A-5 sweet sixteen repair

Question
Ipurchased a 16 ga A5 from a neighbor that is in good working order in spite of it's age and pretty good looking too other than the four holes drilled in the top of the reciever for a scope mount. How and where can I have these fill welded, buffed and re-blued. I know it's an odd request as most folks would not drill holes in an old Browning. Thanks

Answer
Steve,

I'm assuming that these holes are drilled and tapped to accommodate screwing a scope base to the receiver. If so, I think I personally would pick up some "fill screws" that are also blued and once screwed into the existing holes, should "camouflage" them a bit from the casual observer.

This would the least expensive and fastest method while at the same time reducing the chances of something happening to the gun while a well intended person attempts "fill weld" and "buffing and rebluing" the receiver.

I would try the fill screw/s idea first and see what you think. If you do not like the looks of them, you can always drop back to your plan "B".

As for who/where to have the fill weld, buffing and rebluing done, I would expect most (if not all) qualified gun smiths should be able to handle the job. Not knowing your local market as to gun smiths I really can't offer anything on that.

You can also go with sites that you will need to ship the gun to. I would also consider calling Browning, explaining the project, and see if they can/will do the kind of work that you describe.

You really need to be careful about the quality of the weld, and expertise of the person/company to properly buff and reblue the receiver. You could end up with something that is less desirable than what you started out with. (?)

Good luck and thanks for the question Steve.

Sid Lark