TrapperReady
Member
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2003
- Messages
- 2,732
I had a little time off today, so I stopped by my favorite local shop. My intentions had been to see if they had one of the new 16ga Remington 1100s. No luck there, but they did have a 28ga 1100, which was nice, but too heavy for my tastes in that small a gauge. (On a side-note, the recent quality issues I've noticed with a number of Remingtons were totally lacking in this particular 1100. It was a very nicely finished piece.)
I then started looking at youth models, as I've been pondering when to get my first-born started. After handling a few singles and youth-model pumps, I decided that decision can wait another couple years. No sense in pushing things and having it be a negative experience.
Anyway... I looked around a while longer, and ended up spotting a very different 16ga autoloader. A Browning A-5, made in 1930... interesting... beautiful wood (really beautiful wood)... interesting(er). Price... maybe a tad high, but not bad. The bluing on the receiver is worn, and there are a few scratches, but nothing that doesn't fit under the category of "character".
The only significant issue was an old repair of a small split in the fore-end (although the fix still looks good, I may reinforce it with a couple drops of Gorilla Glue). I haggled slightly, and got the price down into acceptable territory. A few forms later, and I'm out the door with a classic piece of American shotgunning.
After bringing it home and cleaning it up a bit, I realize the barrel shows proof-marks of "16 65". Doh! It's got 2 9/16" chambers. Standard 16ga 2 3/4" shells won't work. A quick call to Westley Richards, and I order up a couple cases of shorter shells.
So, I've now got a gun I absolutely didn't need... that takes ammo I have to custom order... and I couldn't be happier. Again I ask, "How does this happen?"
I then started looking at youth models, as I've been pondering when to get my first-born started. After handling a few singles and youth-model pumps, I decided that decision can wait another couple years. No sense in pushing things and having it be a negative experience.
Anyway... I looked around a while longer, and ended up spotting a very different 16ga autoloader. A Browning A-5, made in 1930... interesting... beautiful wood (really beautiful wood)... interesting(er). Price... maybe a tad high, but not bad. The bluing on the receiver is worn, and there are a few scratches, but nothing that doesn't fit under the category of "character".
The only significant issue was an old repair of a small split in the fore-end (although the fix still looks good, I may reinforce it with a couple drops of Gorilla Glue). I haggled slightly, and got the price down into acceptable territory. A few forms later, and I'm out the door with a classic piece of American shotgunning.
After bringing it home and cleaning it up a bit, I realize the barrel shows proof-marks of "16 65". Doh! It's got 2 9/16" chambers. Standard 16ga 2 3/4" shells won't work. A quick call to Westley Richards, and I order up a couple cases of shorter shells.
So, I've now got a gun I absolutely didn't need... that takes ammo I have to custom order... and I couldn't be happier. Again I ask, "How does this happen?"