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fourtrax
PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 6:11 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 04 Jun 2009
Posts: 827
Location: N. Shore, mn

Now that you guys have had these for awhile & hunted with them........
What bbl lengths & stock configs would you do over or reconsider if you were buying one either again or the first time? Mine would be used mainly for Upland bird hunting Ruffs & Phez. I also prefer the English grip. I like the hands closest to the plane of the bbl & my carry wrist likes the straight grip. I will not even consider the current grip for a purchase.

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double vision
PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 6:19 am  Reply with quote
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Until proven differently I'd stay with my 28" barrel. Prairie birds as you know can get long with speed. If I were just in the brush hunting grouse or bunnies I'm might go 26".
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1stgun
PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 2:44 pm  Reply with quote
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Location: Ponchatoula, Louisiana

Trax,
I picked mine up Tuesday and just tried it this morning. It was good on the clays I was shooting. I have the 28" barrel, could have had the 26" sooner but waited on this one. Will be used mostly on early season ducks with bismuth and doves with lead.

A very lively and quick little gun.

Regards,
Chuck

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fn16ga
PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 5:25 pm  Reply with quote
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Location: Florida

I have never handle a 26" but I am very happy with my 28" gun . I hunted snipe in some pretty thick cover at times and really didn't notice the "longness" .


Last edited by fn16ga on Mon Mar 27, 2017 3:24 am; edited 1 time in total
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4setters
PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 8:25 pm  Reply with quote
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Joined: 19 Nov 2013
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Location: NW Arkansas

I ordered a 26 inch barrel and am pleased with it. However, I've only shot wild quail so far. Had I bought it for pheas, I probably would have went with a 28 incher. Having shot quail all my life, I gravitate toward shorter barrels/guns in most cases, as some of the sharp turns behind cedar trees, etc., defy staying on or leading the little buggers. Give me a "lively" gun for this sport! Given the weight and balance of the new A5, it's lively enough for me on quail. Other than throwing hulls in the grass, I have no complaints.

The thick grip was strange to me for a while, but I can't say that it caused me any problems shooting. I got used to it in a hurry. Since I mostly carry my bird guns with my right hand below the receiver while not on birds, carry was not an issue with me (wearing the blue off the bottom of the receiver is, however, like my Citori after 20 years of carry!). However, if I were parting sprouts with my left hand and carrying with my right hand on the grip like most grouse hunters, I would also prefer either a straight grip or a "long" grip like on my Ithaca NID, rather than the stubby-short grip on the new A5. But I doubt an autoloader shotgun would move to the front of the pack as my favorite grouse gun either!

After a couple of bird hunts, I did have to add the short spacer to lengthen the stock and the "down" shim to get slightly more drop, which put the gun spot on for me. Comes to the shoulder dead on.

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1952 Ithaca M37 Mod
1955 Browning Auto-5 Mod
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1959 Beretta Silver Hawk
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Browning Citori Invector
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double vision
PostPosted: Sat Mar 25, 2017 6:07 pm  Reply with quote
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fourtrax wrote:
Now that you guys have had these for awhile & hunted with them........
What bbl lengths & stock configs would you do over or reconsider if you were buying one either again or the first time? Mine would be used mainly for Upland bird hunting Ruffs & Phez. I also prefer the English grip. I like the hands closest to the plane of the bbl & my carry wrist likes the straight grip. I will not even consider the current grip for a purchase.


Last Saturday I finally got to shoot mine a bit more and it was the first time shooting it since I had the stock converted to a straight grip. I visited a heated 5-stand setup and shot the first two rounds with my 16 gauge OU. That went very well, but after a couple rounds of opening and closing the OU stiff action awkwardly in the shooting windows I was more than ready to shoot the light SW16. I guess i need to hit the weights because I was getting a little arm weary. The SW16 was a revelation. So light and fast to "get on." There was a speedy rabbit target that was easy to acquire and smoke with the SW16 time after time. The straight grip felt good and natural, and the way the gun got on the targets so fast with the 28" barrel I have no regrets about not going with the 26". The long targets were also no problem. The gun is fast, but disciplined. I think it's going to be quite the upland beast!
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byrdog
PostPosted: Sun Mar 26, 2017 11:19 am  Reply with quote
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Dave
Who did the stock work?

