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Joined: 15 Jan 2012 Posts: 20 Location: York,Pa.

What kind of lube do you use on the magazine tube for the bronze friction ring? Have a Belgium made Light 12 and a Belgium made Sweet 16.

Member Joined: 08 Jun 2009 Posts: 321 Location: So Cal

Just use a small amount of gun oil. It's better to start off with too little than too much. If the magazine tube has too much oil on it the barrel will slam too hard against the receiver. If you don't have a manual for the Auto 5's, you can download them from Browning.com

1965 Browning Auto-5 manual says "one drop of quality gun oil, applied to the magazine tube and wiped across the surface of the magazine tube"

DONT add oil to the friction piece...its brass which is self-lubricating to begin with...it will make it too slippery.

What I try my very best to do BEFORE I take it out to shoot (however NOT everytime I clean it before I put it away):

1) I remove the forearm , then the friction piece, brake, friction ring, and spring

2) I take a DRY PAPER TOWEL and wipe the magazine tube completely dry (paper towels are excellent as they show the oil and grime, are slightly abrasive when dry, and quite absorbent)

3) I then take a new dry paper towel and wad it up and "feed" it thru the spring...the spring holds alot of oily residue over time...and gunk and grime

4) I take a third dry paper towel and clean the friction piece, brake and friction ring, AND INSIDE THE BARREL RING....again, amazing the oil and grime there...

5) apply ONE DROP of quality gun oil (Rem Oil / G96....DONT USE WD40) and using my finger I work it across the magazine tube...it goes ALOT farther then you think it does..

6) reassemble the gun...setting it to the loads I am planning on shooting, and take it out to the range/hunt/etc

There is no reason to do this AFTER you shoot it...it may not be used again for a long time, and the oil gets gummy, attracts dust (yes it does) and generally is the cause of the trouble folks have...

Just follow those steps BEFORE you leave on your next outing, and you will be 100% satisfied with the results..

If your rushing in the door and back out again to get to the hunt, I've found that chances are it's going to be a rushed and crappy day for you...and if you have your Auto-5 (or clone) with you and you THINK you MIGHT remember the last time you cleaned those parts, set it up for the right loads etc...you WILL have a jam/ failure to cycle/ etc...which leads to a crappier day than you were having when you were rushing around all day trying to get to hunting...

And hey guess what...Auto-5s are kind of fun to "get ready"....just like the old timers used to do.

PS....this is NOT the same scenario for a Ithaca/SKB 300 or 900, or a Remington 11-48...those use BRONZE parts...different ballgame

Joined: 16 Nov 2006 Posts: 367

of the magazine tube.

One thing I do is to clean the magazine tube OD, then add one drop on that clean surface.

Also, Ihave replaced the recoil spring and the friction ring, just to know thaty are current, not originals.

Joined: 19 Apr 2008 Posts: 477

My 1959 Sweet 16 is not so picky. Wipe down the tube with a cloth. Put on a drop or two of oil. Smear it around with my hand. Put it back together. Shoot it. Works every time.

Joined: 19 Jun 2004 Posts: 1480 Location: Mpls, MN.