Browning Double Automatic

About the Browning Double Automatic

The Browning Double Automatic was a 12-gauge short-recoil semi-automatic shotgun designed by Val A. Browning, son of John M. Browning, and manufactured by Fabrique Nationale in Belgium from 1955 to 1971. Its defining feature was a deliberate two-shell capacity - one chambered and one in a side loading port - eliminating the traditional tubular magazine to give the balance and handling of a fine double gun. The lightweight Twelvette and Twentyweight models used anodized aluminum-alloy receivers that were advanced for the mid-1950s.

Designed by Val A. Browning, son of the legendary John M. Browning, the Double Automatic held just two shells and eliminated the tubular magazine for the handling of a fine double gun; its anodized aluminum-alloy receiver was advanced for its day, and it was marketed as 'Tomorrow's Gun Today.'

Browning Double Automatic specifications

The barrel travels about half an inch during the short-recoil cycle. The Standard/Steelweight had a steel receiver; the Twelvette and Twentyweight used aluminum alloy. Roughly 67,000 were produced in total, most of them Twelvettes.