I have priviledge of getting an A5 old school 3" gun. I want to make it into a duck gun. It is a 95% gun but it has sentimental value to me. Have always wanted one. Bluing I could care less about, not gonna dip it just let it ride. Barrel is my issue. What are the best choke tube barrels out there now with a thread pattern that is easy to find chokes for? Hastings? TIA.

if it's an option having your existing barrel cut and threaded / ribbed you can keep the original barrel. Art's gun shop in Missouri does this stuff and can get anything you need for it. They refurbish old A5 magnums into composite stalkers and sell them on gunbroker for a premium.

That is what I am wanting to do. Make it a stalker. The bbl cut/thread is an option I did not think of. There would be plenty of meat still left in the bbl to thread. I would want to get the cone cut to .840 also. Damn, BPI you might have just cost me a lot of money...................................LOL.

The A5 stlaker conversions were still bringing 2k on gunbroker a couple months ago. A real A5 stalker mag with invector chokes are crazy high. That's the equivalent to a 270 pre 64 model 70 featherweight to the duck hunters who are shotgun crazy. From everything I've read and seen online , Art's does a great job. Not sure how much actual work they do for the public but they restore and sell, and also you can get anything part wise for it that there is.

Funny thing is I told my son before he took hit first trip to ND that those 2 3/4 boss shells would kill them ducks better out of that 60+ years old gun better than 3.5" would. He said i was crazy. Well, he brought "Daisy" back home after 10 days of hard hunting and his words were "don't make like this anymore, I killed more ducks with a gun that was 3x olber than I am" kinda funny.

Could shop for an invector/ invector+ Japan barrel. If you can find one, they are proud of them.

I lucked into a Belgium gun with a Japan inv+ barrel several years ago. It had a broken stock and I gave $275 for it. Put a new stock on it and gave it to my son a few years ago.

Invector + bbl would be the way to go. But they are very proud of the fo sho.

Briley can thread for invector and invector plus….they were in cahoots with browning on development. I’ve got a few stalkers. Had more I should have kept. I’ve never paid more than $600-$700 for one (I quit buying them when they went crazy because all the flat bills suddenly had to have a humpback in the blind)….all invector plus. A Hastings barrel will cost about the same as a browning invector plus barrel. The Hastings is actually a better barrel.

If I am going to build a gun, i want the cones knocked out to 840-845 and would prefer invector plus. At my age, if I walk up into a blind with one of these type guns, 95% of guys wolud say "what the hell is that'? LOL.

The forcing cones won’t matter. It has to have enough internal diameter for the invector plus, which originated around the back bored barrels vs standard bore.

If your gonna hunt ducks, then you dont want to use that old barrel to shoot steel or most non-tox shot in it. I had one years ago. It kicked like a mule, swapped it for a gas operated Rem. I miss that old gun, it sure shot well.

This. Hastings. I have a wadlock barrel that sure delivers the patterns.

I have a Hastings on my A5 Magnum. I went with a 24” and it is my primary turkey gun. I could buy something else, but I have to much sentimental value tied up with my Browning.

Especially if modified or more open, #2 and smaller steel isn’t going to pose an issue for fixed choke, Belgian barrels. They’re no less hard than any other, fixed choked barrel. If it worries you, stick with 3s or even 4s. If an Auto 5 kicks too much, it’s not set up correctly for load. They’re the softest shooting recoil operated anything ever made.

Keep in mind those old A5 barrels are not chromed lined. Continued hard shot use will score them and could change the choke diameter.

Forum link

…..likely only older or cheap, target steel that has crap wads. I’m not ‘recommending’ it. I’m just saying it’s not the cringeworthy act that some believe it is. (As long as choke/shot size are kept sensible) Belgian A5s have TOUGH barrels and very good steel. I wouldn’t sweat taking old Betsy for a hunt or three in a duck blind each season. I’d also offer there’s plenty of bismuth ammo readily available if it gives you an anxiety attack.

Anytime you shoot shot harder than your barrel you run the risk of scoring. Not so much steel but the harder Hevi-shot, tungsten, etc. Lots out there on the internet forums about this subject.

You are right. I have done some reaearch. I may just send the bbl off, have cut and threaded. Dunno yet.

If it’s a Belgian barrel (can’t recall on yours)? If I was looking to make it into a hard use, duck gun for shooting LOTS of steel, I’d opt for a Japanese donor barrel tocut and thread. If it IS Japanese (and I’m forgetting that at the moment), then you’re ahead of the game there.