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< 16ga. Guns ~ UncleDanFan "SWEET" 16 - Thank you! |
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Posted:
Fri May 10, 2019 1:31 pm
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Joined: 09 Mar 2016
Posts: 754
Location: Mn.
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For me the Ithaca 37 26" 16 ga. IC is the best grouse harvesting machine I have ever used, likely because that is what I grew up shooting them with. But a couple of years ago degenerative arthritis had started to set in to my wrists and fingers. Among other places, and some days are better than others.
Last summer picked up an A5 Sweet 16 after Savage16 brought one to the Sweet 16 shoot that Browning let us borrow, and I knew after shooting it that it was some kind of magic. And Dave Erickson warned me that would happen.. But at 28" the used one I picked up on here was too long for the grouse woods so I had Briley cut it down to 23".
It worked and worked well, but that steep radius grip hurt my carry hand after more than half an hour. Heard good things about UncleDanFan so contacted him after hunting season about it. Knew a straight grip was better than factory but even that hurts after awhile, needed something in between. Like how Browning first made them. Got it back yesterday from Mark.
Perfect and I mean perfect. It is like the grip is built for my hand. Now I have a grouse gun that gives the 37 a run for the money.
Less than 4 hours after I got it back shot sporting clays with it. A club near me put on 50 SC targets last night. I dropped a pair, was too far in front of both. And dropped another bird because I got lazy. Targets were fairly soft but still I will take that any day. Snap shooting it just came up naturally and was spot on target. Mark your work is beyond my expectations, thank you!!
A week from tomorrow I will be shooting it at the unofficial Sweet 16 shoot at Horse and Hunt. |
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Posted:
Fri May 10, 2019 2:12 pm
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Member
Joined: 15 Apr 2007
Posts: 9463
Location: Amarillo, Texas
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I LOVE it when a plan comes together !! |
_________________
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USAF RET 1971-95 |
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Posted:
Fri May 10, 2019 2:52 pm
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Member
Joined: 06 Apr 2007
Posts: 3373
Location: The Great Northwet
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Thanks! Glad it worked out. The grips on those are hollow, so I had to fill the void with a dowel and then blend over it. Other than that, it was pretty straightforward re-checker and refinish. Nice gun, too bad I ran out of time to shoot it! |
_________________ Gun art: www.marklarsongunart.com
Gallery art: www.marklarsonart.com
The man's prayer from the Red Green Show: "I'm a man, but I can change, if I have to. I guess." |
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Posted:
Fri May 10, 2019 2:54 pm
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Member
Joined: 08 Oct 2006
Posts: 1395
Location: Tappahannock, Virginia
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Very nice work indeed, glad it fits your hand better. Thanks for taking the time to post the pics. |
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Posted:
Sat May 11, 2019 3:19 am
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Member
Joined: 09 Jan 2013
Posts: 2169
Location: Florida
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That came out really nice .
Cold Iron you glad your happy with it .
Mark L great job as always ! |
Last edited by fn16ga on Sat May 11, 2019 3:39 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Posted:
Sat May 11, 2019 3:23 am
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That really came out nice, Mike (and Mark)! It has a very"right" looking profile, and I bet it feels great. Bravo!! |
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Posted:
Sat May 11, 2019 5:29 am
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Joined: 16 Feb 2007
Posts: 181
Location: Great White North
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Now thats how they should come from the factory, looks great!! |
_________________ Browning Gold 20/26
Browning Gold 20/28
Browning A5 SS Lightning |
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Posted:
Tue May 14, 2019 11:25 am
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Member
Joined: 09 Jan 2013
Posts: 2169
Location: Florida
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Posted:
Tue May 14, 2019 11:56 am
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Member
Joined: 09 Jan 2013
Posts: 2169
Location: Florida
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Cold Iron wrote: |
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I was looking at this again today , Mark did a fanstic job of shaping and cherckering
this round knob .
IMO Brownings biggest mistake on the "NEW" Sweetsixteen is putting a target grip on what is obviously a field gun .
While I really like my long barrel for dove and hunting open areas, sure would be nice if they would offer a shorter barrel option (as in extra barrels ) say 22" - 24" too.
Here's my striaght grip that Slim did for me .
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Posted:
Tue May 14, 2019 3:29 pm
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Joined: 01 Oct 2007
Posts: 962
Location: Minnesota
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Cold Iron, I sent you a pm. |
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Posted:
Tue May 14, 2019 6:24 pm
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Member
Joined: 16 Feb 2006
Posts: 711
Location: Flagstaff, AZ
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That Looks Great
I would have bought one of these guns a long time ago if they had anything other than that tight radius target grip. No way my big hands and long fingers could ever get along with the factory grip. Now I see there is hope. |
_________________ Dennis
Current 16ga. Stable
Browning Citori Gr I
Browning Belgium Sweet 16
A.H. Fox Sterlingworth
Remington 11-48
Remington 31
Remington 870
Geco/J.P. Sauer BLNE
Winchester Mod 12 |
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Posted:
Thu May 30, 2019 5:51 am
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Joined: 13 Oct 2014
Posts: 253
Location: North Shore of Boston
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WOW, WOW, WOW !
I am excited about the new Sweet Sixteen - and am days away from buying one, but all the while thoughts of what I see depicted here have been floating in the back of my mind.
First off what I see here is similar in a way to what I know as a "Woolnerized" Winchester model 59, a 3-shot, 12 GA semi-auto made briefly in the early 1960s.
By "Woolnerized" I refer to a custom modification (popularized by the late field editor Frank Woolner) of a model 59 by cutting the barrel back to 23", turning the stock into a straight English style grip, and trimming back some of un-necessarily long forend. I have one of these, and its great.
Anyway I need answers as how much it cost, how long did it take and who did the work.
RE: the barrel - when you had it cut back to 23" did you have a screw in choke system re-installed ?
RE: cutting the stock grip to a straight English style & re-checkered, I got spun around, who did the work, how much did it cost, and how long did it take. |
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Posted:
Thu May 30, 2019 1:40 pm
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Joined: 09 Mar 2016
Posts: 754
Location: Mn.
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Yes in addition to having Briley cut the barrel back I had them install thinwall chokes and got 3 choke tubes.
I am tempted to get another Sweet 16 and leave it as is for clays. They are just a lot of fun to shoot at least for me. They do take a full one oz. load to cycle but even being so light the felt recoil is minimal.
UncleDanFan did my POW grip, I am sure he could also do a straight grip too. And does fantastic work if I may say so. |
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Posted:
Thu May 30, 2019 5:58 pm
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Joined: 13 Oct 2014
Posts: 253
Location: North Shore of Boston
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...
Now for the delicate subject of money
I figure $275 - $350 for the barrel shortening and screw in choke installation
I have no idea what stock work like that would cost, but I'm guessing $500 - $750 |
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Posted:
Fri May 31, 2019 4:24 am
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[URL=https://imageshack.com/i/pnLzQSSdj]
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Bill, I've had Mark Larson and Lance Wells (Slim of Slim's Stock Shop) do multiple jobs for me and they are both outstanding. Slim converted my A5's at just under $400/gun. He recheckers and refinishes the whole gun. He says, "Browning checkering is crap" and won't let the gun out of his shop unless it's all reworked. |
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