Among today’s autoloaders, the vast majority are of the gas-operated variety. Some of the most popular brand names are gas-operated. Only the Benelli and its subsidiaries Franchi, Breda and Stoeger still continue to market non-gas-operated autoloaders. Today’s gas-operated autoloaders are very reliable, soft shooting, versatile, and well balanced, a far cry from the early versions which had problems handling different loads. As one noted shotgun authority put it recently, the autoloader has reached the zenith of its development in reliability and handling qualities.
The gas-operated autoloader gained its popularity with the appearance of the Remington 1100 in 1963. Prior to that, they were either not reliable or could not handle high and low velocity loads interchangeably. There were the Remington 58 and the 878, the Beretta and LaSalle. The High Standard Supermatic, which was first marketed as the J.C. Higgins Model 60, made its first appearance in 1956. However, the early gas-operated autoloaders tended to be either heavy and bulky like the J.C. Higgins, or incapable of handling all loads like the early Remington and Berettas. The recoil operated autoloader still ruled the roost.
The basic difference between the gas-operated autoloader and the recoil-operated version is that in the former, the operation of the gun uses gases that are bled through a small hole (or holes) at the bottom of the barrel located about midway between the chamber and the muzzle. These gases push the gas piston, which in turn pushes the action bars rearward to cause the ejection of the empty and the subsequent reloading of a fresh round. In the recoil-operated autoloader – whether long recoil, short recoil, inertia, or floating chamber – all of these actions are operated by the force of recoil rather than by escaping gas.
Some today are unfamiliar with the recoil-operated autoloader since many of the older models have been discontinued and are found only in the used gun racks. Compared to the slick and shiny new models found today, the old-timers look downright plain if not shabby! But for many years, ever since its introduction in 1903, the recoil-operated autoloader was the king, especially if it was a Browning made by FN. One could say without reservation that the granddaddy of all autoloaders is the old Browning, more commonly known as the A-5 (aka Auto-5).
Browning A-5 with the long recoil system, the granddaddy of them all. The very first successful autoloading shotgun. This one is the legendary Sweet Sixteen model.
The Browning A-5, the brainchild of John Moses Browning, utilizes what is known as the long recoil system. The operation of the action is dependent upon the recoiling barrel, which moves the full length of the action, ejecting a spent case and reloading a fresh round just as the movement of a pump handle on a pump gun would do. In short, the recoiling barrel (which rides on a heavy spring wrapped around a magazine tube) performs exactly the same function that the forward arm of a shooter does on a pump gun. It is a very simple system that when properly set up (i.e., with its friction rings installed correctly) can be extremely reliable, as millions of Browning A-5s and its progeny have proven.
Browning’s A-5 with its long recoil system produced a whole bunch of look-alikes and outright copies. Remington produced its famous Model 11, which was almost exactly like the A-5 with some modifications, under Browning license and Savage produced its 700 series, also under Browning license. In 1948, Remington streamlined the receiver of their Model 11, kept its long-recoil action, and simplified the friction ring system and voila! The new Model 11-48 was born. This was a very successful design and, although displaced by the 1100 in 1963, it continued to sell well into the 1970s as the budget priced “Mohawk” model.
Overseas, the Italians in particular took to the long-recoil autoloader and produced several versions of the old A-5 that were somewhat Modified. Luigi Franchi came out with a lightweight, more streamlined version in 1948. Franchi’s version is sold to this day as the Model 48 AL. Breda made a finely finished autoloader that could be completely disassembled without tools and had interchangeable chokes as early as the late 1940s.
There were other offshore autoloaders that were never imported into the U.S. The Japanese made several versions. Miroku made a simplified A-5 clone (it was actually made by KFC for Miroku) that was marketed under the Charles Daly label in 1960s. SKB made models 300 and 900 (not the XLs, which were gas operated) which were mechanically almost identical to the Franchi, imported from 1960s into the 1970s. Even the Russians of the old Soviet Union produced their version of the recoil-operated autoloaders, the Models MU21 and MU22. [Editor’s note: The Germans also got into the act with an unmarked A-5 knockoff bearing German proofs that was marketed briefly before WWII. Of course Winchester had its own take-down variation on the A-5 long recoil theme, the notorious M1911 “Widowmaker.” – DMS]
The long recoil autoloader first introduced in 1903 by Browning is still being produced, not as a Browning (the A-5 was discontinued in 1998), but as the Franchi 48AL, over 100 years after its first appearance! However, despite the fact that Robert Stack won the world 20 gauge Skeet Championship with a Remington Model 11, except for the streamlined 11-48s in smaller gauges – especially the 28 and .410 – the recoil operated autoloaders never really caught on with trap and skeet shooters.
From 1903 until the 1950s, there were no other autoloaders in the U.S. that were successful other than those based on the long recoil system. In 1953, John Browning’s son Val came up with a design that was very different from the standard long recoil-operated autoloader. Val tweaked the existing short recoil system that had been used in the Johnson Automatic rifle, a rifle of questionable reputation that was used by some Marine and Army units during WWII. In the short recoil system, the barrel moves but about an inch or so, only far enough to start the breech block moving, then the breech block takes over on its own inertia and completes the cycle of ejecting the empty and reloading a fresh round. It is a very simple and extremely reliable system that does not require any friction rings and can fire both low and high velocity loads interchangeably.
Browning called its new short recoil autoloader the Double Automatic. It was designed to fire only two rounds. Lacking a magazine tube and all the stuff that goes with it, the Double Automatic had a balance that was as close as one could get to that of a double gun. It was extremely well made and began to arrive in large numbers by 1955. But alas, because it was but a two-shot and had a loading port on the left side of the receiver, it never really caught on, although some recognized its qualities and latched onto it. It was mass-produced only in 12 gauge although a couple of experimental 20 gauges were built. The Double Auto sold fairly well but not well enough, so it was discontinued after an 18-year run. Incidentally, it was also with the appearance of this new gun that the old humpback was renamed the “Automatic Five” or “A-5,” to differentiate it from the newer Double Automatic. Prior to that, the old humpback was simply called the Browning Automatic, as indicated on its butt plate.
Browning Double Automatic “Twelvette” Model with short recoil system. A beautifully-made, superbly-handling gun that just never caught on.
Top: Winchester Model 50, slipping or floating chamber; Bottom: Browning Double Automatic, short recoil system.
At about the same time, Winchester introduced an autoloader that was also quite innovative. Actually, although the Browning Double Auto was developed in 1953, the Winchester appeared earlier in larger numbers in 1954. The new Winchester Model 50 employed a “floating chamber” that previously had been used in a .22 caliber pistol, the Colt Ace, and the Remington .22 rifle Model 550. The Colt Ace had been in production since 1935, so the Model 50’s was not a new concept. Still, it