Description
The Browning A5 Sweet Sixteen Upland is the gun that the phrase carries like a twenty, hits like a twelve was invented to describe. Five pounds thirteen ounces, a 28 inch barrel, a matte nickel receiver and oil finished Turkish walnut. Browning has since discontinued this model, so what is on the shelf is what is left. Item number 0119035004, UPC 023614744009.
The case for sixteen gauge
The gauge behind the Browning A5 Sweet Sixteen Upland sits exactly where an upland gun wants to be. It throws a payload close to what a light 12 gauge load carries, out of a frame and barrel sized closer to a 20. The result is a gun you can carry all day across cut corn and cover without your arms aching by the afternoon, that still puts enough shot in the air to kill pheasants cleanly at sensible range.
Weight is where that theory becomes real. At five pounds thirteen ounces the Browning A5 Sweet Sixteen Upland is extraordinarily light for a semi-automatic. Most 12 gauge autoloaders run a pound and a half heavier. After six miles of walking you will notice every ounce of that difference, and it is the single best reason to own this gun.
The flip side is honest physics. A light gun with an inertia action transmits more of the shot to your shoulder than a heavy gas gun does. The Browning A5 Sweet Sixteen Upland is not punishing, but it is livelier than its gauge suggests, and anyone expecting 20 gauge manners from it will be mildly surprised on the first box.
How it works, and what to know before buying
The action on the Browning A5 Sweet Sixteen Upland is Browning’s Kinematic Drive, a recoil operated system rather than a gas system. There is no gas port bleeding fouling back into the mechanism, so a Kinematic Drive recoil operated gun stays clean through a season that would leave a gas gun needing attention. It also contributes to how light the gun can be, since there is no piston assembly hanging off the magazine tube.
Two details to get right before you order a Browning A5 Sweet Sixteen Upland. The chamber is 2 3/4 inches, not 3, which is normal for 16 gauge and simply means you buy standard 16 gauge shells rather than magnums. And the chokes are Invector-DS, Browning’s double seal system, which are not interchangeable with the older Invector-Plus tubes; Full, Modified and Improved Cylinder come in the box. Check which system a tube is cut for before you buy extras.
Ammunition for a 16 gauge semi-auto shotgun deserves a plain word too. It is less widely stocked than 12 or 20 and generally costs more per box. Nothing exotic, and every serious retailer carries it, but do not expect to find it on a gas station shelf in rural Pennsylvania on opening morning. Buy your season up front.
Browning A5 Sweet Sixteen Upland specifications
- Gauge: 16
- Chamber: 2 3/4 in
- Barrel: 28 in with 1/4 in rib
- Action: recoil operated Kinematic Drive, semi-automatic
- Capacity: 4 shells
- Receiver: aluminum alloy, matte nickel finish
- Stock: Turkish walnut with oil finish
- Chokes: Invector-DS flush, Full, Modified and Improved Cylinder included
- Sights: fiber optic front with ivory mid bead
- Overall length: 49 1/4 in
- Length of pull: 14 1/4 in
- Drop at comb: 1 3/4 in
- Drop at heel: 2 1/4 in
- Weight: 5 lb 13 oz
- Item number: 0119035004
- UPC: 023614744009
Worth saying plainly: Browning lists this model as discontinued. That is not a reflection on the gun, it is how catalogs work, but it does mean the supply is finite and that a A5 Sweet Sixteen 28 inch in nickel and walnut is unlikely to get easier to find. Browning still supports the A5 platform for parts and service, and Invector-DS tubes remain current across their line. The original specification is archived on the Browning product page.
Quote Browning 0119035004 for the 28 inch, since the same gun was also built with a 26 inch barrel. See the rest of our shotguns or browse in stock firearms.
Why it is worth considering
- Five pounds thirteen ounces, which is remarkable for a semi-automatic of any gauge.
- Sixteen gauge payload in a frame sized closer to a twenty.
- A recoil operated action that stays clean without gas system maintenance.
- Oil finished Turkish walnut and a matte nickel receiver rather than synthetic and black.
Who it suits
The Browning A5 Sweet Sixteen Upland is for the walking hunter: pheasant, grouse, woodcock, quail, anyone who covers ground on foot and cares what the gun feels like in hand at the end of the day. It is also a genuinely handsome gun, which matters more to upland shooters than most will admit. If you shoot high volume clays, or you want 3 inch magnum flexibility, this is the wrong tool and a 12 gauge gas gun is the right one.
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