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Joined: 19 Jun 2004 Posts: 1480 Location: Mpls, MN.

If someone has experience shooting the new version, do you have an opinion on the recoil from these guns? They seem to register mostly just under 6lbs, and I am curious to know how much they beat you up with different weights of factory ammunition. For reference, a standard A5 12, or a SBE with 1 1/8 th loads at 1200fps is beginning to be too much for two rounds of trap or skeet. I have been shooting an 1100 LW 20 gauge of late, no issues with recoil from that one, 7/8th Oz loads, mostly.
I find I am pretty sensitive to recoil off the right shoulder, more so than I ever was off the left. The recoil operated A5 Standard 16 I own is just fine with the 1 ounce factory loads I own (have lots of them) save the Eley VIP 2 1/2” 15/16 Oz loads, they are hot. I also have plenty of 1 1/8 th oz, and a few, scary, 1 1/4 Oz factory loads that were left to me by a late friend, I normally would not buy these, but, we live in strange times now. For hunting, I guess a few fired over the course of a season might not be a big deal.
Let me know what you know.

Best,
Ted

Joined: 01 Oct 2007 Posts: 962 Location: Minnesota

I’ve had one several years. I use it mostly on pheasants, with Golden Pheasant 1 1/8 ounces of shot.
I do not find the recoil a problem for this purpose with those shells.
Having said that, I don’t think I’d ever use it for a 100 rounds of sporting clays.
FWIW, I tried some lower power Fiocchi one ounce loads on doves and it did not cycle reliably.

Joined: 14 Feb 2017 Posts: 401

Mine is 5-13. Ive hunted with it and a dream to carry. Shot 5 stand and sporting clays with it and to be honest, notice nothing. Would not hesitate to shoot 100 round course with it.

Joined: 28 Aug 2014 Posts: 924 Location: Eastern Tennessee

I’ve been using mine more so lately. I’m happy to say I’ve yet to have a factory 1 oz load not eject, even down to 1160 fps. I did use it two weekends ago for 3 rounds of trap. Noticed a bit of recoil over time. I remind myself however, it’s 90 plus degrees and I’m shooting in a t-shirt. i bought the gun for hunting use with more layers. I’ve never noticed a thing from it or any other 16 gauge I own when used for hunting.

Personally I feel the gun from the factory is just too light for serious regular use in summer sport shooting.

Joined: 18 Jun 2014 Posts: 312 Location: Western Wisconsin

I’ve had the new SW16 since they came out and love mine. I am perplexed as to how such a light gun can have such minimal recoil, even with heavy field loads. I have no problem shooting 100+ rounds of clays with mine in a day and find that the 1oz target loads are very mild. I hope this helps give you some perspective from my opinion.

Also, fwiw, I’ve gotten to the point that my sweet is all use for upland hunting from October through the end of February. It’s the greatest upland gun I’ve ever used with my beagles and my Dad’s bird dog.

Joined: 28 Mar 2008 Posts: 1460 Location: Eagle, Nebraska

I shoot mine routinely at clays, as I shoot clays mainly for practice for birds in the fall. I have not noticed any recoil problems. And I am shooting pretty stout loads, not the wimpy 1149fps junk.

Joined: 09 Mar 2016 Posts: 753 Location: Mn.

At one of the last Sweet 16 shoots Black Belt, Savage 16, Double Vision and I were on a squad in the flurry shoot. We were a man short and Savage16 talked Browning into lending us a Sweet 16 which I shot.

We were a man short of a full squad yet were the only ones to not let a bird touch the ground. All shooting SW16 A5's.

Had to buy one after that and did, a 28" which was too tall a drink of water for the grouse woods. So had Briley take it down to 23" and Mark Larson shape the grip the way Browning should have to begin with. With the long receiver it is now a proper grouse gun.

Same length as an Ithaca 26" 37.

Or a 12 ga. Benelli Ultralight

Can shoot the BUL with 1 1/4 oz. loads on phez all day and never notice recoil and I am recoil sensitive after shooting so much. But can only shoot a hundred plus in the BUL with only 7/8 oz. loads on clays.

Can shoot 1 oz. in the SW16 on clays but the problem is they are all different... Some will eject Herters some Federals. Some none of the above. Varies by gun and not consistent.

Only shot ~1K with the SW16 and while shooting at Horse and Hunt the extractor broke. Stopped at Alhmans on the way home dropping a friend off in Owatonna and they replaced it 20 minutes in and out.

But it is not a clays gun. Delicate thing that it is. But IMO Browning is not the clay pounding machine that many make it out to be. Could go on about separating ribs on my 60's Browning I inherited. Sorry but have been held up shooting by Brownings and lower barrel FTF than all other guns. Combined. And I shoot a lot.

