been looking for one of these for years. Browning Double-Auto Twelvette shotgun. One of the most historically significant autoloading designs ever.
Val Allen Browning, son of “John Moses,” held some forty-eight firearms patents himself. It was Val Browning who completed the Superposed and the Hi-Power: John Browning himself never lived to see a production copy of either. The “speed loading” associated with A-5 and other Browning shotguns is a Val Browning idea, patent applied for in 1950, awarded in 1952.
Val Browning's Double Auto is one of the most innovative shotguns ever devised. The idea behind the Double Auto was to eliminate the unsightly forearm nut and offer quick barrel removal without detaching the forearm itself. It further was devised to save weight, bulk, and to soften shock both upon firing and when the barrel returns forward to battery. The first firearm and only firearm sold by the Browning Arms Company, founded after the passing of J.M.B., was the A-5, later joined by the Superposed. The third shotgun offering was the Double Automatic, added in 1954-1955.
I pick it up on Wednesday. This one is not a flipper...
For those that like the idea of a low maintenance shotgun, not only did the Double Auto need essentially no maintenance, the owner's manual actually cautioned against it. It reads, "It is unnecessary, and may likely be damaging, to have a gun taken apart annually for routine cleaning and oiling of the of inner mechanism." Aside from standard barrel cleaning and a light film of oil on exposed metal, you were allowed one small drop of oil on the breechblock and barrel extension guides.