16 gauge what a Pheasant round

jonnyB said:
Am wondering what an A5 Browning 16 would weigh? My current A5 is about 8lb.

Would there be much effective difference between a 16ga, 1.25 shell and a 20 ga 3" shell on pheasants?
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A Belgium made "Sweet 16" with a 26 inch barrel weighs about 6 lbs 13 ounces with a plain barrel and a little over 7 lbs with vent rib barrel. I have a Japanese
sweet 16 and it weighs about 7lbs 4oz.
 
jonnyB said:
Am wondering what an A5 Browning 16 would weigh? My current A5 is about 8lb.

Would there be much effective difference between a 16ga, 1.25 shell and a 20 ga 3" shell on pheasants?
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The 16 ga. shell should pattern better. However, 1&1/8 oz. is as big as you should go in the 16 and expect to get good patterns. One ounce patterns best in the 16ga. I have 3 16's, a Browning Citori grade 1 Lightning, a Ithaca 37 pump, and a Springfield/Stevens 5100 SxS. :cheers:
 
I have been thinking about adding a 16 gauge to the arsenal for some time. Have not been able to find anything local that I can put my hands on. Have found a Citori Lightning and a Citori Heritage online. Anybody knowledgable enough with the two guns to give me any details on th differences between the to guns. Any reason to go with one over the other. Appreciate any help.
 
870-Lefty said:
The 16 ga. shell should pattern better. However, 1&1/8 oz. is as big as you should go in the 16 and expect to get good patterns. One ounce patterns best in the 16ga. I have 3 16's, a Browning Citori grade 1 Lightning, a Ithaca 37 pump, and a Springfield/Stevens 5100 SxS. :cheers:
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Over the past 25 years or so I've almost exclusively used 16 ga. for pheasant hunting. From about Thanksgiving on the flushes over my springers tend to offer longer shots, and the Federal Premium 1-1/4 oz. loads are very effective. I've patterned them in my guns, and these buffered, hard shot loads throw patterns as good as any 1-1/8 oz. load I've shot. Their drawback IMO isn't with patterns, it's more recoil. Though not a problem for me in a gun that weighs 6 -3/4 lbs, I don't recommend them in a really lightweight gun.

Jay
 
Gundog1 said:
I have been thinking about adding a 16 gauge to the arsenal for some time. Have not been able to find anything local that I can put my hands on. Have found a Citori Lightning and a Citori Heritage online. Anybody knowledgable enough with the two guns to give me any details on th differences between the to guns. Any reason to go with one over the other. Appreciate any help.
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I'm quite sure there are no mechanical differences in the Lightning and the Heritage. The Heritage was a limited production and included sideplates on the receiver with gold enhanced engravings. Other than those cosmetic differences both guns should be identical. The heritage only came with 28" barrels and is priced substantially higher than a Lightning.

I've had a 16 ga. Citori White Lightning for over 10 years and absolutely love the gun.
 
jonnyB said:
Am wondering what an A5 Browning 16 would weigh? My current A5 is about 8lb.

Would there be much effective difference between a 16ga, 1.25 shell and a 20 ga 3" shell on pheasants?
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Jon, a SweetSixteen will be at least a pound lighter than your 12 ga. depending on the model.

I wouldn't go to a 1.25 oz. load in the 16. I'd stick with the 1 1/8 oz. loads. I think you will find that the 16 with 1 1/8 oz. loads will generally outperform a 20 ga. with 3" shells as it will pattern much better. I've had great success with the 16 ga. Fiocchi Golden Pheasants with #6 shot. #5 shot is okay too.
 
Hmmm. I've heard it said, and it makes sense to me as far as pattern effectiveness goes: a 1-1/4 oz. load is a 1-1/8 oz. load with an additional 1/8 oz. underneath it. You don't lose any of the pattern effectiveness of the 1-1/8 oz. load riding on the top.

As I said, recoil is another matter.

Try shooting some paper with these loads to find out for yourself.

Jay
 
gunflint charlie said:
Hmmm. I've heard it said, and it makes sense to me as far as pattern effectiveness goes: a 1-1/4 oz. load is a 1-1/8 oz. load with an additional 1/8 oz. underneath it. You don't lose any of the pattern effectiveness of the 1-1/8 oz. load riding on the top.

