Author |
Message |
< 16ga. Guns ~ New Browning 16 gauge Lightning, Prices? |
|
Posted:
Fri Mar 31, 2006 10:30 pm
|
|
|
Joined: 31 Mar 2006
Posts: 35
|
|
I spoke with a dealer in Minnesota today that is getting 3 NIB Browning Citori Lightning Grade I 16 gauge guns in this Tuesday with 26" barrels from a dealer out east. He wants $1499/ piece. They are from the 2004 production. He is set on the price and is confident he will sell them without lowering the price. This is the gun I want but am curious if he is in the ball park or if there might be a cheaper place to get one that is NIB. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Sat Apr 01, 2006 12:46 am
|
|
|
|
Doesn't sound bad at all to me for a NIB Citori. But I'm a newbie in the world of 16s. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Sat Apr 01, 2006 5:43 am
|
|
|
Joined: 24 Jan 2006
Posts: 6
Location: SE Michigan
|
|
Price is in range for sure, NIB. In fact I think you'll be hard pressed to do better NIB.
all the best,
john |
_________________ I don't believe in a government that protects us from ourselves. -- Ronald Reagan |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Sat Apr 01, 2006 6:01 am
|
|
|
Member
Joined: 26 Apr 2005
Posts: 743
|
|
You might do a little better, but not likely by much. Most places have sold out of Citori 16's, and you're highly unlikely to find a shop that has 3--which gives you the advantage of picking the one with the nicest wood. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Sat Apr 01, 2006 8:10 am
|
|
|
Joined: 15 Oct 2004
Posts: 787
Location: Indiana
|
|
I bought a 26" Citori Gr. I 16 ga last fall for considerably less than $1,499 at a gun shop which specializes in handguns and assault rifles; I'm not sure what prompted this outfit to stock a 16 ga. o/u in the first place. I traded a single-action .45 Long Colt that I had, and got a very good deal. This Citori was NIB but I don't know what year it was made. It does have the invectors and I ordered a pair of skeet chokes from Midway for, I believe, around $14.99 each. It is a fine, versatile upland and target gun, worth every cent it cost me..... |
_________________ One Man with Courage is a Majority
---Andrew Jackson |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Sat Apr 01, 2006 7:49 pm
|
|
|
Member
Joined: 08 Nov 2005
Posts: 3438
Location: Illinois
|
|
Would like to see 28 or 30 "-still a good price |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Sun Apr 02, 2006 7:56 am
|
|
|
Joined: 31 Mar 2006
Posts: 35
|
|
Thank you guys for responding. I put a hold on one just in case, while I looked around for better prices. I haven't found any others. The dealer just called and said the guns arrived early and they sold the other two. They were just double checking to see if I wanted it or not. Time to go for a drive to pick it up. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Sun Apr 02, 2006 11:53 am
|
|
|
|
Didn't stick around long, did they?
Wish more companies would at least do the limited runs like Browning. I'm starting to think 16gg is dead-on ... Browning saved the gauge. If the Citoris weren't out there, a lot of us would never have the chance to own a 16. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Sun Apr 02, 2006 1:21 pm
|
|
|
Member
Joined: 28 Dec 2005
Posts: 2016
Location: Glendale, AZ
|
|
Amen MGF and this explains the 'Anybody shoot a Beretta?' thread. I'm forever never referring to those funny looking 8 Brownings as 'sissy-toris'. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Mon Apr 03, 2006 12:02 am
|
|
|
|
Oh, I don't know, revdoc, don't want them Citori boys gettin' big heads.
I would like to smack Beretta, though. How many times have Browning special runs proven that a quality O/U gun in 16 will sell, even at prices of $1,500 and up? How difficult or expensive would it be for Beretta to come up with a 16 ga based on their established 686/7 line if they based them on their 20 ga. frames?
A niche market we may be, but you'd think it wouldn't take a world of savvy to see that there's money to be made. I know Larry Brown's right in his assessment in the thread re the Shooting Sportsman article, but you'd think more makers ... especially those with serious resources ... would want to tap into this niche market.
Ah, well, I think I'm just grumpy because I couldn't get my FAIR 400 out for a maiden run yet. It stormed here today, plus one of my crew called in sick, meaning I spent the day at work. If I don't get some shells through that gun soon, I'm going to go nuts. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Mon Apr 03, 2006 7:38 am
|
|
|
Member
Joined: 12 Mar 2005
Posts: 6535
Location: massachusetts
|
|
MGF, thanks for the vote of confidence. However, I'm not the one who originally voiced this opinion that Browning saved the 16 ga.; Bill Hicks is, or someone in the firm. After Browning had pulled the plug on the run of 16 ga. guns in 1990, it was Bill Hicks, inc. that convinced them to make a special run of a couple of thousand 16 Ga. Citori models in 1992-93. They were made in 1994 and delivered late that year to Hicks.
