Semi-automatic shotguns are highly popular with hunters. (l. to.r.) Tom Berger has a recoil-operated Browning Auto-5, Glenn Miller favors a traditional side-by-side that the repeating shotgun largely replaced in this country, and Barry Reed has a gas-operated Beretta Urika 391. Both recoil- and gas-operated semi-autos are reliable, and it really comes down to a matter of personal preference.

     At the turn of the 19th century, the double-barreled shotgun had fully developed, yet it limited the hunter to two shots. But America was on the move. Immigrants were flooding through Ellis Island and moving into the cities and countryside, and a repeating shotgun had more than a little appeal to market hunters and those with hungry families to feed. Repeating pump-style shotguns had been around for only a few years, first with the heavy 1890 Spencer, soon followed and totally eclipsed by the Winchester 1893 and the stronger 1897 pump. Then, in 1905, John Moses Browning placed a totally new shotgun into the hands of sportsmen, a shotgun so revolutionary that all the shooter had to do was pull the trigger to fire five very quick shots. Browning’s Automatic-5 was made for almost 100 years until 1997. The Auto-5 sold in the millions and was made by a fistful of different manufacturers under license from Browning.

Barry Reed, shooting a 20-gauge Remington 1100—one of the most popular gas-operated semi-auto shotguns ever produced—swings on a fleeing ring-necked rooster.

     Browning’s new shotgun operated by harnessing the forces of recoil generated by the fired shell. When the Auto-5 is fired, the barrel and breechbolt are locked together and recoil as a unit. When the locked barrel and bolt reach the back of the receiver, they strike it with the characteristic “ping” associated with the Auto-5s operation. At that instant, the bolt is held to the rear, but the barrel is simultaneously unlatched and then pushed forward by the powerful spring surrounding the magazine tube. Most firearms eject the fired shell as it is drawn rearward by the bolt, but in the case of the Auto-5, as the barrel goes forward the fired hull is held onto the bolt face by the extractors. Just as the barrel goes home, the hook-shaped ejector projection mounted on the rear of the barrel extension strikes the rear of the fired shell and throws it through the ejection port. Then, if there is a fresh round in the magazine, it is released and pushed rearward by the magazine spring. When the head of the shell strikes the bolt release, the bolt is released and pushed forward by a spring located in the buttstock. As the bolt goes forward it rides over a projection, or dog, that raises the carrier on which the fresh round now lies. The bolt catches it and pushes the round into the chamber, the extractors snap over the shell’s rim and the Auto-5 is ready to fire again.

     During the 1950s, when I was growing up in Northern Illinois, the Cadillac of shotguns was the Browning Auto-5. But in those post-war years, industry was on the move and many of the innovations of World War II were quickly finding their way into everyday life. So it was that during the late 1950s an alternative to the recoil-operated semi-automatic shotgun would come along, but it too was a result of John Browning’s genius.

     When Browning and his brothers were shooting, he observed the way the grass was blown by the gases escaping the muzzle of his rifle. He reasoned if those propellant gases were trapped, they could be used to operate the action of a firearm. The result was the Browning Automatic Rifle that saw action in both world wars.

Clay-target shooters prefer gas-operated semi-autos because of their lessened recoil and reliability.

     Adapting this technology to shotguns, High Standard and then Remington began producing gas-operated semi-automatic shotguns. Remington’s Sportsman 58 was little more than a gas-operated semi-automatic version of the 870 Wingmaster pump, but the later Model 1100 was its own design and quickly set the standard. Since then, the Remington 11-87, Browning Gold series, Beretta 300 series, Franchi Variopress and U.S. Repeating Arms/Winchester Super X2 have set the highest standards of reliability and handling in the field and on the clays range.

     Although gas-operated semi-auto shotguns are thought of as being radically different from recoil-operated shotguns, they actually share a good deal of common parts and functions. When either type begins the reloading cycle, it functions in the same way, but getting there is different.