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double vision
PostPosted: Sun Mar 26, 2017 11:24 am  Reply with quote
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Lance Wells of Slim's Stock Shop in Lindstrom, MN. He also works on Parkers, M21's, etc.
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Cass
PostPosted: Sun Mar 26, 2017 2:00 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 07 Feb 2008
Posts: 87

fourtrax wrote:
Now that you guys have had these for awhile & hunted with them........
What bbl lengths & stock configs would you do over or reconsider if you were buying one either again or the first time? Mine would be used mainly for Upland bird hunting Ruffs & Phez. I also prefer the English grip. I like the hands closest to the plane of the bbl & my carry wrist likes the straight grip. I will not even consider the current grip for a purchase.


I just had a chance to shoot mine on live birds. I added a post to a thread I started previously:

http://www.16ga.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19782&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15

I missed any wild bird opportunities this year, but to my surprise the roosters were running and flushing wild on this hunt, so I got some more challenging shots. There were residual hens in the field and the roosters were actively looking for them.

My Sweet 16 is the 26". When I bought it I got to handle both the 26" and 28" and decided on the 26". Look at the overall length of the guns before you decide. Overall, the new A5's are long guns compared other shotguns. Barrel length in just one aspect.

Here is a link to an OAL discussion where I posted comparative lengths:

http://www.16ga.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19954&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15

Honestly I think either one will serve you well, its just what you are comfortable with.

I have done a lot of my upland hunting with English stocks on Citori Superlights, so I too prefer the straight grip. For reasons I can't explain the Sweet 16 grip handles and points well for me.

Cass
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df
PostPosted: Sun Mar 26, 2017 2:31 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 01 Oct 2007
Posts: 962
Location: Minnesota

Dave Erickson wrote:
Lance Wells of Slim's Stock Shop in Lindstrom, MN. He also works on Parkers, M21's, etc.


Dave any chance you can post a pic of the grip.
And are you coming to the st paul 16 ga shoot, with this gun?
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fn16ga
PostPosted: Mon Mar 27, 2017 3:31 am  Reply with quote
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Page 4 in this thread , looks great !

http://www.16ga.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19677
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double vision
PostPosted: Mon Mar 27, 2017 4:04 am  Reply with quote
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df wrote:
Dave Erickson wrote:
Lance Wells of Slim's Stock Shop in Lindstrom, MN. He also works on Parkers, M21's, etc.


Dave any chance you can post a pic of the grip.
And are you coming to the st paul 16 ga shoot, with this gun?


DF, I'll have it along at the 16 ga shoot in St. Paul.
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studdog
PostPosted: Mon Mar 27, 2017 4:36 am  Reply with quote
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Location: drummond island MI

The sighting plane on these guns is 2 inches longer than the "old" sweets due to the longer receiver length. Therefore, the 26 is 33.5 inch sighting plane which is longer than most clays guns. IMO this is a design flaw in the new gun. A shorter action would look a lot better. Perhaps there is reason for the longer receiver? Any ideas?

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double vision
PostPosted: Mon Mar 27, 2017 5:11 am  Reply with quote
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[URL=https://imageshack.com/i/pnkBKYD0j] [/URL]

Long is good!
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studdog
PostPosted: Mon Mar 27, 2017 5:41 am  Reply with quote
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Dave, your right about it's a matter of opinion, Had browning scaled the action to the 2 3/4 shell length they could have lightened the sweet a little more. Take a pic of the old sweet next to the new one. Quite a difference. Opinion aside, It's a nice gun and the extra length means you don't need the 28 inch barrel for sighting plane.

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