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<  16ga. Guns  ~  Shotgun weight
Dogchaser37
PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 6:29 am  Reply with quote
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Joined: 08 Aug 2011
Posts: 1946
Location: Central CT

There have been many posts with concerns about the weight of a shotgun.

I have posted my thoughts before but have never been able to get to the bottom of the issue.

So.....what is the big deal?

I can’t imagine that low weight is desired over good pointing qualities.

Do folks not use their shotguns for anything but hunting a few birds?

The shotguns that I do use and can reliably hit with are Rem 1100, Rem 870, Model 37, and a Hunter Special. The weights are from an even 6 lbs for the 37 up to 7 3/4 lbs. for the 1100.

I guess the most important things to me are, can I reliably hit with this gun, does it point naturally and can I shoot 100 targets with it using 7/8 or 1 oz. loads and not feel beat up?

What say you folks and why?

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double vision
PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 6:43 am  Reply with quote
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It's called measurable internet madness.

My shotgun is measurably lighter, so therefore in my mind it's better.

They leave out the shooting results and tender shoulders.
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df
PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 6:48 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 01 Oct 2007
Posts: 962
Location: Minnesota

I have 12-15 shotguns, a mix of O/U,SxS, and semi auto. I don’t know what any of them weigh and I do not think about weight when I’m deciding which one to take shooting. I’m only 67 yo, so maybe that will change if I get older enough.
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jschultz
PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 6:58 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 07 Apr 2007
Posts: 1624
Location: northwewst Wyoming

A few years ago after a discussion of shotgun weight vs handling, I invited my four hunting buddies to go through the process of mounting and swinging several shotguns while they were blindfolded. If I remember correctly they each handled 11 shotguns.
In every case they opted for handling vs weight and only one guy chose his own shotgun.
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kgb
PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 7:21 am  Reply with quote
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Joined: 31 Aug 2005
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Location: Nebraska

jschultz wrote:
A few years ago after a discussion of shotgun weight vs handling, I invited my four hunting buddies to go through the process of mounting and swinging several shotguns while they were blindfolded. If I remember correctly they each handled 11 shotguns.
In every case they opted for handling vs weight and only one guy chose his own shotgun.


That makes a good bit of the point right there. We can't experience a gun's handling over the internet so we go by what we can get in the form of inches and pounds. Did any of the guys in your experiment comment that the gun he chose was physically heavier than it felt?

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jschultz
PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 7:40 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 07 Apr 2007
Posts: 1624
Location: northwewst Wyoming

kgh wrote, " Did any of the guys in your experiment comment that the gun he chose was physically heavier than it felt?"

Yes and the irony was his preference of a 20ga BSS over his 16ga 0 frame Parker, a 2lb difference. An other guy liked the Parker so well that he offered to buy it and did. That same Parker was restored to almost new condition and is fed low pressure reloads in RMC brass hulls.
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double vision
PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 7:50 am  Reply with quote
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jschultz wrote:
kgh wrote, " Did any of the guys in your experiment comment that the gun he chose was physically heavier than it felt?"

Yes and the irony was his preference of a 20ga BSS over his 16ga 0 frame Parker, a 2lb difference. An other guy liked the Parker so well that he offered to buy it and did. That same Parker was restored to almost new condition and is fed low pressure reloads in RMC brass hulls.


There it is.
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tramroad28
PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 8:01 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 20 Jul 2011
Posts: 625
Location: Ohio..where ruffed grouse were

“I carry it more than I shoot it” is often the reason heard.

I suspect tho that the lure of light weight birdguns is more a follow-the-leader decision helped along by an implication of money spent.

“Hunting a few birds” can mean a lot to some folks.
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Riflemeister
PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 8:10 am  Reply with quote
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Joined: 27 Jun 2012
Posts: 1111

The beauty of different guns having different weights and handling qualities is that it actually encourages having different guns for differing purposes. I have a nearly 10 pound 12 ga Citori with Kolar fitted sub-gauge tubes for my primary skeet gun. I have a BT-99 for 16 yard singles trap. For bird hunting I've come to prefer 16 ga SXS's weighing 6 1/2 to 6 3/4 pounds in deference to the nature of carry a lot, shoot a little bird hunting, yet able to easily digest my western bird hunting Fiocchi Golden Pheasant shells. An exception to that preference is my Mearne's quail gun being a 5 pound 14 ounce SKB-100 25" barreled quick handling wonder to deal with those fast flushing birds that hang out right on the fringes of those scrub oak side canyons. What would be the fun of having just one gun for everything?

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canvasback
PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 8:32 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
Posts: 684
Location: Ontario

I have had about 20 SxS over the last 12 years. 12 and 16 gauges. My 12's have weighed from a low of 6 pounds 4 ounces ( a light A & N) to 7 pounds 6 ounces while my 16's have been between 6 pounds even and 6 pounds 11 ounces.

Part of my 12 gauge group have been 2 Fox A grades and 2 Remington B grades, with 30" barrels and weighing between 7 pounds 3 oz and 7 pounds 6. My Continental 12's have all been game guns weighing noticeably under 7 pounds.

What's interesting to me is I recently bought a Lindner Daly Diamond grade in 12 gauge with 30" barrels. When I first picked it up and swung it, I was sure it would be in the weight range on my other Continental 12 gauges...around 6 pounds 8-12 ounces. When I finally got it on the same scales as all the other guns have been weighed on, it comes in at 7 pounds, 8 ounces. Heaviest gun in my safe!

