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Opinions please.
I have a DeHaan U2 O/U 16 that I really like, except that it just seems to be a bit heavy for an all day upland gun. It is great for skeet, albeit the chokes are a kittle tight for skeet, IC/Mod. It has 28 inch barrels.
I was toying w/ the idea of having a gunsmith cut the barrels to somewhere between 26 and 24 inches, solder in the new gap where the barrels come together, re-mount the sight bead, and then hollow out the stock some. This should bring it into the 6 1/4 to 6 1/2 pound range where it will be a little more manageable. I'm not worried about the chokes as I think they should be opened up anyway and this procedure would remove them completely. Would this alteration change the point of impact? Has anyone had this kind of work done before? And, would there not be enough weight shaved off as to make any practical difference?
XVI

Don't do it. Your gun's barrels are regulated to hit to the same close point of aim. You will just screw up a decent gun. How much does it actually weigh as is? If it seems too muzzle heavy, putting a little weight in the stock bolt hole behind the recoil pad or butt plate will make the gun feel much livelier in spite of the little bit of added weight.

Go ahead and have the chokes relieved by a competant barrel smith who uses fully guided cutting tools so as not to change the POI. Skeet and light modified can be a deadly combo on shots under 35 yards. Or have some tubes installed and have it your way for any shooting situation. That would be money well spent.

Trust me, if the gun weighs at or around 6-3/4 pounds, you will definately not feel any real difference toting a 6-1/2 lb gun. Plus, the little extra weight is what is working for your shooting. Light weight guns just don't swing as true as slightly heavier ones. That is why target guns are so much heavier than game guns. There is a point of diminishing returns and it is below 6-1/2 or so pounds where the accuracy facter gets bankrupted.

I've done a ton of quail hunting and pass shooting dove in the Central florida area years ago. A solid gun swing is a must to score well. Shooting is shooting be it birds or clays. I never could hit well with too light a gun and neither can most folks I know who shoot regularly. At 5'8" I'm not a big man by any measure and not young anymore either. Yet I can carry a 6-3/4 lb gun all day and so can most folks I know.

Don't listen to the lighter is better crowd. Most are full of tweed and knickers pipedreams. I've shot against several of these guys and it really pisses them off when a yokel like me with a plain Jane but properly weighted and balanced shotgun cleans their clocks at their own game. So much for light weight guns, fancy duds, and tales of long ago and far away in Merry old England where the shotguns never weight more than 5 lbs to be a proper gun. that is BS pure and simple. The best English shooters I've met and shot with would laugh at such notions. Ask someone like Chris Batha. He'll tell you straight.

If you can't live with the gun as is, sell it before you ruin any value it has and go get your ultra light popgun, but you may be bitterly disappointed. Better yet, go borrow a lighter gun and see what I mean. That is the best way to learn, on someone else's dime. 16GG.

As usual, 16GG is MOSTLY right. Don't mess up a decent gun and it certainly would not be worth the gunsmithing expenses.
BUT-we're all different. Probably the best quail gun I shot until my 24" brl. 20g. Trojan (that's another story) that weighs just below 6 # was an Ithaca UltraFeatherlite Engish (straight stock) with 25" brls (because of the receiver more like a 27" gun) that also weighed just below 6#. Couldn't seem to miss as it just seemed to point and swing with no thought on my part. BUT on pre-bird season tune-up I blew more than 1 straight at skeet with my hopeless flinch. And chasing my forgot-his-name-and-who's-yelling-at-him setter through KS brush and CRP was a LOT easier with the lighter gun. Interestingly-couldn't hit a thing with a Citori Upland Special with 24" brl. Very strange.
Certainly agree though that for lots of sporting clays or pass shooting, the heavier/longer gun's a better choice. And my recoil limit for a pheasant gun with 1 and 1/8 for 4's at 1300 is a 7# gun.

OK 16gaugeguy, you talked me out of it. You can stand up and walk around your computer w/ your head in the air and gloat a little Very Happy

In reality, what you said is kind of what I thought. It weighs a little over 7 pounds, but the barrels are trimmer than those of a 12 ga and it does balance well. It really is not much of a problem carrying it. I guess I have been reading too many of the comments such as "A 16 gauge much over 6 3/4 pounds defeats the purpose having one." Trimness and balance are important reasons for carrying a 16 also.
I have several shotguns that are lighter than the DeHaan and some of those are in 16 also. I have a few guns (12gauges) that are definitely heavier.
I just wanted a few opinions and I got them. Thanks guys.
XVI

Member Joined: 31 Oct 2005 Posts: 446 Location: Wisconsin

Sell the gun! -Dick

Sorry Dick,
No one would buy it. The stock has been altered to a 13 3/8's inch LOP to fit my short stocky George Castanza type body. Maybe that's why it doesn't bother me to carry it. I am short, stocky, muscle bound and strong!
XVI

In that case, just beat the crap out of anyone who belittles your gun. Laughing

16GG

Hey 16gg,
Being a high school wrestling coach even at my age of 55, I could probably put most men on their backs in about 2 seconds, but like my bird dog, I am a lover, not a fighter.
XVI

*Last edited by 16gaugeguy on Tue Feb 28, 2006 6:37 am; edited 1 time in total*

That is an excellent suggestion SS. I did the same with an older Browning 12 ga Superlight Citori. Between a back bore to .740 from .725, 2 inch cones, thinwall Colonial choke tubes installed, and the butt relieved of some unneeded wood out of the stock bolt channel, I was able to lose nearly 6 oz total which brought the gun to about 6 lb, 14 oz and made it much livelier and responsive. The gun also patterned extremely well after the work which was an added bonus. It was my all around upland gun until I discovered the 16.

XVIGauge, having that barrel work done seems to make a lot of sense. You have already taken some steps with the LOP to bring the gun more to your liking ! Rather than start all over with another gun that you don't know, maybe you should continue with what you DO know.......and enjoy refining it to suit yourself better !