I’m a sucker for classic shotguns, those timeless, gorgeous firearms expertly crafted of wood and metal—no black polymer, please. It’s with this mindset that I first eyed the semi-automatic featured on the cover of the December 2024 issue of the NRA’s American Rifleman magazine: the new Browning A5 Hunter 20 Gauge.
As a veteran bird hunter and clay-target shooter, I’m always on the lookout for ways to reduce felt recoil in a shotgun, yet keep the gun as light as possible. However, a shotgun that’s too light tends to magnify recoil. On the other hand, a shotgun that’s too heavy is literally a pain to tote afield all day. Could this new Browning be the ultimate compromise? I just had to find out. Oh, and for the record, I’m also a sucker for a 20 gauge.
The “humpback” design of the A5 Hunter is classic old-school Browning. Originally invented in 1903 by the legendary gunmaker John Moses Browning (1855-1926), it was the first semi-automatic shotgun ever offered for sale. In production until 1999, the original Auto-5 is considered the “aristocrat of shotguns,” and still holds the record for being the longest continuously manufactured shotgun in history. But it wasn’t until 1958 that the gun finally became available in 20 gauge.
I once fired one of those original Browning Auto-5 20 gauges that a buddy of mine owned, and I was not impressed. Before pulling the trigger, I had no idea that the barrel was designed to lurch backward several inches to eject the spent hull and cycle a new round into the chamber. As a result, the gun nearly jumped out of my hands, and the recoil was more than I had anticipated for a 20 gauge. Much more.
But that issue is long gone now, remedied by Browning’s modern inertia-actuated Kinematic Drive operating system. That said, the A5 Hunter is a true pleasure to shoot. It’s light weight (just 5 lbs. 11 oz.) allows it to come to the shoulder quickly, and its moderate yet manageable recoil helps a shooter “stay in the gun” for a quick second or even third shot at gamebirds or clays.
As for appearance, both the stock and forearm are Grade I walnut finished in a high gloss, with panels of cut checkering (18 lines per inch) on the pistol grip and thin forearm. A gold-plated trigger and gold Browning Buckmark logo on the bottom of the trigger guard add a pair of tasteful touches. Both the trigger guard and receiver are anodized aluminum, helping to trim weight. The vented-rib barrel has a white mid-rib bead and red fiber-optic front sight. The safety button is on the right side of the gun, immediately behind the trigger guard.
The gun’s “Speed-Feed” feature is handy. With the bolt locked open, thumb a round into the magazine tube and it will be grabbed by the two-piece carrier, pulled up into the feedway, and the bolt will close automatically. There is also a bolt hold-open latch located on the underside of the receiver that can be used to lock the bolt back on an empty chamber at any time.
Accessories include: a custom-fitted, hard-plastic gun case (black); owner’s manual; three Invector DS choke tubes (improved cylinder, modified, and full); choke tube wrench; two stock spacers; five shims; and a gun lock. MSRP is $1,979, but now that the gun has been in production for a year, I’ve seen new Browning A5 Hunter 20s priced in gun stores at around $1,700.
The all-important length of pull of the shotgun—the distance measured from the front of the trigger to the rear of the recoil pad—is 14.25”. Smaller women may want to consult a professional stock fitter on having it trimmed down a bit. For taller women, two stock spacers come standard with the gun (1/4” and ½”), and can be added to the stock singularly or in tandem, creating a full 15” length of pull.
The shotgun accepts both 2¾” and 3” shells, and has two barrel-length options: 26” or 28”. If you’re strictly a hunter, I would recommend the 26” barrel, but if you also enjoy shooting clays, I’d suggest the 28-incher. Either way, you can’t go wrong.
One of the complaints about the original Auto-5 was how difficult it was to disassemble for cleaning then reassemble afterwards. That is no longer a concern; read and follow the directions in the owner’s manual and you should not have an issue.
To get a woman’s perspective on the shotgun, I asked Christina Loudenslager to shoot a few target rounds through it at some clays. Christina is the general manager of Eagle’s Nest Sporting Grounds, one of the premier clays ranges in Ohio, and she knows shotguns.
“For a 20 gauge, it has a little more recoil than I expected,” she said. “But with the gun being so light, I wasn’t surprised. The gun moved nicely—again, very light—both from the low-gun and pre-mounted shooting positions.
“The look of the shotgun is a bit different than a standard semi-auto. That’s mainly because the rear of the receiver doesn’t gradually rise from the stock to the rib—it’s a sharp step up. Behind the gun, I noticed that right away, but once I was focused on the target, I quickly forgot about it.
“The gun fit me really well,” Christina continued, “which leads me to believe it would be a good choice for just about any smaller-framed person, woman or man. I normally struggle with guns shooting high or not fitting me right out of the box, but there was no struggle with the A5 Hunter.” Christina said that overall she thought it was an interesting shotgun that would make a great game gun, and would likely work as a sporting clays gun as well.
If you’re in the market for a lightweight, semiautomatic shotgun, the new Browning A5 Hunter 20 Gauge checks all the boxes required of a high-quality firearm, and does so for less than two grand. In addition, it’s a classic Browning with a pedigree stretching more than a century.
For more, visit browning.com.