     When the trigger of a gas-operated shotgun is pulled, the powder charge ignites, trapping the expanding propellant gases between the seal of the cartridge in the chamber and the wad that is pushing the shot charge up the barrel. About 6 or 8 inches from the mouth of the chamber are one or two small gas ports drilled through the barrel. As the wad and shot pass over these ports, a small portion of the high-pressure gas is directed through them into a cylinder with a moving piston. The design of these cylinders and pistons vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, but they all perform the same function. As the expanding gas enters the cylinder, it forces the piston to the rear and through a linkage unlocks the breechbolt. Then the inertia of the linkage pushes the bolt to the rear. As the bolt travels to the rear of the receiver, the extractor that is gripping the fired shell’s head pulls it from the chamber and, as the bolt nears the end of its travel, the ejector, a projection on the side of the receiver opposite the ejection port, hits the rear of the fired hull and flips it out the ejection port.

     Both gas- and recoil-operated shotguns lock the breechbolt to the barrel during firing by means of a barrel extension—a specially hardened short piece of steel screwed into the breech end of the barrel. Into the barrel extension are machined one or more cuts that engage the locking lugs contained in the breechbolt.

     Thought to be the portion of the shotgun that absorbs the force of firing, in truth, the receiver only contains the trigger assembly, breechbolt and other miscellaneous parts, and does not take the majority of force when a shell is fired. Although there are forces exerted on the receiver—Remington Sportsman 58 receivers almost always cracked at the forward mouth of the ejection port, which brought about the Model 1100—they are not so violent that machined receivers from aircraft-strength aluminum alloys cannot be used. These aluminum receivers are the heart of Beretta 391 and Winchester Super X2 semi-autos.

Tom Berger (foreground) shooting a recoil-operated Browning Auto-5, while Barry Reed (background) shoots the newest Beretta gas-operated semi-auto Urika 391.

    There is another type of semi-automatic shotgun that is inertia operated. Originally invented in the early 1900s, the Sjorgren “Normal” never sold in great numbers and faded into seeming oblivion. In the 1980s, Benelli resurrected this action, which functions reliably with a wide range of cartridges. When the cartridge is fired, the Benelli/Sjorgren action employs a carefully calibrated spring that pushes forward against the breechbolt. When the recoil energy finally overcomes the tension of this spring—the shot column is by then well out of the barrel—the forces of recoil are transmitted to an inertia mass in the buttstock which actually draws the unlocked bolt rearward, stripping the fired shell from the chamber. The reloading process is the same as employed by its recoil- and gas-operated cousins.

     Since the gas-operated semi-auto was introduced, there have always been questions: Which type is best, gas-, inertia or recoil-operated? Which type is most reliable? Which handles recoil best? Is one easier to maintain than the other?

     Although it’s a bit of a stretch, the recoil-operated semi-auto is probably the most reliable under severe conditions. The newest gas-operated shotguns are also highly reliable, but they require more maintenance. This past waterfowl season, I shot a Beretta 391 Xtrema without cleaning it once. I initially disassembled it, cleaned off all the shipping lubricant with Birchwood Casey’s Gun Scrubber and lightly re-lubricated it with Slip 2000. I shot it hard and often. Perhaps the most telling time was in South Dakota when the temperature was minus 8 degrees, and although other gas guns had some malfunctions, the Xtrema had nary a one. It finally did fail to eject one time the last day of the Maryland goose season, but that was after digesting probably 200 rounds of fairly dirty magnum loads. Pretty reliable, I’d say. 

The operating systems of recoil- and gas-operated shotguns are both carried under the forend and around the magazine tube. On the bottom is the Beretta Xtrema showing it’s gas cylinder and the piston that is pushed rearward by the expanding propellent gasses bled off through the gas ports hidden by the cylinder. The piston imparts inertia to the action sleeve and bar, cycling the action. Note the buildup of carbon on the gas piston and area around the gas cylinder. Gas guns tend to be dirtier to shoot and consequently require more cleaning and maintenance. On the top is a recoil-operated Standard Browning Auto-5 showing the arrangement of the friction rings and friction brakes set for shooting heavy loads. Note that this shotgun is extremely clean, because the barrel and breech bolt remain locked during much of the cycling of the action, these shotguns tend to be very clean to shoot.