Browning had never intended to keep them as a regular cataloged item. Sales of the new A-5 "Sweet 16" models were brisk at first. The Citori models languished from lack of proper promotion. Browning had failed to properly capitalize on the lighter weight of the O/U. Most folks, including myself ignored them, because we thought the guns were made on 12 ga. frames.
Hicks did not repeat this mistake and promoted his special order guns as having been built on a true 16 ga. frame gun, which they are for the most part. Actually, they are simply a slightly widened 20 ga. frame. The height and depth are identical to the 20 -410 frames. Hicks both promoted and marketed the lot in small quantities to his network of dealers throughout the Midwest for the next 5 years.
After this run was gone, the ball began to pick up speed as word spread of the nice weight, balance and handling characteristics of the gun. Demand started to spike. Hicks, inc had their ear to the ground and reordered again in 2001. The guns were delivered from 2002 through 2004. This was the last lot made. Now, Hicks, Inc. is doing it again for 2006. Demand warrents it.
So if the truth were competely told, both Browning and Bill Hicks both deserve the credit for the growing demand for 16 ga. guns. I for one. am grateful. If the Citori had not been introduced, then kept alive, I would have never learned what a joy a nice, properly proportioned and well built 16 ga gun is for upland hunting.
The increased interest, demand, and spike in prices for the Classic American 16 ga guns would not be taking place either. Prior to 2001, these older 16 ga guns like the Sterlingworths and Parkers had a tendency to languish on the racks. They typically got bypassed for 20 and 28 ga guns. This very site probably would not have been created either. The classic shotgun dealers quickly learned to jump the prices of 16 ga models where a year or so before, such guns typically brought a little over half the price of comparable 20 and one third the price of a 28.
Bill Hanus would not have introduced his Spanish made bird guns in 16 ga either. He has been smart enough to climb on the bandwagon while the music is still popular and while the wagon is still rolling. Now he's also pushing the Citori. Unfortunately, he's also scalping on the price of admission if you ask me.
So here we are, the fortunate benificiaries of some good fortune and some smart marketing. Get them while they are hot. Who knows how long this little picnic will go for. While it does, we all look like experts. The truth is, i'm just another guy who found out quite by accident what others knew all along. I'm a tad slow, but not real stupid. I know a good thing when I finally open my eyes and see it. 16GG. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Mon Apr 03, 2006 7:54 am
|
|
|
Member
Joined: 16 Feb 2006
Posts: 711
Location: Flagstaff, AZ
|
|
Two used 16ga. Citoris sold on Gunbroker Sunday. A Superlight for $1497 and a White Lightning for $1550. Both 28" barrels, both had been shot but were in excellent condition. Looks like the demand is higher than the supply.
Dennis |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Sun Apr 16, 2006 9:48 pm
|
|
|
Member
Joined: 07 Jun 2005
Posts: 109
Location: Chester, NJ
|
|
I just picked up a 2002 Lightning Feather 16 ga NIB for $1300 from a store here in NJ called Griffin and Howe. It was marked down from $1495. It came with everything intact. Looks like it was barely used and not so much as a blemish on it.
I chose this over a Beretta Ultralight 687 12 ga. that was close to $2k. It just felt better and looked much better. Being $700 cheaper didn't hurt. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Mon Apr 17, 2006 3:31 am
|
|
|
Member
Joined: 20 Mar 2005
Posts: 1522
Location: NH
|
|
Hey wildweasel,
That must be the one that I started the post on to let guys here know it was there. I knew it could be had for less if someone were to talk to them.
I'm heading over there today with my Feather to have the inertia reset adjusted. Mine doesn't like light loads or even mild loads.
Where abouts you from in the area? I live in Stanhope and work in Mendham Twp.
Forget the the where abouts, I see you are from Chester. Small world. |
_________________ A bad day of hunting is better than a good day of work. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Wed May 10, 2006 6:39 pm
|
|
|
Member
Joined: 19 Feb 2006
Posts: 90
Location: McPherson,Kansas
|
|
just put my order in for a 525 field in 16 ga. should be here around the first of the year |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|