Although I leaned in that direction already, I'm not fixated on light weight....i want the handling characteristics. When they are right, you don't feel a few extra ounces in the carry, just in the softened recoil.

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1921 Pieper 29" 6 lbs 10 oz
2003 Citori White Lightning 26" 6 lbs 10 oz
1932 Husqvarna 310AS 29.5" 6 lbs 7 oz
1925 Ferlach 29" 6 lbs 7 oz
1923 Greifelt 29" 6 lbs 1 oz
1928 Simson 29.5" 6 lbs
1893 Lindner Daly FW 28” 5 lb 11oz
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WyoChukar
PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 9:43 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 16 Jul 2015
Posts: 2124
Location: Hudson,Wy

Well, if it is an answer you want, an answer you shall have...but it is complicated. Of the guns that I actually use every season, and most of my use is bird hunting and not clay shooting. The lightest is an alloy framed .410 with 26" tubes and the heaviest is a 32" barreled San Marco 10 gauge O/U that weighs 9 lbs.

I don't like carrying the 10 for very many hours, but when sharptails refuse to play nice it gets the job done. It handles slow and smooth. I shoot it well.

The .410 might weigh 5 lbs and i mainly shoot blue grouse with it, although I do use it for ducks in late winter when I know I can get them to drop over the bank close enough to see their nostrils. I don't use it often. It swings quickly, but not gracefully. I shoot it well.

The bulk of my hunting takes place with 16's and 12's with a 16 ga. Fox and 16 ga. Lefever DS occupying my hands the lion's share of time spent afield. And yes, cliche as it may sound, I honestly do spend more time carrying than shooting. That's the reality of upland bird work. The Fox weighs a little over 6 1/2 lbs. The Lefever is just under 6 lbs. The Fox balances slightly toward the muzzle and the Lefever is actually light at the muzzle, even after the stock was lightened.

The Fox really does feel heavier, presumably due to balance. It swings beautifully though. The Lefever swings differently, but feels like a magic wand in my hands. I shoot them both quite well and this is part of why I use theme so often. However there are people who likely would not do well with the Lefever.

This brings us to the hard reality of shooting flying objects with a scattergun. Every single shooter has a unique build, physical dimensions, technique, and thusly, requirements. Some of you likely tend to jerk a gun briskly through the air with authority and will almost always shoot better with a long barreled gun with a bit of heft. Some folks can swing a broom handle as smooth as butter. Knowing which you are makes all the difference in the world and will play a huge role in finding a firearm that makes you happy at the end of the day. There is no sense in wanting the opposite simply because some other shooter does well with it.

That said, I have worn out more boot soles than I care to think about while carrying a wide variety of arms over almost every landscape that birds cling to, scurry through, or hunker down in. At the end of it all, I like a gun that is about 6 to 7 lbs. with a fairly neutral balance when hunting upland species. Waterfowl is a different story, I actually have no preference there...at all.

As long as a gun fits perfect, I can hit with it when I am on my "A" game. On bad days, I hit with nothing. Fitment is most important, period. Then comes handling requirements unique to yourself. Beyond that we consider things like weight that are merely preference and practicality...and that is why we either own so many guns or would like to.

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Griffon
PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 11:04 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 19 Apr 2014
Posts: 429
Location: Maine

I'm in my sixties and my cat like reflexes are long gone not that I that I ever had any. Who cares what it weighs if you like the gun, fits well, and shoots where you point it. To me blaming the gun weight on a missed bird is not an excuse it's operator error. A friend of mine for years has carried a M12 12ga and I would pit him against a fair amount of grouse/woodcock hunters. He also has no vision in one eye. This is kind of along the lines you can't carry a 30 inch gun in grouse covers because you will get caught up in the trees. Good point as stated above disregard the internet just get out and shoot away.

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jschultz
PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 1:44 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 07 Apr 2007
Posts: 1624
Location: northwewst Wyoming

For over 30 years I shot a pair of 20ga BSS's. Both guns were restocked in beautiful wood and I had the BSS with the selective trigger and full choke opened to IMP Cyl.

The mod/full gun was used for hunting behind a flushing dog and the IMP Cyl /mod BSS was used behind a pointing dog. I shot both guns very well.

Then one day a friend placed a #2 AyA in my hands and I had to have it. That is until I discovered it was the dreaded 16ga. I asked if the store had a 20ga and they did. Not the same feel as the 16ga, so I bought the 16ga.

I shot the AyA well when hunting Huns and mountain grouse.
On a SD pheasant trip I packed the BSS's and the AyA. The first day I had difficulty hitting with the 16.
My buddies convinced me it was not the gun, but moi.
The next day in SD I was back to shooting good, as in 3 birds 3 shots and continued to shoot well for the remaining 4 days.

The AyA felt better to me and of course was much lighter than the BSS's, but the truth is I didn't shoot the AyA any better than the BSS's.

In my defense, I like the AyA's double triggers, light weight, the appearance of the side locks and the 16ga performance when using my reloaded RMC hulls. After all, it was the gauge that brought me to the 16 gauge society.Very Happy Very Happy
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Brewster11
PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 2:30 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 08 Feb 2009
Posts: 1301
Location: Western WA

Opinion: All other factors (handling, fit, grip, sighting, etc) being equal, the lighter shotgun is preferable for upland game, while the heavier gun, to a limit, is better for pass shooting and clay targets.
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WyoChukar
PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 5:10 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 16 Jul 2015
Posts: 2124
Location: Hudson,Wy

That may just be your opinion, but it's a good one. Spend enough time around enough shooters and you will see just what you describe develop into a pattern.

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