doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Another Nitro Special joins the crowd -- but heavy

Say what you want about to each his own but some day take a look at the very best sporting clay shooters and you'll find very few have guns that are < 30 inches and < 7.5 pounds. And, before someone says they don't shoot in heavy brush let me ask when was the last time you hit a tree with the last 4" of that 28 or 30 inch barrel? That's right I won't be looking for any super light weight British game guns. Go shoot one at skeet or 5 stand and you'll find the barrels heat up so much except in the dead of winter that you'll be roasting your fingers. Oh, that's if you don't buy one of those stupid barrel insulator contraptions. What a joke. Make the barrels heavy and long enough and you won't need an expedient like that. Mr Miller, with respect go back and read what I said. You are on a tangent. I never said you have to like what I do.

Sproting Clays and Skeet are different animals than upland hunting. I agree, 30 inch barrels and 7.5 pound gun swings nicely when the gun is of propoer fit. The clay target games generally have gun racks at each station, the shooter doesn't have to carry or hold the gun for long periods. Whether it be over hill and dale when hunting upland birds or standing at the ready near a crow caller, I'll take a 6 something pound 20 ga every time. Lighter is often better when you have to carry or hold the gun for long periods of time. In fact lighter gets better with each passing year.

My favorite 16ga weighs 6-8; my favorite 20 weighs right at 6 pounds. Reckon that's about right. I'd prefer they not be any lighter but I don't obsess about a few ounces either way.

Cherry Bomb; I think you are the one who needs to "Re-Read" your own post. The fact of the matter is I do not find my 6 3/4lb 28" bbld gun "A LIE", but one of the best handling uplan guns I ever brought to shoulder.
There is a "Major" difference in stating what one likes for their purpose & in saying every one else who differs has "Bought A LIE".
Even for Ducks I have in the past done some very good shooting with a 12ga with only 26" bbls, though they are heavy bbls & the gun weighs in at 7½lbs on the nose. It has a feel & balance similar to many 30" bbl'd guns, actual length of bbls is of minor consideration in the handling qualities of a gun, it's weight distribution that counts.
Incidently I don't choose my family car by what the winning NASCAR driver uses either.

Chops:

A little bit more information:

There were 3 distinct NS frames. One from 1921 to 1926. The next was about 0.4 shorter and was built from 1926 to 1937. The third from 1937 to end of production was the "stepped" frame, more in the NID style.

There is some correlation. The 3 heaviest ones I have are in the first 2 frame styles. The heaviest 2 are with the 2nd frame.
I did not do a barrel wall measurement, but it is notable, the the heaviest ones have the tightest bores, .660 to .662, compared with .670 in the lighter ones. This does not account for the weight difference but does account for about 2-3 oz. of the difference. I SUSPECT that more detailed wall thickness measurements would provide the answer. Apparently, the later NS guns had a larger bore, and PROBABLY, a somewhat thinner wall. Just speculation on the wall thickness. The frame differences are irrelevant, since you weighed the barrels. The chamber length change from 2-9/16 to 2-3/4 is a pretty small weight difference!

Roy

Roy, the earlier gun has the first frame style (mfd. 1923), so that would account for some of the weight increase. Also has an old Pachmyer pad which would account for another few oz. but there must still be a more definative reason for the variance.
Frame on my '40's gun is the stepped and shorter one, maybe a few ounces there. I have no means of measuring bores but I suspect the barrel walls are thicker than the later guns. Early gun is tight, on face, ready for another 84 years! Thanks for all your valuable Nitro Special input as I know you are a fan of these old girls as am I. My early gun has 2-2/4" chambers by the way.
Chops

While Savage actually slightly upped the catalogue weights of their Ansley H. Fox guns, I have found examples of late Philadelphia and Savage era guns that run much lighter then catalogue weights. For example a 30-inch 12-gauge Sterlingworth was catalogued at 7 1/2 to 7 3/4 pounds but I have 100% original both late Philly and Utica 30-inch 12-gauge guns that weigh right at 7 pounds!?!

Cherry! Lowell did say Brit "gameguns," and you started your rave-up about target guns. Gotta get things right!

Dang. I guess my 6 lb 12, and my 5lb, 12 oz 20 won't work for bird hunting now. That 16 at 6 lbs 4 ozs must be no good either.

All these years of shooting my personel limit of two birds per trip, and now look. They just won't work. I have to go find a 7 lb (or more) gun.

What am I going to do? My snowshoeing shotgun, with 30" tube (single shot) and 5 1/2 lbs of weight can't be any good either.

I can't believe I ever hit anything. What was I thinking?
Best,
Ted

Ted, you were just darn lucky to kill anything with those guns! As everyone knows, the real test of a game gun is how many you see on the target ranges. Perhaps they can be saved with a little lead in the stocks. Now go get some fancy britches, a strange little hat and hang around "high fiveing" folks wishing they were shooting birds. Now, about those pump guns...

Cary