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Born on 23 January 1855 in Ogden, Utah, John Moses Browning was the son of Jonathan and Elizabeth Caroline Browning (Jonathan Browning was a devout Mormon with three wives and 22 children). John Browning made his first gun at the age of 13 from parts he found in his father's shop. 

When his father died he and his brother, Matthew S Browning, took over the business. John was granted his first patent in 1879, which he applied to a breech loading single shot rifle. The firm made about 600 of these rifles, one of which came to the attention of Oliver Winchester. This resulted in a business agreement which was to last for some years. 

In 1870 John M and Matthew S Browning formed the Browning Arms Co. in St Louis, Mo., to promote the sale of Browning guns which were made by Fabrique Nationale d'Armes de Guerre at Herstal, near Liege in Belguim.

The Brownings were granted the following patents; breechloading firearms, patent no. 220271 1879, magazine firearms, patent no.261667 1882, magazine firearms, patent no.282839 1883, magazine firearms, patent no. 306577 1884, assigned to Winchester Repeating Arms Co., magazine firearm, patent no. 312183 1885, magazine firearm, patent no.324296 1885, assigned to Winchester, magazine firearm, patent no. 336287 1886, magazine firearm, patent no.345882 1886, breech loading firearm, patent no. 346021 1886, magazine firearm, patent no.356271 1887, breech loading firearm, patent no. 359917 1887, magazine firearm, patent no. 367336 1887, magazine firearms, patent no. 409599 1889, magazine firearms, patent no.409600 1889, magazine firearm, patent no.421663 1890, magazine firearm, patent no.428887 1890, breech loading firearm, patent no. 436965 1890, magazine gun, patent no. 441390 1890, magazine firearm, patent no.465340 1891, automatic magazine gun, patent no. 471782 1892, machine gun, patent no. 471783 1892, machine gun, patent no. 471784 1892, breech loading firearm, patent no. 486272 1892, breech loading firearm, patent no. 486273 1892, magazine firearms patent no. 486274 1892, magazine firearm, patent no.487659 1892, magazine firearmss, patent no. 492459 1893, magazine firearms, patent no. 499005 1893, magazine catch, patent no. 499006 1893, magazine firearm, patent no. 499007 1893, gas operated machine gun, patent no. 502549 1893, breech loading firearm, patent no. 511677 1893, gas operated machine gun, patent no. 544657 1895, gas operated breech loading gun, patent no. 544600 1895, gas operated firearm, patent no. 544661 1895, magazine firearm, patent no.545671, cartridge holding pack for magazine guns, patent no. 547986 1895, box magazine firearm, patent no 549345 1895, magazine firearm, patent no. 550778 1895, box magazine bolt gun patent no. 545672 1895, magazine firearm, patent no. 552864 1896, magazine firearm, patent no.577281 1897, firearm patent nos. 580923, 580924, 580925 1897, box magazine firearm, patent no. 599595 1898, magazine firearm, patent no. 619132 1899, gas operated firearm, patent no. 621747 1899, bolt gun, patent no. 632094 1899, recoil operated firearm, patent no 659507 1900, automatic gun, patent no. 678937 1901, automatic firearm, patent no 689283 1901, recoil operated firearm, patent no. 701288 1902, firearm sight, patent no. 701289 1902, automatic firearm, patent no. 708794 1902, magazine firearm, patent no. 710094 1902, recoil operated firearm, patent no 747585 1903, magazine firearm, patent no. 781765 1905, firearm, patent no 808003 1905, recoil brake for automatic guns, patent no. 821326 1806, firearm, patent no. 818739 1906, automatic firearm, patent no 853438 1907, magazine firearm, patent no.864608 1907 and firearm, patent no 864609 1907.

John Moses Browning died in 1926 on a visit to Herstal, Belgium, his son, Val, took his place.

The Browning Auto-5 was the first mass-produced semiautomatic shotgun. Designed by John Browning in 1898 and patented in 1900, it was produced continually for almost 100 years by several makers with production ending in 1998. 

It features a distinctive high rear end, earning it the nickname "Humpback". The top of the action goes straight back on a level with the barrel before cutting down sharply towards the buttstock. This distinctive feature makes it easy to identify A-5s from a distance. A-5s were produced in a variety of gauges, with 12- and 20- predominating; 16 gauge (not produced between 1976 and 1987) models were also available.

John Browning presented this design (which he called his best achievement) to Winchester, where he had sold most of his previous designs. When Winchester refused his terms, Browning went to Remington. Tragically, the president of Remington died of a heart attack as Browning waited to offer them the gun. 

This forced Browning to look overseas to produce the shotgun. It was manufactured by FN (a company that had already produced Browning-designed pistols) starting in 1902. Browning would later license Remington to produce it as their Model 11 and Sportsmen (it was also built under license by Savage as their model 720, Franchi as their AL-48, in Italy by Breda as the Automatic 12, and in Russia by TOZ). The Model 11 was the first auto-loading shotgun made in the USA. 

Production in Belgium continued until the start of World War II, when Browning-marked examples were produced by Remington Arms in the United States. Unlike the Remington Model 11, the Remington-produced Browning shotguns had magazine cutoffs. 

Some 850,000 Remington Model 11 shotguns were produced before production ended in 1947. In 1952, production returned to FN, where it continued to be produced until the end. However, the majority of production moved to Japan in 1975. 

Finally, in 1998, manufacture of A-5s ceased except for a few commemorative models created at FN in 1999. By that time, it was well established as the second-best-selling auto-loading shotgun in U.S. history, after the Remington 1100. 

The Browning Auto-5 is a long-recoil operated semi-automatic shotgun. Shells are stored in a tubular magazine under the barrel. When a chambered shell is fired, the barrel and bolt recoil together (for a distance greater than the shell length) and recock the hammer. As the barrel returns forward to its initial position the bolt remains behind and thus the spent shell is ejected. Then the bolt returns forward and feeds another shell from the magazine into the action. This type of long recoil action was the first of its kind and patented in 1900 by John Browning.

To load the weapon, shells are fed into the bottom of the action, where they are pushed into the tubular magazine. Most A-5s have removable plugs in the magazine which prevent more than 3 shells from being loaded (two in the magazine, plus one in the chamber) to comply with U.S. Federal migratory waterfowl laws, as well as some state hunting regulations. With the plug removed, the total capacity is 5 rounds. If the chamber is open (the operating handle is drawn back) the first shell loaded into the magazine tube will go directly into the chamber. The bolt then closes, and all further shells fed into the gun go into the magazine.

The A-5 has a system of friction rings that control the rate of recoil. Setting these rings correctly is vital to good shotgun performance and to ensure a long life to the weapon, by controlling excessive recoil. The friction rings are set based on the type of load to be fired through the gun. Different settings can be found in the owner's manual 

(Ref: Dictionary of Guns and Gunmakers p90 by John Walter, Internet Gun Club, https://gundigest.com/gun-reviews/shotguns/browning-auto-five-shotgun-started-it-all , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browning_Auto-5 , 
https://www.wideopenspaces.com/5-reasons-browning-5-still-beats-competition/ ,  https://www.chuckhawks.com/confessions_A5_owner.htm , https://www.range365.com/american-classic-browning-auto-5/ , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MfLYgTe6NI )
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