Author Topic: 1953 Browning Sweet 16  (Read 8474 times)

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Offline 1SOW

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1953 Browning Sweet 16
« on: October 14, 2012, 10:54:00 PM »
I inherited my dad's Browning shotgun back in 1983.  It's a Belgiam made 5-shot humpback, gold trigger, engraved "Sweet Sixteen", ser. no X917--.  Dad bought it from his brother around 1960-ish for just a few Michigan pheasant hunting outings.  The gun looks very good and shoots smoothly.
I've shot it occassionally over the years at clays and fairly recently at a local three-gun match friendly to 5-shot capacity shotguns.  It shoots fast and easy. ;D

I've been trying to find the manufacture date with only a little luck.  (Browning site and Shotgun World forum)  It was narrowed down to 1953-1964.   A guy on another forum said he found "1953" for that serial number.  I've asked the poster for a link to the source but haven't heard from him yet.

I'm hoping to find a verifiable source for the "born on" date.   A copy of the original manual for the Sweet 16 would be a big bonus.















« Last Edit: October 15, 2012, 09:34:53 PM by 1SOW »

Offline bozwell

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Re: 1953 (?) Browning Sweet 16
« Reply #1 on: October 14, 2012, 11:01:08 PM »
Very cool!  Looks like that old gun is in great shape! :)

Offline jameslovesjammie

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Re: 1953 (?) Browning Sweet 16
« Reply #2 on: October 15, 2012, 07:40:32 AM »
Very nice!  You can definitely see the Auto-5 heritage in that one!

Offline coolbox

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Re: 1953 (?) Browning Sweet 16
« Reply #3 on: October 15, 2012, 08:40:37 AM »
Looks very good.
Life is too short to waste on a bad trigger pull

Offline bang bang

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Re: 1953 (?) Browning Sweet 16
« Reply #4 on: October 15, 2012, 09:43:16 AM »
i swapped a later one for a toy.

fwiw, yours is known as the round knob S16.   They used those up to a time, then moved to the square/flat pistol grip.  i dont remember seeing anything about the adj choke tho.

your s/n will tell all about when your gun was made.  also, dont expect to nail it to a particular year.  sometimes you will have a range.  i dont have my browning book w/me @ work, but im sure someones @ home and can lookup the DOB.


Offline warrenhwoodward

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1953 (?) Browning Sweet 16
« Reply #5 on: October 15, 2012, 10:17:29 AM »
Good looking gun. I inherited two from my grandfather, one with the Poly-choke just like yours. The Poly was an option the buyer could order and have installed at the Browning repair facility. I love the mine shoots.

Offline 75Plus

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Re: 1953 (?) Browning Sweet 16
« Reply #6 on: October 15, 2012, 12:00:33 PM »
1SOW,

Look here at the Browning Auto-5. It may not be an exact owners manual but will be very close.

http://www.stevespages.com/page7b.htm

Joe
“Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples' liberty's teeth.”
George Washington

"A gun is like a parachute.  If you need one, and don't have one, you'll probably never need one again."

Offline painter

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Re: 1953 (?) Browning Sweet 16
« Reply #7 on: October 15, 2012, 01:17:23 PM »
There is a downloadable version of the manual from Browning.

http://media.browning.com/pdf/om/auto5_light_om_s.pdf

It mentions the Sweet 16 in it.

I can see why the Browning page is no help dating your shotgun.

Nothing close at all.
I had the right to remain silent...

but not the ability.

Offline bang bang

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Re: 1953 (?) Browning Sweet 16
« Reply #8 on: October 15, 2012, 01:37:38 PM »
i forgot about this site.

dont know if you know about it but...

http://proofhouse.com/index.htm


Offline 1SOW

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Re: 1953 (?) Browning Sweet 16
« Reply #9 on: October 15, 2012, 07:58:22 PM »
Thanks guys, I appreciate the comments and references.
As bang bang and painter said:  Nothing nails it down to a specific year.  If it was a regular A-5,  it wouldn't be a problem fiinding the date of manufacture.

I really do like the shotgun.  It's easy to handle, fairly fast shooting (4 plates plus a stop plate from low-ready--2.9 secs) for someone who rarely shoots shotgun.

Thank you all again for the help.

Offline 1SOW

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Re: 1953 (?) Browning Sweet 16
« Reply #10 on: October 15, 2012, 08:54:22 PM »
Update:  The gentleman on another forum gave me the reference site link.  It is a 1953 model IAW this site.
http://bluebookofgunvalues.com/Information/Firearm_Serialization.aspx


This is also a link to this and other useful gun info sites he sent.:  http://www.midwestgunworks.com/

Offline DenStinett

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Re: 1953 Browning Sweet 16
« Reply #11 on: October 17, 2012, 08:35:57 PM »
Very nice 1
16 gauges are great guns
I ended up with my Dad's old "SEARS" Bolt 16
Very easy shooting
So tell me again how Trump was worse then the 8 years before .... AND what's coming after HIM !