Made in 1948.

 

Browning doesn't have good records going way back. I have an Auto5 that goes back to just after WW1 if not during it. Browning is clueless about the serial number, FWIW.

 

Worse than that with newer ones, I have a Browning Citori Featherweight upland with 2.75" chambers. The serial number decoder on the Browning website says it's a Standard Field with 3" chambers! Apparently mine isn't the only one that got stamped like that either.
The only accurate DOM list I've found is the one the NRA site did, check it for your A5's number:

https://www.nramuseum.org/media/940941/serialization-date%20of%20manufacture.pdf

 

I am partial to the classics but the Japan made Brownings are very good as well. My shotgun (Belgium), its pretty old, seen a few miles, but still does the job The rifle is also made in Belgium

 

I am partial to the classics but the Japan made Brownings are very good as well. My shotgun (Belgium), its pretty old, seen a few miles, but still does the job The rifle is also made in Belgium
View attachment 247358 View attachment 247359

Yes they are. BC Mirokou made shotguns for Browning and Winchester years ago. They also made shotguns for Charles Daily when they were actually in business still. My Charles Daily 12ga SxS by Mirokou I bought in the late 60's was the finest quality of shot gun you could find. Like a darned fool, I sold it years ago. Regret that a bunch!

 

They were probably better than some of the Belgium shotguns in some aspects.

 

For certain many were. Heck, my deceased brother and a friend of his really loved the Winchester Over/Under shotguns. The Win Model 101 and other ones were made by Mirokou. They had a bunch for many years.
Excellent, excellent quality. Better than Win could manufacture themselves.

 

Well, Houston.... we have a problem. There were at least 4 manufacturers of the A5. Browning, Miroku- and Fabrique National in Belgium. And during WW II Remington made them here in the US. And it sure looks like Belgian proof marks peeking out on the barrel. If it is a FN gun it may not track under Browning records.

Trying to track DOM on much of the Browning product requires a crystal ball and making a burnt offering.

 

Miroku made the Brownings in Japan, Olin-Kodensha made the Winchester101's from 1963 to 1988 in Japan, ending production in 1990, and starting again in 2007. Both are now owned by the Herstal Group, and both are made at FN in Belgium, and assembled in Portugal. Some Brownings are still produced at Miroku.