I'm on the road and away from my research materials, but I think they came out just before or just after WW-II. They were still being offered into at least the late 1960s.

The best game shot I ever watched used a short barrel A5 with a Weaver Choke. He was a Navy Hospital Corpsman I hunted with while I was stationed in San Diego. He got his two-day limit, 24 Doves in one box of shells when we went to Gila Bend, AZ.