<Tr> <Th> Feed system </Th> <Td> Two or four round tubular magazine, plus 1 in the chamber </Td> </Tr> <P> The Browning Automatic 5, most often Auto - 5 or simply A-5, is a recoil - operated semi-automatic shotgun designed by John Browning . It was the first successful semi-automatic shotgun design, and remained in production until 1998 . The name of the shotgun designates that it is an autoloader with a capacity of five rounds, four in the magazine and one in the chamber . Remington Arms sold a variant called the Remington Model 11 that was nearly identical but lacked the magazine cutoff found on the Browning . </P> <P> The Browning Auto - 5 was the first mass - produced semi-automatic 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 . The gun saw military service worldwide between World War I and the Vietnam War . A Remington Model 11 was used in the suicide of Kurt Cobain . </P> <P> John Browning presented his 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 . However, 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 the design to Remington, which produced it as their Model 11 (1905--1947). The Remington Model 11 was the first auto - loading shotgun made in the US . Savage Arms also licensed the design from Browning and produced it as their model 720 from 1930 to 1949, and their model 745 with an alloy receiver and two - shot magazine from 1941 to 1949 . Browning's long - recoil design itself served as the operating system for subsequent Remington (11 - 48), Savage (755, 775) and Franchi (AL - 48) models . </P>

When was the first semi automatic shotgun made