will get dialed in with the STI Sabot Slugs, as they are supposed to be the most accurate.

    Here's something I do when I sight in my rifles. I sight them in with the fastest load that will be shot from that particular gun, which in most cases will be a readily available Factory Load. This yields the "Mechanical Zero" for the gun and is the zero which all other loads are referenced to in elevation. All other loads are slower and thus only require a positive elevation change which is documented and thus predictable.

    Thus when I go to shoot another load in the gun that I have previously shot all I do is dial in the appropriate plus elevation from the book and am dead on with that load again. All the elevation offsets for different ranges are also noted so I can dial in the appropriate elevation for a given distance. When done I put the rear sight back to it's mechanical zero. That way I am always starting from a known point.

    On sights like Lyman Receiver Sights there are actually stops that you set and go down to when returning to MZ. With scopes you just go back to your Zero Hash Marks on the turret dials which you zeroed out after establishing your Mechanical Zero.

    Shotguns with Rifle Sights or Scopes are handled exactly the same way..

    Hope this helps some people looking for more understanding on how their sights work.

    Randy
    "It's not how well you do what you know how to do,,,It's how well you do what you DON'T know how to do!"
    www.buchananprecisionmachine.com

  4. #104
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    In order to further the testing of the various slugs I have available, I ordered some of what are supposed to be the most accurate Slug ammo out there. The point of this is to establish a baseline accuracy standard for all 3 guns.

    They are Brenneke Tactical Home Defense and Lightfield Sabot slugs. In some 12 ga Rifles the Lightfield ammo is supposed to be sub MOA! The Brenneke's are supposed to be the hot tip for smooth bores.

    I'd have to see that, but if it's possible it gives us something to shoot for.

    The guns guns used for these tests will be a Browning A5 with a smoothbore slug barrel, and a Hastings Rifled barrel. A Mossberg 500 with a 20" Vang Comped barrel. And another M500 with a 24" rifled barrel.

    So as soon as the ammo gets here I'll be shooting groups with it and report back. Then I will start shooting home made ammo and let you know what works best.

    We seldom know exactly what our guns will do with a supposed "best quality ammo." All I know is that the Lightfield Slugs are supposed to be the most accurate shotgun slug ammo out there. Supposedly with either Rifled or Smoothbore Barrels. We'll see.

    Hopefully this will give me a baseline accuracy standard to shoot for with my Home Made ammo. As far as home made ammo is concerned I see the STI slugs being best from the rifled barrels at 100 yards and the Pumpkin Balls or Lee Slugs from the Smoothbores at 50 yards.

    Randy
    "It's not how well you do what you know how to do,,,It's how well you do what you DON'T know how to do!"
    www.buchananprecisionmachine.com

  5. #105
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    I have always had the best luck with Win foster slugs in several smooth bores. If they did not like the 2.75 then they would like the 3". Or the other way.

    Those Lightfields are some heavy recoilers!!!

  6. #106
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    Tomme: I got the Lightfield Hybrid Lites which are 1.25 oz at 1300 fps, or the lightest loads they make in 12 ga.

    The Brenneke Tactical Home Defense are 1oz at 1300 fps and are designed to duplicate other brands Low Recoil 12 ga slugs,,, with better slugs.

    We'll see how they act.

    Randy
    "It's not how well you do what you know how to do,,,It's how well you do what you DON'T know how to do!"
    www.buchananprecisionmachine.com

  7. #107
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    OK: one other thing for today was making some Brass Inserts for the STI Sabots. I ended up making 11 of them and after weighing they came out right on 550 gr total with the Sabot. The Lead inserts were 490 gr total.

    I made my inserts with a longer Spigot that goes into the sabot and larger diameter nose section and longer nose section. This is how I picked up the extra weight over the lead inserts.

    For those interested I made the inserts .710 major dia. tapering to .600 at the nose end. .505 dia for the Spigot x .620 long and the OAL of the whole thing is .900. They were made from regular 360 Series Brass Rod.

    These should fly pretty well.

    Here's pics.

