Speed Loading or Speed load is a feature exclusive to Browning and found on several Browning shotguns. It first became famous on John Browning's ordinal Automatic 5. Today it is found on several of our autoloaders including the A5 and the Maxus II. “Speed loading” became synonymous with John Moses Browning's Automatic 5 but was actually the invention of his son Val Browning (also a great gun designer) with the patent awarded in 1952.

Here is how it works: With the action open, the first shell inserted into the magazine is sent directly to the chamber, ready to be fired. This means you can load your shotgun with the action open and the magazine empty and be instantly loaded and ready to fill the magazine in about a second. Loading of subsequent shells into the magazine is done as usual, but with the chamber loaded and — depending on the position of the safety — ready to fire.

The video below shows the Speed Load Plus feature in action on the A5 semi-auto shotgun. The Speed Unloading feature (often referred to as Speed Load Plus), also shown in the video, is only found on certain Browning autoloaders, but not all.