16ga.com ~ View topic - 1st Part of my Birthday present arrived today!

Joined: 28 Dec 2017 Posts: 87 Location: Northern Utah

delete... double post

Joined: 28 Dec 2017 Posts: 87 Location: Northern Utah

Joined: 17 Jan 2014 Posts: 1381 Location: Denver, Colorado

For grouse hunting, a 6lb gun is "perfection" for me, as long as it fits me well and has long tubes (28-inch minimum). My early Brit hammer gun weighs 6 1/2 lbs and it works fine as well, although I notice the added 1/2 lb by the end of the day.

Lloyd3,
You bet the 6 - 6 1/2lb gun must fit right and have a nice butt plate to help mount the gun quickly and perfectly. If either of these things is not perfect for the gunner most times the Grouse will beat the gunner from the start. I have 16 gauge guns that fit me with my different clothing, the guns actually gut used depending on the time of the year and how cold the weather is for hunting. The gun mount is critical when gunning Grouse, This is one of the reasons I keep complaining about the Turkish made double guns, their rubber Butt Pad interferes with a quick proper gun mount, and they make no Butt Plate to set the gun up properly for gunning Grouse. I end up having the Butt plates custom made to be able to use the guns properly. My 1929 L.C. Smith is a perfect 14" LOP with solid Hunter Arms Butt Plate for gunning Grouse & Woodcock.

all the best

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

Joined: 17 Jan 2014 Posts: 1381 Location: Denver, Colorado

Butt plates are certainly a component of it. My Brit 16 has a checkered horn butt, as does my hammergun. I also use a leather slip-on pad to increase LOP on that hammer gun and it works just fine as well.

Lloyd3,

I was very lucky when I acquired my 16 gauge 1913 L.C. Smith Hammer Gun, the LOP was a perfect 14" and fit me correctly with the solid L.C. Smith Butt Plate. The old gentlemen who 1st owned the gun had the checkering professionally removed by a Master Stock Maker, he had treraible arthritis in his hands, and the checkering bothered him badly. It did not hamper my shooting however, it was a very serious Grouse gun, and I took more than my share of Grouse & Woodcock with it, including a True Double Grouse shot, behind our incredible SM Grouse dog. I passed the gun on to another Grouse hunter, he had helped me restore my log cabin. Looking back on it, I probably should have gifted him a different L.C. Smith 16 gauge gun, however I believed I was doing the right thing at the time. I really do miss that particular gun, it was like the old Hammer Gun had some kind of Magic in it, for shooting Grouse. That particular gun did not have a 3 position safety on it.

all the best,

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

Pine Creek Sampson our incredible Small Munsterlander Grouse Dog, with his true double Grouse taken with the L.C. Smith 16 gauge Hammer Gun. Memories to last a life time.