As I said, recoil is another matter.

Try shooting some paper with these loads to find out for yourself.

Jay
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I think your assumption may be incorrect. You can lose pattern effectiveness when adding an additional 1/8 oz. of shot. When trying to stuff more shot down the barrel it is proven that it can effect patterns in a negative way. However, since every gun may pattern shells differently it's impossible to make a general statement on how a specific shell may pattern. It might pattern great in your gun and terrible in another gun. The only way to know how any shell patterns in your gun (or guns) is to go to the range and pattern various loads.

Years ago, before I had a 3" 12 ga. gun, I was patterning 2 3/4" loads in a Remington 870 28" full choke for turkey hunting. I used 1 1/4 oz loads and 1 1/2 oz. (baby mag) loads. The 1 1/4 oz. loads consistently threw more pellets in a tighter pattern than the 1 1/2 oz. loads. I know it doesn't seem to make sense but the proof was on the paper.
 
I'm talking only about the 1-1/4 oz. Federal Premium loads vs. the 1-1/8 oz. loads I've used. These Federals are high quality loads -- hard shot with buffering.

Shot cups, harder vs. soft shot, shot size, load setback due to powder charge variance -- all can account for differences in patterns. Where these are consistent (or better for the heavier load) and shot through the same barrel, I've not seen pattern quality degrade with just 1/8 oz. of additional shot.

Jay
 
It's not the Gauge it's the load. 12ga 16ga 20ga 28ga none are magical, with a minimum of 1oz of 6 shot is as light as one should go for Wild Pheasant's.
Heavier loads just performe better and 12ga 2 3/4 inch 3 3/4dr 1 1/4oz in 6,5,4 shot has been the standard for the last 60+ years.
I would think the 16ga should performe nice and those are some nice looking guns. In truth one carry's a gun much more than its shot, why be stuck with a ugly one. Good Hunting
 
Glad I found this thread. I took my dad's Browning A5 Sweet Sixteen to South Dakota last year but ended up not using it much as I hunted on public land such as WPA's & GPA's which require a non-toxic load. This gun is Belgium made in the 50's. Any non toxic recommendations and also where I can pick them up? Thanks 2 Labs.
 
2 Labs said:
Glad I found this thread. I took my dad's Browning A5 Sweet Sixteen to South Dakota last year but ended up not using it much as I hunted on public land such as WPA's & GPA's which require a non-toxic load. This gun is Belgium made in the 50's. Any non toxic recommendations and also where I can pick them up? Thanks 2 Labs.
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Hevishot is about the only thing you will find in a non tox load for older 16 gauge gunsand it's pricy. I still have some Kent tungsten that I use but they stopped making it in 16 gauge.
 
With a 16 planning ahead may be more important because many places I've bought shells at over the years had no 16s.
 
Even though Browning has said to not shoot steel in these older A5's I have read of a number of guys doing it without any issues. You would want to stay with smaller pellets and probably no tighter choke than IC. I personally don't see a problem shooting #4 steel from my IC choked Sweet Sixteen. But, I have 150 rds. of Kent TM to use first. It's not like Id be shooting hundreds of rounds through it like if I was duck hunting. For upland I probably would shoot a box a season.
 
My thoughts on most 16 and specialty 20 loads >>>> when you find a favorite, buy a case or two. Availability is often difficult at best (stock once each fall, if at all). Special orders ... may as well buy 5 - 10 years worth.

Been my experience (pattern tested myself) that larger shot size generally patterns worse as you go up in gauge (smaller barrel size).

One indirect advantage of the non-steel non-tox shot is the use of smaller shot sizes (like you can with lead) in the higher gauges. Pricey though.
 
It's really not that hard to find 16 ga. shells online. Here's a link to the 16 ga. portion of a website that compiles ammo for sale by many online vendors. It shows nearly 900 offers of 16 ga., from many makers, in a wide variety of loads.

The stuff at Rogers is a good price compared to what some others are asking for those Fiocchi's.

Jay

http://ammoseek.com/ammo/16-gauge
 
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