    Randy
    "It's not how well you do what you know how to do,,,It's how well you do what you DON'T know how to do!"
    www.buchananprecisionmachine.com

  8. #108
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    The regular 1.25oz hunting loads from Lightfield are real bruisers. But they sure shot well.

    Those brass Sabot should shoot well. But not from the pocketbook!

  9. #109
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    OK , today a nother piece of the puzzle arrived. It was the Briley Magazine Extension. This was a Plus 2 Extension which looks very nice and is made even nicer. It has a ring for attaching a standard Uncle Mikes QD Sling Swivel and came with an Extended Mag Spring.

    The gun will now carry 7 rounds total or 6+1 depending on how you look at it.

    Update: Turns out it swallows 7 rounds in the mag. So the gun is 7+1 now.

    I will make it to the range this weekend and get this new part totally sussed out so it runs perfectly. I doubt there will be much too it.

    Me and My Bro in Law are headed to Front Sight the middle of April for a Rifle and Shotgun class where I will be shooting this gun alot and figuring out how to run it.

    Here's pics of the gun with the new part attached. This was made by Briley who makes all sorts of Shotgun accessories. It is very well made.

    Randy
    Last edited by W.R.Buchanan; 04-02-2019 at 05:26 PM.
    "It's not how well you do what you know how to do,,,It's how well you do what you DON'T know how to do!"
    www.buchananprecisionmachine.com

  10. #110
    Boolit Mold
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    Nice lookin Browning!!!


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  11. #111
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    OK, got to shoot the A5 yesterday and it runs perfectly. found out the mag extension allows 7 rounds in the tube so the gun is 7+1 or 8 total. Did a mag dump on 8 dirt clods at 15 yards and it ran great.

    Then I went over to the bench and tried shooting some groups with various ammo that I have loaded to test Roll Crimping with different slugs. I loaded all these along the way and didn't want to take them apart as there was nothing wrong with them and they all went bang. All shot from the Smoothbore Barrel at a paper target set up in front of the Hanging 50 Meter Chickens at the range.

    I shot one 5 shot group and then started having problems, mostly with the darn target not wanting to stay in place and falling over requiring multiple trips to the target to reset it. I only really only got one decent 3" 4 shot group before another problem reared it's ugly head.

    The Browning Rear Sight kept falling apart! I managed to find all the little parts each time but it became evident that I needed some drastic action to fix this one. I now know why the rear sight on the Hastings Barrel was epoxied in place! The violent nature of the barrel cycling really beats these sight around and the Microscopic $10 screws they used for windage adjustment don't have a chance. I was so lucky to find them each time they came out . They were good for 2-3 shots, they are 1-64 threads and will twist off in a heartbeat. Blue Loctite held them for about 10 rounds before they came out and Red Loctite will be a one way trip.

    Since the elevation is usable and adjustable, I will sight the windage in with the Laser and glue it in place and be done with it. I can get it close enough for 50-100 yards shots which is all this gun will ever have to do with open sights.

    I am planning to make a new rear sight elevation block for each barrel which will replace the existing open sight block with one that will adapt a Burris Fastfire III. It will simply require knocking out the little roll pin to change back and forth.

    These are all fine tuning points. I did a double wrap of 1/2" 3x Heat Shrink Tubing on the Bolt Handle to soften it as a temp fix for that until I can get to modding the extra one I have permanently.

    Randy
    "It's not how well you do what you know how to do,,,It's how well you do what you DON'T know how to do!"
    www.buchananprecisionmachine.com

  12. #112
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    That little screw has a step that is about 1/4" dia just under the domed head. It engages the cylindrical aperture. Then it tapers down to the mini thread which is .070 in Dia. which threads into the base block.

    This rear sight is used on the Browning and Hastings slug barrels, Browning BLR's, and some Browning Hi-Powers

    Cylinder and Slide is now making these and are selling them on Ebay for $21.95 +$4.95 shipping !!!!

    This is ridiculous as they sold me the two I bought from them 2 months ago for $10 for a pair!

