The perfect grouse gun......
I just let go of a 25 1/2" Purdey 12 gauge weighing 6 pounds, 3 oz. with open chokes. Dated to 1933 and bought specifically to hunt Ruffed Grouse along the shores of Lake Huron/Georgian Bay. That was a pretty nice grouse gun.
I have a 26" Lindner made Charles Daly Diamond Quality 20 gauge that would be a pretty nice Ruffed grouse gun. So would the 28" Lindner made 16 ga Featherweight that is hanging out in my gun rack. Both of these are in the vicinity 5 1/2 pounds.
My 26" Francotte 28 gauge, at 4 lbs 11 oz, certainly makes for an easy carry when the going gets a bit tough.
But my favorite is my Tolley 12 ga single barrel. At 29" the barrels are longer than is commonly though of for a grouse gun but the length does a wonderful job of smoothing out the swing of the 5 lb flat gun.
In general, I think the best grouse gun is the one in your hands when the setter points and the bird flushes. Besides the guns above, my "best" grouse guns have included Wingmasters, M12s in 16 gauge and Brownings in both Double Auto Twentyweight and Superposed 20 gauge iterations.
