The Browning Automatic 5, most often Auto-5 or simply A-5, is a recoil-operated

Recoil operation

Recoil operation is an operating mechanism used in locked-breech, autoloading firearms. As the name implies, these actions use the force of recoil to provide energy to cycle the action...

 semi-automatic

Semi-automatic

Semi-automatic may refer to:* A semi-automatic firearm, a firearm which automatically reloads, but will only fire one round per trigger pull** Semi-automatic rifle** Semi-automatic pistol** Semi-automatic shotgun...

 shotgun

Shotgun

A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...

 designed by John Browning

John Browning

John Moses Browning , born in Ogden, Utah, was an American firearms designer who developed many varieties of military and civilian firearms, cartridges, and gun mechanisms, many of which are still in use around the world...

. It was the first successful semi-automatic shotgun designed and remained in production until 1998. The name of the shotgun designates that it is an autoloader with a capacity of five shots, four in the magazine and one in the chamber.
The Browning Auto-5 was the first mass-produced semiautomatic shotgun.