Anyone remember the Browning A500R shotgun?

[Patrick L]

Was not sure where to post this. I didn't put it under "Casting for Shotguns" because it is not about casting, but it is about a shotgun. I just wanted to tap into the incredible knowledge base that is here on this forum.

I recently came into temporary possession (long story) of a Browning A500R, the gun they made for a few years back in the late 80s - early 90s. As I recall there was the R, which was a short recoil operated gun, and they also made the A500G, which had a gas system. I know these guns only lasted a few years and then were gone.

Can anyone tell me what the story was on these? Why didn't they make it? Were they just not that good, or were they too different from the traditional old Auto 5 that the market just rejected it?

It seems to be well made. It is a DU gun, so it is pretty.

[BK7saum]

I really don't have an answer to your questions. One of my hunting partners had one of the A500Rs. It seemed to be a decent gun, but didn't fit me very well at all. The Belgium A5s however I shoot rather well.

[jimb16]

I guess a lot of people didn't like the "double recoil tap" of the recoil operating system. I've shot a couple and it feels really weird.

[RickinTN]

If I'm not mistaken the model you are speaking of was actually manufactured by Beretta for Browning. Beretta marketed the same shotgun at the same time under the model #390. I think I remember you could get the 390 from Beretta with either the "hump-back" receiver profile or the more common smooth profile. The model in question did very well under the Beretta name and then evolved into the Beretta 391 which also did quite well. Beretta only recently (the last couple of years) dropped the 391 and introduced the A400 as a replacement. Nothing at all wrong with the 391, but manufacturers feel the need to replace an older model with a newer one to help sell more guns. I think probably the reason the Browning model didn't last very long was because Browning expected their gun to sell for more money than the same model from Beretta only because it wore the Browning name. Parts are fully interchangeable as far as I remember.
Rick

[runfiverun]

the r was a recoil type gun, but the barrel moved back as well as the normal gas operation.
pull the front handguard and look...
these were good guns actually.
my pop had one [maybe still does] and used it to duck hunt with for a number of years, i shot it a time or two and favored it over the remington 1187 by a wide margin, but liked the browning gold more [untill the win super X-2 come out]

[Patrick L]

Thanks for the replies. Rick, the Browning B80 was the one that was the same as one of the Beretta autos from the same time period. I think this one came after the B80.

[Patrick L]

Well, I shot the gun yesterday at 5 stand. To be fair, I shot it better than I usually do; I broke 22! I'm usually delighted if I break 19 or 20.

The gun is clunky as heck. And I was surprised at how much it kicked. I've always heard how soft these short recoil guns shot, can't prove it by this one! And this was with factory 1 1/8 oz target loads. Can't imagine touching off a 3 incher with this thing.