My local gun store as one on the bargain rack for $280.  I have never owned a semi auto shotgun and was thinking about purchasing it.  They also had some remington on the same rack for about the same price.

Thats for any help.

As usual ... "depending on condition" ... I'd call that a bargain. I have a 20+ yr old Japan-made A5.
26" IC Light 12. It is more at home in the woods/'glades & the skeet range than I am. I love it.
Plus, I'm kind of a sucker for firearms with a bit of history. Especially if they go click/bang. Stay safe

Okay well I looked at the shotgun again at the shop.  This is definately a used gun with slight surface rust on a few places.  Fingerprint marks that are now part of the finish etc.  Its not a looker but the bluing is all there.  

The shotugn is marked "as is no warranty" and when asked, the owner of the shop (who I trust) stated the shotgun is so old with so faw parts available he was selling this one with no warranty.  This shop is nice as they sell any used gun with a no questions asked warranty.  If the gun doesnt work or breaks you can bring it back.  However this one they are not doing that with.

I looked at the tag again and it actually says $260 now but he said he would take $240.  The serial number is pre 1972 and the barrel says "made in Blegium" so its definately a Belgium gun.

Looking at E-bay and other sites it lookes like the barrel alone might be worth $240.  So I am going to buy it.  Wish me luck in hoping the thing runs.

I have one, and they can be a little finicky.  I would get in trouble by using  too much oil.  My A5 seems happiest running  almost dry.

Because they use a brake band and a spring clip to control the eject cycle, you set them up for one kind of ammo you plan on using that day -- ie light field loads *or* max power turkey loads -- but you can't mix ammo types like you can with a gas operated reloading system.

There's a bronze brakeband ring that rides outside of the magazine.  That ring has a flat end and a tapered end.  There's also a washer underneath the bronze ring, and it also has a flat and a beveled side.   For high power loads, the brake band is mounted with the tapered end forward, so as the barrell begins its backwards travel, the bevel on the  circular extension on the barrell bottom comes down over the end of the bronze ring and squeezes it a bit tighter.  The washer is also installed with its bevel end pointing towards the brake band.  The result is when set up this way, the brake band gets an additional squeeze from both ends and slows the reloading action by a lot.  This means low recoil ammo won't cycle because there's too much friction.

Conversely, for light loads, the bronze brake band is mounted with the flat end forward and the washer underneath with it's flat end foward.  During the recoil, the brake band meets the barrell extension  and the washer beneath flat-on,  so there's no additional friction dveloped by squeezing the ends of the brake band -- only the friction developed by the circular clip spring that surrounds the bronze brake band.   So what this means,  if you've set up for light loads,  hi-power loads will eject with w-a-y too much enthusiasm!  Pounds the hell out of the mechanism.

Like I said, a little more fussy, but the mechanism is utter simplicity.

Quoted: Okay well I looked at the shotgun again at the shop.  This is definately a used gun with slight surface rust on a few places.  Fingerprint marks that are now part of the finish etc.  Its not a looker but the bluing is all there.   The shotugn is marked "as is no warranty" and when asked, the owner of the shop (who I trust) stated the shotgun is so old with so faw parts available he was selling this one with no warranty.  This shop is nice as they sell any used gun with a no questions asked warranty.  If the gun doesnt work or breaks you can bring it back.  However this one they are not doing that with. I looked at the tag again and it actually says $260 now but he said he would take $240.  The serial number is pre 1972 and the barrel says "made in Blegium" so its definately a Belgium gun. Looking at E-bay and other sites it lookes like the barrel alone might be worth $240.  So I am going to buy it.  Wish me luck in hoping the thing runs.

I've got a '57 Belgian Light A-5. It's seen quite a few better days but still shoots good. $240 is a steal even if you end up replacing a couple minor parts on it or having to refinish it.

Arg,

And now i researched the other auto loading shotgun they had, a Remington 11-87 for $290.

Choices choices, what do I get............

Quoted: Arg, And now i researched the other auto loading shotgun they had, a Remington 11-87 for $290. Choices choices, what do I get............

See you got the A5(good choice)you can pick up another Remington anytime!!!!!

Bob