    You've got to watch everybody nowadays !

    Browning could have done better on the design of this part!

    Randy
    "It's not how well you do what you know how to do,,,It's how well you do what you DON'T know how to do!"
    www.buchananprecisionmachine.com

  13. #113
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    I built a Bridle for my stock yesterday to allow me to mount my sling on either side of the stock. It was made from my normal 1.5" belting with two Uncle Mikes studs cut off and welded to some fender washers. It got taken to my favorite Auto Upholstery shop and sewed together. It is held in place by Velcro.

    I can now carry the gun Cross Body with the muzzle down or Cross Back for long hauls.

    This is a better way to haul a shotgun around and is more comfortable while standing waiting to shoot.

    At Front Sight you shoot in two relays. You are standing behind your partner and are supposed to be coaching him while you are not shooting. You have to have a sling on the gun for this. Previously I had just the regular Sling attachment on the gun. Now I can sling the gun 3 different ways and the Butt Bridle comes right off so there's no change to the gun.

    Good addition.

    Randy
    "It's not how well you do what you know how to do,,,It's how well you do what you DON'T know how to do!"
    www.buchananprecisionmachine.com

  14. #114
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    OK guys I'm back form Front Sight. Had a great time.

    Did a 2 Day Rifle Skill Builder Course with my BIL on Friday and Saturday and we both sucked. Definitely need more practice with that platform.

    Then we did a 2 day Tactical Shogun Class on Monday and Tuesday an didn't suck at all. In fact I can report that the A5 performed well beyond my expectations.

    It took me the first day plus a little of the second to get completely dialed in on how to operate the thing in an efficient manner, and then it was all down hill and just kept getting faster and faster. It is similar to a pump gun in alot of ways, but there are some glaring differences in performance.

    With the "Speed Feed" feature the gun is lots faster to load from empty. Normally with an empty gun you "port load" when empty to keep in the fight, and you can do that with this gun too by simply dropping a shell in the Ejection Port and hitting the Bolt Release Button.

    However it is much faster to just shove one in the loading port and then the gun feeds it directly into the chamber and closes the bolt. The Browning Auto 5's built after 1963 are the only Semi Auto Guns that do this. It is a serious advantage as far as time goes.

    For the "Port Loading Drill" you start with an empty gun. On the "Go" command you load one and fire at a target 15 yards away. You then load another and shoot a different target and then load again and hold. I could beat just about everybody to the first shot and in some cases I was done before some on the line even got their first shot off! I was getting some serious WTH looks for that!

    Was very lucky that the Range Master was a big A5 enthusiast and he showed me some ways to make it go faster. The gun ran pretty much perfectly all the way, I did have the rear sight fall apart near the end of the first day. It is now Permanently Glued together with Red Loctite. It shoots a little to the right but the Front Sight can be drifted a little to bring it in and nobody will know the difference.

    I also had some problems with Winchester Walmart Universal shells sticking in the mag tube when unloading the last round. Closer inspection revealed that the star crimp on their hulls actually flares the end of the hull instead of tapering it inwards. The Federal Walmart Ammo has a nice taper on the end so we won't be buying anymore of the Winchester stuff. Both are same price everywhere. $21.74 per 100.

    Fired right at 300 rounds 225 bird, 20 bucks and the rest slugs. Came home with a bunch of the pretty blue Federal hulls that can be reloaded.

    This was a good course and after you learn how to run the gun and get it setup so it doesn't beat you to death, you start to realize just how much power you have in your hands and it is loads of fun! I highly recommend that everyone who's interested in the shotgun slug or using a shotgun as a defensive tool or dangerous game weapon, go to a class and learn how to use the gun to a higher level. You be surprised just how much you don't know. It will raise your confidence greatly, and the new power you have will make your chest stick out!

    Randy
    Last edited by W.R.Buchanan; 04-24-2019 at 07:38 PM.
    "It's not how well you do what you know how to do,,,It's how well you do what you DON'T know how to do!"
    www.buchananprecisionmachine.com

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check