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Can a shotgun be too light ?

Sure, light guns are great to tote in the field, but most shoot better with a little weight in their hands. Light guns tend to handle “whippy” and can be moved too fast or on the other extreme, they are easier to stop one’s swing and follow through the shot. But shotgunning is much about feel, so what doesn’t work for one might be just the thing for another. If you find one that works for you, hold on to it regardless of weight!

YES! As Chocolatepossum said. Also recoil and getting on second targets. You will shoot a heavier gun better, but what that heavier gun is may not be the same for you and I.

Shotgun weight is a personal thing. On Game I shoot a light gun very well. Most of my hunting is over pointers so most of the action is in close plus I believe my light gun gives me a 5-10 yard advantage over a person shooting a heavier gun. I did spend a lot of time shooting low gun int. skeet which speeds me up a little.

5 lb 15 oz 12ga sxs that is lightning fast, 1 oz of 6's is perfect.


My clays guns I like a little heavier just for the recoil aspect of shooting long strings 50-200 birds at a day on the range.

That looks a lot like a Model 23 Winchester I have...

90% of my shotgunning is/was at clays.

I never really weighed the shotgun or compared weights - but I definitely prefer more weight in the forward hand.

Could be, but I know some who shoot light upland guns better than good. I have a Ithaca 37 28gauge that goes around 5.5. For point and shoot upland game…Grouse, Woodcock and Pheasants….it isn’t a handicap. It has a slight forward balance.

A Model 59 12 gauge at 6 pounds and a little butt heavy also isn’t a handicap in the uplands. Far from it.

What’s being shot at often has much to do with an ideal weight.

Have recently purchased a TriStar Viper G2 bronze select 28 gauge. Brought it home on a patterning board. Shimmed the stock to liken . Last weekend shot it on the skeet field for the first time also shot the highest ski scores I ever have in my life. It is also the lightest gun I have ever shot.

so back to the op's question, can it be (too) light.
yes.
many makers push the envelope to achieve a light gun to appeal to a consumer. the issue is, how many of those light guns will fail if the owners exceed their limits by using over charged loads in one? remember the armalite shotgun at 5lbs back in the day? it was a crack-a-holic.
bad designs to guns yet to be proven over time, can surface.
sure...a gun can be too light. and time will answer the question.
I just dont get this recent trend towards lightening shotguns. most owners I know add weight to shotguns. and most hunters buy light guns to tote around all day to shoot maybe 2 or 3 shots and be done. (which is why no one can convince me hunting is fun) if I want to walk around in a field, ill go back into the army. at least id get paid for it.

What you don’t understand is that those who have the hunters heart get paid almost every time they go out. And the pay is more than worth the time and effort.

Nor do we have much desire to convince you. You either get it or you don’t. You don’t…..

good.
id rather not hang with people who smear deer urine all over themselves and make youngsters cut gonads off and hold up hearts as a right of passage either.....in a fenced club where they cant escape....while putting bengay on my shoulder after my light gun kicked the bazooka out of me. ;>

Given enough time, the truth and reality of ones place...and knowledge....usually shows itself.. Yours just did.

You really should stick with the skeet forums where you belong...Maybe????

Here...for the anti-hunting posters.

5.5 pounds..the only shot I may have fired that day..it didn’t come from a place they couldn’t escape...have yet to shoot any upland Bird that I made a youngster cut it’s nuts off. We were discussing shotguns, if only for keeping it relevant.

The payback of watching the Dog, having the freedom to hunt and being with friends was huge. Most certainly more than the real cost of the hunt. However, the Dog may have gotten to eat some raw heart.👍 Little heathen he is. And you can shoot that 28 gauge almost all day without recoil being a problem.

Great photo!!!

Thanks to one who gets it👍

And another....A Pup and a LW 12’s both first Birds. What effort, what recoil....how much is the memory worth? One either gets it or they don’t..

If I'm going to spend the morning shooting a hundred rounds at clays I'm happy to have my guns that weigh a bit more but I do happen to enjoy time afield with the pup (or did until the next one comes along here before too long) and carrying a lighter gun certainly is more enjoyable as I don't judge a day afield by the number of shots taken.

I'm surprised at your comments on hunting. Folks here usually have done enough of it with people of some modicum of class to realize that your stereotypes belong on other types of message boards.

Surprised myself, however those comments came right out of the anti-hunting playbook...

In addition...What does one who doesn't carry a shotgun around all day hunting, know anything about the advantage of using one for that purpose? Other than he thinks they are all going to fall to pieces due to being light....Amazing the Brits, how about driven Pheasants, and the Germans have made more than a few that have been around for over 100 years.

Great photos and posts Battue!

Dogs, birds and shotguns are a great way to spend anywhere from a few hours to an entire two-week vacation with. And the good tired feeling earned after an all day hunt, whether for Huns, roosters, quail or grouse for the dog and the hunter is fabulous in my experience!

Duplicate

Battue I have to disagree with you to an extent! I know without a doubt you can not shoot those light guns as well as your target guns. With that said of course light guns have a place in the woods, fields, and mountains without a doubt. Would you choose a 5.5lb gun on a high volume Dove hunt? I know I dam surely would not. But a 5.5lb gun on a Snow Cock or Chukar hunt would probably be ideal! If we truly could shoot light guns as well as heavy guns everyone would be doing it in competition. Again light is relative to the shooter in question. Light for me is more then likely just right or heavy for you.