Dating Inherited Browning Sweet Sixteen

Question
QUESTION: I recently inherited a Browning Sweet Sixteen.  It was my Dad's and he bought it new.  The number that is on the receiver, forward of the Shell insertion access port, is as follows:

    8 S
   11579

It has "Made in Belgium" on the Left side of the Barrel and the Gun overall is in very good condition.  He was very strict about his Guns, and it shows in the preservation of all of his long guns.  Please respond with a date of mfg if you can.

Thank You!

CT Gordon
USMC Combat Corpsman, Ret.

ANSWER: Tommy,

Based on the serial number that Browning used on all their Auto-5 shotguns, the letter after the 8 should not be an "S".  It should be either a "G" or an "M".  The "G" designation would indicated a "lightweight" model (which the Sweet 16 was).  The "M" designation would indicated a "standard weight" model.

The serial number's first number before the letter would indicate that the gun was made in 1958.  The "G" would indicate "lightweight" and the subsequent number would be the unique identification for this particular gun...

While I'm sure you plan to hang onto it for sentimental value, these can be worth quite a bit of money depending on the condition and whether it has a ventilated or solid rib along the top of the barrel.  In 95% condition, with no rib, it could be worth as much as $750 while a ventilated rib model might be worth as much as $1150...

Hope this helps you out....

Best regards,

Doug Little


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Doug,

 Thank you very much for your quick response!  I have re-checked the Serial Number and it is as I sent it the first time:

   8 S
  11579

There is no mistake about it.  The letter after the number "8" is an "S".  As I explained before, my Dad was very particular about our Guns and it is in very good condition, the Serial Number is very easy to see and read.  (Immediately upon returning from a day out hunting, with whichever Gun we hunted with that day, the Gun was cleaned and wiped down, then returned to it's case.  No Exceptions!)  It has the Ventilated Rib along the spine of the barrel.  When he purchased the Gun, he also purchased the "Buck" barrel for it. I have it and the box it came in.  

Now my curiosity is really going crazy trying to figure-out why the Serial Number has the "S" as the letter instead of the G or M!  Please see what you can find out about the "S" in the Serial Number and let me know.  

Thank You for your time and expertise in this matter!

Sincerely,

Tommy

Answer
Tommy,

I'm sorry I can't really help you if the number is an "S".    My only thought process is that some of the guns that were produced used a different model code than specified in the references I have.

The Browning serialization works like this:

From 1903 to 1953, the serial was a six digit number between 1 and 438000.  You can determine the year from the serial number range.

From 1954 to 1956, the number would have begun with either an "H" or a "L".  The H indicated a standard weight gun, the L indicated a lightweight gun.

From 1958 to 1967, the serial number would have begun with a number, followed by either a "G" or an "M" and then another 4 digit number.  The number 8 would indicate 1958, the number 9 would indicate 1959, the number 0 would indicate 1960, etc.  The G was for lightweight while the M was for standard weight.

From 1968 to 1976 there would be a two digit number indicating the year of manufacture followed by a "G" or "M" and then another 4 digit sequential number.  Again the G or M indicated either lightweight or standard weight.

From 1977 to 1997 the serial number was a 5 digit sequence number followed by a two letter date code, followed by a three digit "type" code.

There were no A5 shotguns produced in 1998.

From 1999 to 2000 the guns a final version of the A5 was produced that carried a serial number with the letter code "FT" which stood for "Final Tribute".

The only thing I can figure is that maybe the "S" was used for some standard weight guns instead of the "M' code that was typically used.

Sorry I can't be of more help...

Best regards,

Doug