New A5 Sweet Sixteen review.

JMc

JMc

Super Moderator
My local bird dog club put on a Chuckar hunt (see bird dog post). I took a new to me A5 Sweet Sixteen with 7 1/2 shells. Wow, this thing points and shoots like a dream. Birds dropped dead with LM choke. I love my ‘old’ A5 but this much lighter and quicker ‘new’ A5 is the real deal.
 
JMc said:
My local bird dog club put on a Chuckar hunt (see bird dog post). I took a new to me A5 Sweet Sixteen with 7 1/2 shells. Wow, this thing points and shoots like a dream. Birds dropped dead with LM choke. I love my ‘old’ A5 but this much lighter and quicker ‘new’ A5 is the real deal.
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Did the square grip bother you at all? A crap ton of guys complain about that, but I never gave it a second thought until reading everybody's complaints. I still don’t understand the problem cuz nothing bothers me about carrying and shooting that gun.
 
Doesn't bother me---I've shot a number of pheasants and ducks with it since I got mine in late 2018. Carries like a feather.
 
Doesn't bother me one of the best purchases I've made. I love carrying this gun, I have three Citori's that have been sent to the gun cabinet and only taken out for sporting clays or back ups when going out to South Dakota.
 
I have rather small hands and the grip has never been an issue for me. I do, however, like the looks of the round grip but if I trade up it's going to be for one of the new Ultimate models.
 
I’ve had my new A5 Sweet 16 since November of 2018. I like the way it carries and handles, but have always wished it had a shorter barrel. Mine has the 28” barrel, as it was all I could get when I bought it, and with the overall length of the gun it won’t fit in the gun compartments in the top of my dog trailer.

I’ve got a Belgian made A5, 12 gauge that was manufactured in 1971. It has the original 24” factory barrel on it that’s choked Modified. It is a pheasant and quail shooting machine. If my new Sweet 16 had a 24” barrel on it, I think I’d like it a lot more.

I let my 16 year old nephew carry my Sweet 16 on a quail hunt in Deep South Texas last month, and he absolutely fell in love with the gun. This young man is just a natural with a shotgun and he didn’t miss many birds with that Sweet 16. He may end up getting it as a graduation present in a couple of years.
 
lbills said:
I’ve had my new A5 Sweet 16 since November of 2018. I like the way it carries and handles, but have always wished it had a shorter barrel. Mine has the 28” barrel, as it was all I could get when I bought it, and with the overall length of the gun it won’t fit in the gun compartments in the top of my dog trailer.

If my new Sweet 16 had a 24” barrel on it, I think I’d like it a lot more.
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I have the 26" and feel that is a little longer than I'd like. A 24" would really be nice. I sent in a suggestion to that effect to Browning but so far they haven't listened. On another site a guy sent his 28" into Briley and had it shortened to 23" with Briley thin wall chokes installed. He loves it.
 
Dakotazeb said:
I have the 26" and feel that is a little longer than I'd like. A 24" would really be nice. I sent in a suggestion to that effect to Browning but so far they haven't listened. On another site a guy sent his 28" into Briley and had it shortened to 23" with Briley thin wall chokes installed. He loves it.
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I also sent my opinion to Browning that there needed to be a shorter barrel option for the new Sweet 16 and got the same response, which was nothing. If they’d just offer a shorter barrel that could be bought separately, I’d be all over that.

I’ve considered sending it to a gunsmith to have the barrel shortened, but I kind of hate to do that because it is such a beautiful gun.
 
I’d love to turn this gun into my primary waterfowl gun but Rogers wants $320 for ten boxes of shells loaded with only 15/16 ounces of steel 2’s or 4’s at 1350 fps, and the various bismuth loads out there run $35-$50 a box. It’s just outrageous they’re charging that kind of money when there is less powder and shot in 16 gauge shells compared to 12 gauge, and the ballistics are less impressive. I’m just not going to spend that kind of money on non-toxic ammo for the simple pleasure of shooting this gun, when I can buy 12 or 20 gauge non-toxic stuff for at least $100 savings, maybe more. For upland birds though, I doubt I ever carry a 12 gauge again.
 
I feel your pain, but it is simply supply and demand. There is less demand for 16 Guage shot shells and therefore it costs more to produce (supply). Or at least that was how it was explained to me. Go figure. Another excuse to charge more.
 
Guys that are using this gun for duck, what are you shooting and what choke are you shooting? I've been tempted to bring it out for ducks however my duck guns usually get pretty beat up as I tend to hunt in swamps wearing waders. Just can't bring myself to take the chance of ruining such a beautiful gun
 
So the "new" Sweet 16 w/ a 26" barrel isn't a particularly long gun. And it's obviously lighter than crap. So why do so many people think they should offer a shorter barrel? Simply so it'll fit better in a case you currently own? Or in a storage compartment? Or because you perceive a couple of inches of "sighting plane" making a difference in the overall feel??
 
mlmich@pldi.net said:
I feel your pain, but it is simply supply and demand. There is less demand for 16 Guage shot shells and therefore it costs more to produce (supply). Or at least that was how it was explained to me. Go figure. Another excuse to charge more.
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does anybody reload 16s. I'm thinking about it. If so what reloader you use?
 
A5 Sweet 16 said:
So the "new" Sweet 16 w/ a 26" barrel isn't a particularly long gun. And it's obviously lighter than crap. So why do so many people think they should offer a shorter barrel? Simply so it'll fit better in a case you currently own? Or in a storage compartment? Or because you perceive a couple of inches of "sighting plane" making a difference in the overall feel??
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It's simply a personal preference. I have always liked shorter barreled shotguns. Just feel better to me. Like the 26" tubes on my 16 ga. Citori White Lightning. The new A5's have a long receiver that in turns makes even a gun with a 26" barrel feel a little long to me. Before I went exclusively to 16 gauge guns I had a 12 ga. Benelli Montefeltro with a 24" barrel and loved it. Like I said, it's what you personally like. Shorter barrels a not for everyone, just like longer barrels are not for me. Be a pretty boring society if we all liked the same thing! :)
 
birddude said:
does anybody reload 16s. I'm thinking about it. If so what reloader you use?
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If you go to the 16ga.com forum you can get a lot of info on reloading for the 16 ga.
 
Dakotazeb said:
It's simply a personal preference. I have always liked shorter barreled shotguns. Just feel better to me. Like the 26" tubes on my 16 ga. Citori White Lightning. The new A5's have a long receiver that in turns makes even a gun with a 26" barrel feel a little long to me. Before I went exclusively to 16 gauge guns I had a 12 ga. Benelli Montefeltro with a 24" barrel and loved it. Like I said, it's what you personally like. Shorter barrels a not for everyone, just like longer barrels are not for me. Be a pretty boring society if we all liked the same thing! :)
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I suppose you're right Zeb. ;)
My very first repeater was an 870 Wingmaster w/ a 30" smokestack. All others I've bought since then have 26's or 28's. (26 on the ones w/ long receivers.....Montefeltro & new Sweet 16) Which I suppose is why I wish my Red Label (my only o/u) had 30" or 32" tubes instead of the 26" ones it has.
 
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