Browning Auto 5

Question
I have a browning shotgun I picked up from a gentleman in my church.  It is in very good condition with a serial # of X53529 with FN above the #.  The barrel is stamped with "Special steel 16 guage.  When is the manufacture date & would it be safe to shoot steel through this gun?

Answer
Hello John Lovett. As I had stated before, there is no record of any serial number beginning with an X. The Auto-5 in 16 gauge began production in 1909, but wasn't imported to the US from Belgium until 1923. The serial number began at #1 in 1909 and ended with #126,175 in 1939. Since there are no files available for the years from 1909 through 1939, pre-WWII manufacture dates are strictly a guess. We can hope that something will change this in the future. You ask about the use of steel shot in this firearm. GUNSMITH ALERT!! It is mostly considered un-safe to shoot steel shot in any of the older shotguns. This should be answered by a fully trained and competent gunsmith. Thank you for asking for me and I hope this will help answer your questions. Charles Gage