Читать книгу Gun Digest 2011 - Dan Shideler - Страница 16

THE “OTHER” AUTOLOADERS

Though popular today, gas-operated shotguns had –

and have – some stiff competition. BY NICK HAHN

Franchi 48 AL Eldorado Grade: long recoil system;

Benelli Montefeltro Ultralight, inertia system.

Despite the tremendous popularity of the over/under shotgun and the resurgence of the classic side by side, when it comes to shotguns, in the U.S. the repeaters are ahead in popularity. There are many reasons for the repeaters’ dominance, its lower price being one of the most important. Whatever the reason, the repeating shotgun sees the most widespread use among shooters, and there are basically only two categories that really matter: the pump (slide action) and the autoloader (semi-automatic). The autoloader is preferred by many today.

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 was new when it came to shotguns. In this system, the barrel is stationary, does not move at all. Instead, the chamber is a separate piece of tube that is sleeved into the barrel and slides back and forth. At the shot, the recoil forces the chamber to jab backward and moves the breech block, which completes the cycle on its own inertia, ejecting the empty and reloading the chamber with a fresh round. This was a very simple and effective method of harnessing the recoil energy. Unfortunately the gun did not catch on. The Model 50 with a steel receiver was very butt-heavy because it had its recoiling mechanism in the buttstock. Most shooters found it to be not just butt-heavy, but simply too heavy overall. The Model 50 in 12 gauge weighed close to 8-½ pounds and in 20 gauge it was around 7-½ pounds! Although it was made in trap and skeet versions, it never gained popularity because it lacked proper balance for clay target shooting.

Winchester tried to change that and came out with a better version, the Featherweight Model, with an alloy receiver. This made the gun lighter and shifted some weight to the front. It was an excellent gun, but still it did not sell well. It was trying to compete with the Browning A-5, which had been in production for over 50 years and had become a legend with field shooters. Among newer guns, the Remington 11-48 was a sleek looking, popular autoloader especially with skeet shooters. And Savage’s take on the Model 11-48, the Model 755, was selling well in its own right.

Winchester tried harder and came out with the Model 59, which used the same system but had a barrel that even today would be considered revolutionary. The Winchester Model 59 used a thin steel liner that was wrapped with 500 miles of fiberglass thread to make what they called a Win-lite barrel. Together with the alloy receiver, this made for an excellent upland gun weighing in at 6-½ pounds in 12 gauge. But the Model 59 with its revolutionary barrel didn’t make it, either. One good thing came out of that attempt. Winchester introduced screw-in chokes for the Model 59 in 1961, calling it the Versalite chokes. The concept eventually caught on. (Contrary to popular belief, Winchester was not the first with the interchangeable choke tube. A Massachusetts gunsmith by the name of Sylvester Roper patented a choke device that attached to the end of the barrel back in 1866, and the Italian gun maker Breda had a choke tube system called “Quick Choke,” which made its appearance in the 1940s. The Simmons Choke, very similar to Breda’s “Quick-Choke” came out a year before Winchester, and Armalite had a similar system on their revolutionary AR-17. If you include choke tubes that did not attach directly to the barrel, but to a recoil chamber, then you can go back to 1922 when the Cutts Compensator first appeared. But Winchester could rightly be given credit for having made the first commercially successful “internal” or “screw-in” choke tubes in the U.S.)

Ironically, although the Winchester choke system survived, later to be reborn as the “Winchoke,” the floating chamber action did not, at least not in a shotgun. Like the short recoil system, the floating chamber system could be very reliable, providing the gun was cleaned and maintained properly. Most of the problems found associated with this system were simply caused by lack of maintenance and cleaning!

The Winchester Model 50 lasted only seven years. Introduced in 1954, a year after the Browning Double Automatic, it was discontinued in 1961. The Model 59 was introduced in 1958 and lasted until 1965. The Browning Double Automatic outlasted both Winchesters by staying in production until 1971. With the discontinuance of the Double Automatic, the choice in autoloaders was reduced to either the old long recoil or the newer gas operated system.

In 1967, a relatively little known company in Italy – Benelli – introduced their version of an inertia-driven system in an autoloader, the M-1. In 1983 Benelli further refined the system by providing a rotating bolt head. The first of the early Benelli shotguns began to appear in the U.S. around mid 1970s; these guns were brought in initially either individually or by small importers, but in 1977 Heckler & Koch began importing the Benelli shotguns in larger numbers. The Benelli is an extremely reliable, well-made, well-finished gun. In the Benelli system, the barrel is stationary as in the floating chamber, and only the breech bolt moves back at the shot and completes the cycle.

Top: Franchi 48 AL: long recoil system; Bottom: Benelli M-1: inertia system.

The inertia system, in different variations, has been around a long time. It seems that the Italians tinkered with it more than anybody else. In one form or another, it’s been in existence since the 1920s. Benelli is constantly tweaking the system, coming out with different variations almost annually. The Benelli is very popular here in the U.S. with hunters and seems to have caught on with the Sporting Clays shooters as well.

