The Browning Auto-5 or Remington Model 11 was the first successful semi-automatic shotgun ever made. It was made by John Moses Browning, who also made the Model 1887 and Model 1897 shotguns. While it was reliable, it had a very hard kickback. Even though the Model 1897 was slower because it was a pump-action shotgun, most people liked it better than the Auto-5 because it did not kick back as hard.