Three shotguns, one design.

That design comes thanks to John Moses Browning, the legendary thinker behind firearms like Winchester’s Model 1885, Model 1886, Model 1892 and Model 1894 rifles, Model 1887 lever action and Model 1897 shotguns and the Colt Model 1911 pistol. After two years of missionary work for the Mormon Church, Browning had yet another design to pitch to Winchester, a self-loading shotgun.

Browning’s design of the action took it straight back to the buttstock where it cut down sharply, eventually earning the nickname “humpback.” He took the design to Winchester, where company president Thomas Bennett called it “the ugliest gun I’ve ever seen.” Between his first patent bought by Winchester and the patent for the automatic loading shotgun, the company bought more than 40 of Browning’s patents, but used only about one-third of them.  Browning wanted a royalty for each one of the blocky-looking shotguns sold, rather than licensing the patent to Winchester as he’d done in the past. The gun-making legend and the company went around and around for two years, before Browning walked away without a deal.

His next stop was Remington, but tragically, Remington President Martellus Hartley died of a heart attack as Browning waited to meet with him about his automatic loading shotgun. Browning had a relationship with Belgian gunmaker Fabrique Nationale after the company licensed the design for the company’s Model 1900. FN and Browning reached an agreement to make and sell the gun, except in the United States. Production started in 1902.

Circling back to Remington, the company and Browning came to an agreement, and in 1905, the Remington Autoloading Shotgun was introduced. Six years later, it was reintroduced as the Model 11. FN produced the gun as the Browning Automatic 5 – often shortened to Auto-5 or even A5. In 1930, the design was licensed to Savage that produced the shotgun as the Model 720, as well as the 755 and 775 based on the design.

Several versions of Browning’s iconic and cutting edge design, whether it is the Remington Model 11, the Browning Auto 5 or the Savage 720 are available in Rock Island Auction Company’s Feb. 21-23 Sporting & Collector Auction.

Remington Model 11

When offered a second opportunity to produce and sell Browning’s design, Remington jumped. Browning supervised production of the Remington Model 11 at the company’s Ilion, New York factory. Introduced in 1905 as the Remington Autoloading Shotgun and renamed the Remington Model 11 in 1911, it was the first mass-produced semi-automatic shotgun. Hunters quickly found it to be a robust and reliable design.

The Remington Model 11-Browning Auto 5-Savage 720 could carry four shells in the magazine and one in the chamber, hence the Browning Auto 5 name. The gun utilizes a long recoil action that pushes the barrel and bolt back when fired, ejecting the cartridge. The bolt separates from the barrel and pulls a shell from the magazine into the chamber to reload the gun. Browning called the design his “best achievement.”

Because of the semi-automatic nature of the gun, the Remington Model 11-Browning Auto 5-Savage 720 could be adjusted for heavy powder loads or light powder loads. Heavy loads have harsh recoil and can damage the humpback receiver, so a friction ring on the recoil spring serves as a brake, taking energy away from the barrel and bolt. Conversely, the friction ring could cause the gun to jam with lighter loads. Since the friction ring slowed the recoil and limited the energy used to eject the used shell and load a new one lighter powder loads required the friction ring to be removed for proper recoil and eject the shell.

The Remington Model 11 also came in a “Sportsman” variant that had a magazine for two shells plus one in the chamber. An early feature of the Model 11 was the safety lever was next to the trigger, so there was concern for an accidental discharge if a finger slipped or if someone wearing gloves tried to engage or disengage the safety. The safety was later moved outside the trigger guard.

Bonnie Parker was known to use a Remington Model 11 in 20 gauge, and a famous photo shows her holding the gun on her paramour and partner-in-crime, Clyde Barrow as she reaches for his pistol.

The company produced 850,000 of the Model 11 before ending production in 1947. Remington reintroduced the Remington Model 11 as the Model 11-48 that was produced until 1968. It reemerged on two other occasions as the Model 11-87 and the Euro Lightweight Autoloading Shotgun.

Browning Auto 5

Fabrique Nationale had success with the first gun Browning brought to the company, the Model 1900 pistol that was the same system that Colt would use in the Model 1903 and Model 1908, and so welcomed the opportunity to make the autoloading shotgun. The company manufactured the shotgun for nearly 100 years.

While Remington’s version of Browning’s design was unassuming, FN offered engraving options. A 16 gauge version was offered starting in 1909, known as the “Sweet Sixteen.” A lightweight 12 gauge version of the Auto-5 was offered after World War 2, made lighter with narrower vent ribs and less wood used in the stock. It also came with a gold-plated trigger and was known as the “Light Twelve.”

Production of the Browning Auto 5 was moved to Remington in the United States during World War 2 where it was manufactured alongside the Model 11 with Browning markings. One difference between the American-made Auto 5 and its Belgian version is that the American-made shotgun had a magazine cutoff.

The British Special Forces found the Browning Auto-5 to be a fine weapon for close-quarters jungle warfare during the Malayan Emergency, or the Anti-British National Liberation War as its known in some quarters. Though the gun was never listed as an official weapon in the American arsenal during the Vietnam War, soldiers reportedly requested the Auto 5 be sent from home for use in the jungles and on guard duty.

Along with Remington and Savage, Franchi, Breda and other companies made shotguns based on the Browning Auto 5 design.

In January 1914, Browning was honored for his contributions to Belgian gunmaking and the Fabrique Nationale factory, an event Browning had tried to avoid for several months. During a banquet in Browning’s honor, Belgian officials conferred on him the Cross of Knighthood of the Order of Leopold. The day after Thanksgiving in 1926, Browning and his son Val went to the Fabrique Nationale plant where the senior Browning was working on an over/under shotgun design. His father felt ill that day and  Val Browning called for the factory doctor who diagnosed a heart attack. A short time later the gun-making legend was dead of heart failure at the age of 71.

Savage 720

The Savage 720 was introduced in 1930 and was made until 1949. The company offered various levels of embellishment. The Savage, Remington 11 and Auto 5 found their way into World War 2, used for guard duty at factories as well as a training aid for fliers. Fitted with a Cutts Compensator, the airman used it for shooting clay pigeons as a way of learning to lead their gun at a moving target. While the gun could be embellished and the company offered factory engraving, the Savage 720 was also configured as a riot shotgun with a shorter barrel.

Along with the Model 720, Savage also offered the Model 745, Model 755 and Model 775 based on the Browning Auto 5 design. They were advertised as having an automatic loading mechanism on both standard and lightweight models. The 745 was sold in the 1940s while the 755 and 775 were sold in the 1950s. The 755 had a steel receiver while the other two had aluminum alloy receivers. In ads of the day, the hump was less noticeable where the receiver met the buttstock.

All in One: Browning Auto 5, Remington Model 11, Savage 720

Though some may point to his military firearms or his contributions to Winchester’s lever action lineup as his finest work, John Moses Browning considered the simple but robust long recoil design that Fabrique Nationale manufactured for nearly 100 years as the Browning Auto 5 as his “best achievement.”

The design can also be found as the Remington Model 11 and Savage 720 and serves as a fitting legacy for the legendary gun designer and sportsman who loved to hunt in the mountains above his Ogden, Utah home.