Browning takes care of their independents try Lonnie’s in Corinth MS he is or was a million dollar a year browning salesman
I’m not sure if incentives programs still exist like they did.

I called down there on March 20 after seeing midway showing 26" model in stock .
They had gotten 5 in that morning. 3-26" & 2-28".
Had them put one back for me in 28" and drove down next day and got it.

One local guy I in ow and wealth with for years. They’ve reserved on a list of anoutn30 folks been wanting them. So they on have nay to sell until those are delivered first

Damnit. You costed me $1800 today. Saw this about the Browning rebate and told my guy to go ahead and order the Bottomland Sweet Sixteen I’d been talking about.

I was hoping to find one of the 20 gauges in a gun store before the rebate offer runs out on the 14th of this month, but it's not looking good. The wording on the Browning website says only guns purchased at authorized Browning dealers qualify for the rebate. Larry's in Madison carries a few new Brownings, but they told me they aren't a real Browning dealer, and the man behind the counter at Academy Sports in Tupelo, Mississippi said they aren't a real Browning dealer despite carrying a few Browning guns.

A fellow would have to be careful to make sure his dealer is bonafide to get the rebate.

I read into that. I’d like to know just how many browning authorized retailers there are these days. Most places order their product through distributors. Oh well. I either get it back or I won’t. Either way I’m poorer and but have a sweet sixteen again.

I wasn't doubting you or your purchase. I was just thinking of places I've searched that carry Brownings but aren't "real" somehow. Like you, I wonder about how many authorized dealers there are now. Not as many as in the 1970s and 80s.

Oh I know. I am old enough to remember when you could walk into a gun store and get about whatever you wanted. These days, why stock things when you can get them in 2-3 days from a distributor. If you’re dropping $1000-2000 on a gun or optic, you typically know what you want to the minute detail. Your volume stuff, sure, but why stock high dollar items when you can get them in a few days? I’m sure the initial purchase to be an authorized dealer is stupid high.

Talked to an owner the other day and he was saying similar. Says it down taking to run in inventory in those high end guns and glass.
Said it d be nice to see some O/U on the wall and he said yup, lots of look in t and not much buying for those hubs but we can order one for you.

Cartervj -- My good friend Dr. Jimmy Lee Willingham owns and operates the best gun store in our town, and he's just like so many others in that he has to say to customers all the time, "I can order it for you." He has a few suppliers he uses, but he says when you order a lot of guns (especially one particular brand we're discussing here) you might get the order in 7 days or it might be -- no kidding -- 2 years. There's just no consistency. Jim has had 4 or 5 of the new A5 20 gauges on order for over a year, but hasn't seen the first one yet. He recently got in a really nice Browning over & under that he ordered in 2022 or something like that. I held it; lovely gun. I'm just not an over & under guy and not a 28 gauge guy.

Gun store ordered my Sweet Sixteen Wednesday afternoon, I just picked it up. Sure hope it shoots as good as it looks and feels.

I remember a time in the state of Alabama that you couldn’t buy a Browning that didn’t g he ave ties to Larry’s. The good old days of haveing an area.

Congrats on the new 16 gauge! I'm incredibly impressed that anyone can get anything delivered in TWO days these days. Did you get the new 16 with the squared off pistol grip or the rounded knob grip?

I spoke this week with a really polite and helpful fellow at a gun store near Haleyville (Zindel's Gun Shop) who said he can order whatever I want, but it could be weeks before it's delivered (the A5 20 . . . probably much longer).

Call BPW in Trussville, they have 6 of the 20ga A5’s in stock as of 5min ago.

I came really close to ordering the Lightning model with the gorgeous wood and blue, and the rounded grip since it was kinda a tip of the hat to the old guns. However, I’ve got too many guns that I don’t use because I don’t want to ding them. I didn’t want this one to be one of those, so I ordered all bottomland camo. Opted for the 26” instead of the 28” as I wanted it to be a do all shotgun for hunting anything. Weighs 6.02lbs unloaded. It’s a slim gun, just feels right and fits me seemingly perfect out of the box. Are they making the 20ga with the same receiver as the 16? The barrel is stamped “USE WITH 16GA RECEIVER ONLY” which leads me to believe it may share the receiver with the 20s.

Congrats again on that fine looking 16! I think the 16 and 20 may in fact use the same receiver. I recall Randy Wakeman or someone who has some inside info saying the 16 and 20 A5 guns would share some parts for lower production costs.

I may try to get to Trussville this week (heavy work week scheduled), but I did notice that BPW's website says that they add $45 to any in-store purchase to cover background check cost. $45 extra for me coming into their store seems steep to me. I may still do it, but that's a definite penalty for being a walk-in customer.

I did buy the 16 gauge Lightning and I am where you were afraid you would have been. I bought it thinking I would use it running dogs with TSS buckshot. I love it, but I don't want to subject it to that abuse. I'll dig it out to bird hunt or shoot clays with, but I just can't bring myself to beat it up in the dog woods.

Thanks, I am looking forward to hunting with it. It's not a pretty as my old sweet sixteen was, but it's a good bit lighter, and I won't mind dragging it through the woods. One thing that I find odd about this gun, it will not load a shell from the magazine when you cycle the action. With bolt closed, you can load the magazine full, and cycle the action and it won't load a shell. If you hit the bolt stop button, it will eject a shell from the magazine onto the follower and will load that shell when action is cycled. Is this a normal feature? Reading the owners manual, it sounds like it should load a shell from the magazine regardless of bolt stop button. Even their unloading instructions portray you being able to manually cycle the action to remove the rounds in the magazine. With bolt locked open, it will auto feed the first round you put in like the old A5s which is normal.

It works just like a Benelli inertia gun. It's almost a copy actually. Not a bad thing in my book. When unloading it, you have to push the shell release button between each shell. A plus side is works like the old A5s with the mag cut off. If you want to change a shell in the chamber to something else, you just jack the one out of the chamber and drop another one in. Unlike the old A5 with the mag cutoff on, you won't have to worry about forgetting and leaving it on and having a single shot.