Firearms Stack Exchange Archive

What firearm are these 1956 children using?

In this series of photos from LIFE magazine in 1956 depicting a gun safety class at a school, children are shown sighting and operating the action of a rifle. Later a police officer is shown firing the weapon (to the delight of the children).

What make and model of rifle is this? Can you tell from the images alone?

Gun Safety Class in Indiana, 1956

Operating a rifle action

Answer 1145

After some more searching I believe this is a Browning A5.

Browning A5

The distinctive features are the hump at the back of the receiver, the knob on the bottom of the grip which invokes antique pistol grips, and the finger groove which runs all the way to the front edge of the forearm. You can also make out the triangular area just behind the receiver which is not stippled in the enhanced photo below.

Because they were made from 1902-1998 I've having trouble locating a picture of one with the exact features shown (silver engraved receiver, no butt pad, no vent rib) but you can see them in various combinations on google image search.

silver receiver

For comparison, here's a version of the original which I tweaked to bring out a little more detail:

tweaked original

Answer 1148

Could also be a Remington Model 11. Essentially the same as a Browning Auto-5. Hard to tell for sure.

Answer 1144

It’s a very long-barreled shotgun, an autoloader. However the child’s hand obscures the receiver, and I can’t tell the model.

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