Today, except for Benelli’s inertia and Franchi 48AL’s long recoil system, there are no other non-gas operated shotguns available to the American shooters, except on the used-gun market. The Beretta UGB 25 Xcel, which operates on the short recoil system, for all practical purpose can be counted out of the equation, since it is made only as a trap gun. So essentially what we have today among autoloading shotguns is the inertia-driven and the long recoil-operated shotguns of Benelli and Franchi. All the rest are gas-operated. Are there other recoil operated systems? Yes, but their manufacture is not widespread.

Bernardelli Automatico VB – inertia system.

In the 1930s the German company of Walther experimented with an autoloader that employed the toggle system like the famous Luger pistol and there was also the Scandinavian Sjogren. In the 1960s Stoeger imported a Vincenzo Bernardelli produced autoloader that employed a different type of inertia breech bolt system on a one piece-stocked, box magazine-fed shotgun that looked more like a Rifle. Named the Automatico V.B., it was well-made but never caught on with the public, not here, not in Italy. It was made in 12, 16, and 20 gauges, but the smaller-gauge versions are extremely rare in the U.S.

The Cosmi is another non-gas operated system that has been around in Europe since the 1930s. It was developed as early as 1925 and has always been a strictly in-house, hand-made gun. Most shotgunners will never see a Cosmi, let alone handle one. It uses an inertia system on an action body that can be opened with a top lever like any break action gun! The magazine is contained in the buttstock. It is made in 12, 16, and 20 gauges and is, perhaps needless to say, very expensive.

The Cosmi: a unique inertia system with a break-open action. Expensive, too.

The earlier mentioned Armalite Corporation came out with a rather unique autoloading shotgun, the AR-17, which they called the “Golden Gun,” a lightweight gun made of “space-age”materials that weighed 5-½ pounds in 12 gauge. It worked on the short recoil system but unlike the Browning Double Auto, which had a loading port on the side, the AR-17 loaded from the bottom in conventional fashion and had interchangeable choke tubes. Unfortunately, it never caught on. It was, perhaps, a bit too futuristic looking with its gold anodized coloring and plastic stock. Parts for this gun were made between 1956 and 1962, enough for 2000 units. However, only a total of 1,200 units was sold during its lifetime.

Currently, the only shotgun that operates on a short recoil system is the rather expensive, previously-mentioned Beretta UGB25 Xcel. The UGB, like the Cosmi, has the unique break-open barrel like a double gun or a single shot, yet it also has a round that is held on the side, somewhat like the Browning Double Auto, and operates on short recoil. It is made only as a 12 gauge trap gun.

Armalite AR-17, short recoil system.

So, now we come to the question of, what possible advantage could non-gas-operated autoloaders hold over gas-operated guns. Most will agree that dependability is no longer the big issue with gas-operated guns, so that is not an advantage for non-gas guns. Possibly the biggest difference between the gas and the non-gas autoloaders is their respective handling characteristics, their dynamics. Some gas-operated autoloaders may very well weigh less than their non-gas-operated counterparts, but their balance points will be different and chances are their forearms will be thicker.

By their very nature, the gas-operated guns require more hardware up front in the forearm area. It is amazing how balance can shift with something as seemingly insignificant as the gas piston. That is one reason why the floating chamber Winchester Models 50 and 59 are light up front. The Browning Double Auto also owes its excellent handling qualities to the lack of a magazine. The Franchi 48AL solves this problem by having a lightweight alloy magazine tube, so the weight up front is considerably less than, say, that of the Browning A-5. Still, the A-5 has a much livelier feel and thinner forearm than a gas-operated autoloader because it has less material up front. Some of the gas-operated autoloaders today, those designed as “upland” guns, do employ alloy magazine tubes to reduce weight. But there’s still all that hardware up front that has to be there for the gun to function.

Perhaps someone other than Beretta will attempt to revive the floating chamber system or the short recoil system. Browning attempted to bring back the short recoil system in its ill-fated A500R. However, the gun was very short-lived owing to its ugly design and mechanical problems. Recently Benelli came out with their radically different Vinci model. This rather unusual looking shotgun uses a different inertia system, eliminating the action spring that is usually found in the butt-stock. Being of modular design, the Vinci contains its entire bolt mechanism, including the action spring, in the receiver. The buttstock contains no mechanical parts. It is an ingenious system but not entirely new. The earlier mentioned Automatico VB by Bernardelli employed a similar system. It was not exactly like the Vinci, but similar in application.

The modern gas-operated autoloader is a far cry from the early versions. Today they are beautifully put-together and extremely reliable. But as long as they are dependent on all that hardware to make the gun cycle, they will never have that desired “between-the-hands” feel, and they will always be, just a bit, even if tiny bit, more susceptible to stoppage.

And that’s why there will always be a market for the “other” autoloaders.