The Tristar 16 ga. gas operated gun is only a couple of oz. heavier. And once broken in not so picky on shells. And handles better than the SW16 IME.

And has never left me with a broke dick gun. Just saying...

Guest

The flurry Cold Iron mentioned above was memorable!

I did go through a stock/barrel-alteration project like Cold Iron but changed into a straight stock. Like Cold Iron, I sorta fell out of love with my Browning SW16. First off, I never shot it that well, so that's always the main hurdle with any shotgun I buy.

Then mine started becoming unreliable with Herter's 1 oz loads. It did OK with 1 1/8 oz. Sold it and the fellow I sold it to also experienced cycling problems. He sold it and the next guy found it had a broken extractor.

In 1982 I bought one of the very first 20 ga. Benelli Montefletros and used it for everything for 10 years, age 22 to 32. Since then my tastes have changed and I don't even own an auto anymore. At the end of the day I didn't want to go back to light autos for my upland hunting. From age 22-32 an upland auto was the holy grail.
At 62 I'd just as soon be carrying a fine SxS.

Member Joined: 30 Nov 2011 Posts: 1695 Location: Minnesota

Mine wont reliably eject any factory 1 oz either but looking at the extractor it looks in one piece and the hook is sharp. Has anyone experimented with how fast you have to make 1 oz reloads to make it reliable?
Ted since we live close, youre welcome to shoot mine. Maybe meet at Forest lake for some SC's?

Joined: 13 Jul 2017 Posts: 39

I have but the work was done with 7/8 oz loads and without the use of a chronograph. I settled on the purple Herters cases I had a ton of. Chedite primers and Unique powder. Using some very old data I started with the heaviest powder charge for a 1 oz load and substituted 7/8oz of shot. The gun functioned. I then reduced the charge by one Mec bushing and repeated the test until the load was no longer 100% reliable. I did the same with IMR Green. I cannot tell you how fast the load is but it can be done. Its just a matter of finding what the gun needs.

The problem is that no two springs are alike. My brother visited from the West coast bringing his A5. The guns are identical 26" and were purchased at the same time. His gun would not run 100% on the loads mine liked. It was a matter of moving up a bushing but it showed us that no two were alike.

If you can find them, I've never had a problem running 1oz Remington factory in my gun.

I have had few reliability issues with my Sweet 16 after 323 rounds, mostly 1 oz. reloads. Hardly a definitive test, but great so far. Its a lot more pleasant to shoot than the Stevens 555 i purchased this spring, especially when shooting the upper barrel of the Stevens.

Joined: 19 Jun 2004 Posts: 1480 Location: Mpls, MN.

I really don’t like hearing about gun to gun inconsistency. That tells me something isn’t very well sorted. It could be ammunition, but, and I think this is important, the old 1956 A5 Standard 16 gauge I own, will eat anything. So will both of the 12s. If they act up, it’s because they are dirty.
We can add both Remington 1100s, a 12 and a 20 to that. I really haven’t had trouble with the autoloaders around here, all of them older guns. I don’t reload (not yet, anyway) but, hearing guys say their gun will cycle 1 Oz, and their buddies gun never do, is extremely disappointing.
Unfortunately, when talking autoloader built in the past two decades or so, I’ve heard it often.
I’m going to let this notion slide. Probably better to work with what I’ve got, at this point. Many thanks for the help.

Best,
Ted

Joined: 09 Aug 2007 Posts: 444 Location: WI

I have a new model Sweet 16 with the 28" barrels, I lucked on one with pretty wood. Personally, I find the longer barrels smooth out my swing, countering the whippyness felt from the light weight - mine weighs 5 lbs 12 oz. I've used it for pheasants mostly; it handles every field load I ever put though it. Only thing it failed to cycle were RST Lite papers, and there is a reason RST offered a 2-1/2" load specifically for the A5 and did not recommend the Lite. There's not enough pressure to cycle the action.

It has run through everything from dove to heavy field loads and no issues. Recoil is surprisingly manageable for such a light gun. I went through over 100 rounds at a tower shoot on pheasants and it was no worse than shooting 100 rounds of trap with a Beretta 12ga sporting O/U that I typically use.

Joined: 05 Oct 2017 Posts: 284 Location: Central MN

I had one for a year. It shot fine and fed anything I put through it. Recoil was fine and I shot many 50 bird rounds of sporting clays that summer with it. I wasn’t a fan of the wood and blue and light weight being I mostly duck hunt. That being said I can’t wait to see the new A5 in camo that is supposed to be a 1/2 pound heavier.