    Many old-time market hunters and guides would argue that their Browning Auto-5s or Remington 11s (a version of the Auto-5 made by Remington under license from Browning) when frequently sluiced with kerosene were as reliable as any shotgun on earth. Due to the complicated disassembly and reassembly, many Browning Auto-5s or Remington 11s have never been apart for cleaning, save for removing the barrel and cleaning its interior. Part of this legendary reliability is because the barrel and bolt are locked together for so long during the cycling of the action, almost no debris from the fired shell gets into the action. However, when gas-operated shotguns cycle, carbon and unburned powder, both byproducts of firing the shell, are injected at high pressure into the gas ports. Add to this the quicker opening of the action and that the bolt travels rearward by itself, far more dirt enters the action, requiring more frequent and complete cleaning. The good news is that gas guns are very easy to disassemble, and keeping them clean is relatively easy.

     The opinion that gas-operated shotguns are less reliable lies primarily in the hands of their owners. Countless times I’ve seen shooters and hunters squirt WD-40 or a similar concoction into a semi-auto gas gun hoping to free the action. However, once the propellant from WD-40 or other product evaporates, the remaining waxy residue mixes with dirt and becomes a goo that exacerbates rather than solves the problem. The rule is: Gas-operated semi-autos need very little lubrication, and any lube should be sparingly applied only to clean metal.

     Every shotgun comes with an owner’s manual that clearly illustrates disassembly and reassembly, and even the most ham-handed of us can easily master the process. If there’s a big doubt, a competent gunsmith can do a yearly strip and lube for a modest cost.

     There is no better product for the gas-operated shotgun owner than a spray can of Outer’s Gunslick Crud Cutter or Birchwood Casey’s Gun Scrubber; brake or carburetor cleaner work equally well. These products quickly dissolve and blast away accumulated powder residue and dirt, and prepare the metal for lubrication. Easton, MD, gunsmith Greg Wolf lightly sprays all cleaned parts with Remington’s Rem Oil, and allows them to sit a few minutes. After wiping off the excess oil, he finally blows as much of the remaining oil from the metal with compressed air then reassembles the gun.

The recoil-operated Standard Browning Auto-5 uses one friction ring and one brass friction brake to slow the recoiling barrel. When light loads are shot the steel friction ring (l.) is moved to below the heavy action spring eliminating much of the braking so that lighter loads will reliably function. The newest crop of gas-operated shotguns require no adjustment to fire virtually any load, magnum to target.

     As a rule, recoil-operated shotguns nearly always deliver more felt recoil than gas guns. In simple terms, rather than delivering a sharp spike of recoil, gas guns spread it out. The laws of physics dictate that recoil is recoil, but gas-operated shotguns make it seem less. Browning-style recoil-operated shotguns also deliver a pinging sound when the bolt hits the rear of the receiver. Gas guns would do the same thing, but they use a polymer buffer mounted at the very rear of the receiver that the bolt strikes, muffling the sound. These buffers need to be periodically replaced, perhaps yearly for competition clay guns and every few years for hunting guns. If allowed to deteriorate, the bolt and receiver can ultimately be damaged. Most snap in with no more effort than a sharp rap on a wooden dowel, but again a good gunsmith can install one in a couple of minutes.

     Perhaps the biggest drawback in regard to recoil-operated shotguns is in the interchangeability of loads; they allow a much more narrow selection. Magnum guns were capable of reliably functioning with 2¾- and 3-inch magnums only, although some very heavy field loads would also work. Standard 2¾-inch guns, when the friction brakes and rings were properly adjusted, would shoot light loads, but to shoot heavier field loads required readjustment of the friction rings. Contrast that to the current production of gas-operated shotguns—the Winchester Super X3, Remington 11-87, Browning Gold and Beretta Xtrema2—will shoot about any shell from 3½-inch magnums to 1-ounce target loads with no adjustment and near-boring reliability.

     In November of 1997, Browning discontinued the Auto-5. Millions of these shotguns were manufactured both in Belgium and Japan, and are readily available on used-gun racks and at gun shows. Franchi’s Model 48AL is the last remaining recoil-operated shotgun. As the 21st century rolls on, gas-operated semi-auto shotguns are more and more the shotgun of choice. With routine maintenance, they are as reliable as any repeating shotgun and with their recoil absorbing operating system, probably easier to shoot. It is doubtful that a Browning A-5 man will agree with me, but with these shotguns all but relegated to the used rack, fewer and fewer are finding their way into shooters’ hands. In truth, however, either choice is good one.