16ga.com ~ View topic - Still looking closely at the Bristol Sliver 16.

Gentlemen,

Grouse season is sneaking up on us and I am still looking closely at the purchase of a Tristar Bristol Sliver 16 gauge Box lock double gun. The reports I am getting so far are very favorable, a couple of the men have advised me that they do have the guns that weigh in at about 6.55 lbs, which I was hoping to hear. The LOP is 14.25 which is fine for me with the Tristar Butt Plate.

Has anybody used their Bristol Silver 16 long enough to give me a good or bad recommendation on how the gun is actually functioning, while hunting and shooting Clays. Have you had any problems with the gun doubling, how is the trigger pull and are the screw in chokes giving you good patterns? What is the Turkish Walnut wood quality like? Is the finish decent? Does the Breech work lockup properly with no problems? Does the Silver Breech work look nice and is the Laser engraving decent? A recommendation would be nice.

all the best,

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

Member Joined: 27 Jun 2012 Posts: 1114

Dave, I've had mine for a while now and the only down sides of the gun are the weight at a bit over 7 pounds and minimum headspace chambers that make the rims on my reloads too thick for the gun to close easily. I've had to keep the factory hulls fired in the Bristol separate from my other hulls although factory rounds of any manufacture fit just fine. I'm considering taking the Bristol along on my fall western bird hunt as the third gun along with my Fausti DEA and the RFM. If only it had come in at the 6 1/2 pounds advertised, I might really love the gun, but no buyer's remorse on the purchase. It seems to be a good solid gun.

Riflemeister,

Thanks much for your input, over half the men I talk with have very heavy Bristoil Silver guns, 7 lbs is definitely not good for a 16 gauge Grouse gun. The shell problem is not good either, I hope my RST, B&P and other off the shelf shells work! Does your gun eject the empties correctly?

Thanks much for the input.

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

Joined: 07 Mar 2010 Posts: 483 Location: South Eastern PA

7 lbs. is on the high side for a 16-gauge period.

In my opinion you lose most of the handling qualities that can make the 16 so special, not to mention the extra cost of shells vs a 12 if the gun approaches or exceeds 7 lbs. If they weigh the same, the 12 is obviously more economical to shoot than a 16 as well.

Member Joined: 27 Jun 2012 Posts: 1114

The issue of the headspace is not a tight chamber, it is an issue of the rim thickness on hulls previously fired in my other guns. I bought a couple of flats of Fiocchi field loads and reloading those hulls fired in Bristol gives me reloads that work fine in that gun. So any factory load or reloads from hulls fired in the Bristol work great with no issues.

Ejection of any hull is not an issue either. The ejectors in this gun are not Southgate style, The ejectors are spring loaded in the barrels and released when the gun is opened after firing to eject the hulls. It is an ejector design I've not encountered before but has been working well. The spring-loaded ejectors do make assembling the barrels on the action a bit tricky though, as they protrude under heavy spring pressure any time they are not held in by the standing breech, and getting the barrel hook on the pin has to done just so or it doesn't go.

RifleMeister,

Ok sense I no longer reload I should have no problems with the shells. The 7 lb weight is definitely a problem for this old Grouse hunter, if I want a 7 lb gun it will be a 12 gauge L.C. Smith #5 gun. I am wondering now how I get a 6.6 lb 16 bristol gun.
Maybe I can talk to the seller and have them actually weigh the gun before I purchase.
All my Classic American and Best German 16 gauge guns weigh in at around 6lbs, I would like the Bristol gun to weigh approx the same for my Grouse hunting.

all the best,

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

Member Joined: 27 Jun 2012 Posts: 1114

Assuming all the packaging material is identical, you could just ask them to weigh the boxed-up guns and ship you the lightest box. That would preclude them from opening every box and weighing the guns.

RifleMeister,
I have requested the gun weight from the seller, we will see what happens.

all the best,

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

Gentlemen,
We purchased the 16 gauge Bristol Silver gun, this one weighs 6.9oz with no Snap Caps and 6.10 with shells in the gun. Although it is a might heavy for a Grouse & Woodcock gun IMO, it gets the job done quite well and is steel shot compatible which is why we purchased this modern gun to begin with.
Actually for a modern entry level SXS double gun it is quite nice, especially at the Midway sale price. Regulated for bird hunting, it patterns well with the RST SpredR's, Fiocchi Golden Pheasant and B&P shells also. Balance point is just 1 1/2" in from of the breech, shoots where I point it, however we had to modify the LOP. The recoil pad was to long for my needed Grouse hunting LOP, and I could not acquire a butt plate for the gun from Tristar.
This was very disappointing. Tristar is suppose to have great customer service, however they could not help me acquire a 16 or 28 gauge Butt Plate for either of their Bristol Silver guns. If any body has connections to get me these butt plates, I would be grateful for the contact information. I will continue to bug Tristar for the Butt Plates. These are nice Turkish mid-level guns at entry level prices. I view both these guns as a good purchase, however they have a long way to go quality wise to compete with the L.C. Smith Classic double guns.

all the best,

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man