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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 692
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 692 |
Fit and feel. I have heard so much about "long" guns not being usable in grouse country that i could puke. If 26" is too long, then 26" will be just fine. Except talk to a guy with 26" bbls and he's considering having another inch lopped off his. Are grouse so scarce that the rare shot lost because of long barrels ruins a hunt? Shotgun fit and feel. Lack of fit or an unresponsive gun will spoil more shots in one hunt than an extra inch of barrel will over an entire season. I have two 16s from different manufacturers. Barrels are 28" and I reworked the stocks so that they mount and feel identical. One is choked IC and Mod, the other Mod x Full. If there were a local gunsmith I could trust, I'd have them set for choke tubes. As it is, the ICxMod gets most of the use.
RB
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 484
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 484 |
My favorite in '21 was a Beretta A400 28 ga Xplor. 5#8oz of very dynamic handling. It's the only sub 6# gun I ever broke 25 at skeet with. We hunt grouse...ruffs and blues in the timber and it worked well. Some shartails in a more open country along with Chukars in the wide open. Used the Mod choke all fall with 7/8 oz of 6 or 7.5 lead shot reloads.
Other shotguns that have held the role of fall grouse (bird) guns at the house include a Grulla 20 ga SxS (sidelock, twin trigger, 28" with IC & Mod chokes), the AYA #2 version of the Grulla (one in 20 ga and another in 16 ga), a Beretta 686 20 ga with 28" barrels and a straight grip Cole's stock (pretty), a CZ Bobwhite .410, twin trigger, w/26" barrels choked IC & Mod. The little .410 punches above its weight for me but you want 3" shells and short shots.
'22 possibly might see a 1934 Winchester Model 12 20 ga in the woods. The 26" barrel is marked Modified but it checks out at 0.009" of constriction or IC. Ideal woods shotgun in my mind. And that 28 ga Beretta Auto is tough to beat for carrying and handling, and ultimately putting grouse in the strap vest.
Last edited by Kurt52; 03/31/22.
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 3,497
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 3,497 |
I hunted last Fall with a Rizzini Artimus Light in 16g. A great gun in the Alberta Foothills hunting Ruffed and Spruce grouse. I also used it on the Prairies close to home in pursuit of Huns. It has become a new favourite, at least for forest grouse. I still enjoy my 686 20g as a Hun gun. And of course my SKB 500 12 is a great choice for pheasants.
Jeff
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 28,172
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 28,172 |
Your "new" grouse gun doesn't have to be new to be a great grouser. I blundered into a killer deal for this well-used but tight and sound French Robust No.4 16 gauge. It was choked Mod/Full. At IC/IM the gun is the ultimate upland gun, IMO. It weighs right at 6 pounds and points like your finger. You named some great choices in new guns, and I wouldn't mind having any of them. Don't overlook the old-school Classic upland shotguns.  a brace of big blues ![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/tDo7moe.jpg) a limit of two sagehen ![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/w6MBU5b.jpg)
Hunt with Class and Classics
Religion: A founder of The Church of Spray and Pray
Acquit v. t. To render a judgment in a murder case in San Francisco... EQUAL, adj. As bad as something else. Ambrose Bierce “The Devil's Dictionary”
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Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 10,794
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 10,794 |
Have resisted buying a Merkel more than once. A great SxS.
You would not regret it. My favorite bird gun for some years now has been My Merkel 1620. (20 gauge frame, 16 and 20 gauge barrels.) It's a wand in the woods. Generally, I hunt with the 16 gauge barrels and use the 20 gauge barrels for sporting clays. When I use it for clays, I shoot about 50 targets maximum because the little gun is just too light weight for more than that. No matter that it fits well and I can hit with it, more than about 50 targets in a short period of time and I'll develop a flinch.
Mathew 22: 37-39
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Joined: Dec 2020
Posts: 277
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Dec 2020
Posts: 277 |
One of the best upland autos ever made in my opinion.
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 447
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 447 |
I don't shoot Brownings that well either and prefer my Italian guns, I shoot them a lot better. That is common many seem to shoot one or the other better. I have a BUL but in 12 and while I have shot grouse with it reserve it for pheasant in SD. Have shot the 20 BUL but it is just a bit too wimpy for me, and long. Have 2 Dickinson Plantation Sporters and they are good guns but use them for clays they are built for that. But wouldn't pass on a field model in 16 if it came my way at a decent price. The new Sweet 16 A5 is a great grouse gun but a real tall drink of water to carry in the grouse woods. I think of it as my Benelli Ultralight in 16. Ended up having Briley cut it down to 23" and Mark Larson reshape that steep radius grip to a round knob. Now it is a proper grouse gun. After Briley took care of the barrel length for me it is now as long as my Ithaca 37 26" 16 ga. guns and I shoot it as well as those which I grew up with and shoot well. ![[Linked Image from live.staticflickr.com]](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48955926626_d556ba77d7_b.jpg) My favorite grouse gun as of late is the F.A.I.R. Iside. You can find them on Guns International or Gunbroker. Cole Guns and Lion Country Supply also carries them but they sell fast when they come in. Several of my friends have them from 28 ga. to 12 ga. with most in16 ga. Mine is 16 ga. of course. Because ruff prefers to be shot with purple shells. ![[Linked Image from live.staticflickr.com]](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50530343537_fc37650223_b.jpg) Snow came early last year on the North Shore and didn't leave until a couple of months ago, or so it seems. You better hurry, the season is almost here! I have a FAIR Iside like this on its way. I didn’t need it, but I sure wanted it. Can’t wait to shoot pheasant with it.
The expert at anything was once a beginner.
JC
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 17,105
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 17,105 |
ColdIron, IMO, that was a great mod of your Browning 16. It’s beyond me, with that already long receiver that Browning then put on a barrel as long as a broom stick. I also know they can do nice English stocks and POW grips, but they can also put out the most audacious, closed pistol grips possible.
Good job.
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 17,105
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 17,105 |
Not a grouse hunter per se but picked up one of these in January. 16 ga Feather Superlight Browning Citori. 6 lbs exactly; 26” tubes. Will be applied to pheasants but would work for grouse too. Also likes purple shot shells. ![[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]](https://i.postimg.cc/Bv5v9Pz7/F46-FD257-0-C10-4-D5-C-A452-E9443-E26-A1-C8.jpg)
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