Ever wonder what the effect of using Briley sub-gauge tubes is on your gun's handling? Following is the data for one gun.

A side-lever Woodward "The Automatic" (rare version of "The Automatic") came up at a London auction and hammered within my price range. It is a neat gun with "thinish" barrel walls. I can shoot it with light, low pressure loads. However, memory serving, I recalled a set of Briley .410 - 12 bore tubes stashed in the back of my safe. With a wee bit of "adjusting", my 12 bore game gun became a -----? Measurements show the following:

Woodward "The Automatic" 29 1/8" bbls, 14 5/8" LOP, 12 bore, 6# 6 1/4 oz, 4 5/16" balance, unmounted swing 1.31, mounted swing 6.25, Half Weight Radius 9.75.

Woodward "The Automatic" with Briley .410 tubes - 7 # 5 1/4 oz, 5 3/8" balance, unmounted 1.59, mounted 7.91, HWR 10.02.

All of the changes are significant. For sake of brevity, it becomes a different for handling but same fit.

DDA

And ..... how well do you shoot the 410?

A set of 20 gauge tubes will get you closer to the carrier set.

i some times shoot skeet with a 26" 12 gauge lincoln jefferies hammer gun, with 20 gauge briley full length tubes installed...

without the tubes, the gun weighs six pounds...with the tubes, seven...the extra pound in the barrels, moves the balance of the gun forward...not good for upland field shooting...but on the skeet field...well, this gun just swings, an keeps on moving, even after the shot...

Haven't shot it yet --- covid, etc.

How much do 12 - 20 bore Brileys weigh?

One set (two tubes) weighs 11.30 ounces
Another set weights 11.15 ounces.

I find that by station 3 at skeet almost any combination can be made useful.

That is why I take a different gun each time I go dove hunting

Mike

01 Sept 20 08 doves, Tristar 410 3” #6 Herter’s Rained out
02 Sept 20 15 doves, Remington 3200 16 gauge
03 Sept 20 15 doves,Browning Superpose RKLT 20 IC/Mod
04 Sept 20 15 doves,Browning Superpose RKLT 12 Mod/Full
05 Sept 20 15 doves,Browning Citori 16 gauge Sk & Sk
07 Sept 20 14 doves,Remington 3200 12 ga Mod/Full 40+ Wind
08 Sept 20 NO HUNT 46 degrees, raining and windy
09 Sept 20 NO HUNT Rain
10 Sept 20 NO HUNT 38 degrees and rain
11 Sept 20 15 doves,American Arms Brittany 20 gauge
12 Sept 20 15 doves,L.C.Smith Q3 (1893) with Briley 20 ga tubes
14 Sept 20 15 doves,Liegeous D’Arms A Fue 16 O/U, Herter’s #6
15 Sept 20 15 doves, GECO 16 ga SXS & Citori
16 Sept 20 15 doves, Krieghoff Drilling 16ga & Citori 2 ½ ammo
17 Sept 20 15 doves,Helice French 12ga 2 ½ ammo
18 Sept 20 15 doves, Zamacola 12 Ga. SXS
19 Sept 20 5 doves Daly Superior 20ga. Sk&Sk SHORT hunt
21 Sept 20 15 doves, Superposed IC/MOD Carved 20 gauge
22 Sept 20 15 doves, Rem 11-87 #6 Mags also lots of pigeons
28 Sept 20 4 doves,Remington 1900, few doves, colder
29 Sept 20 2 doves,Browning A-5 16 3-Shot, almost no doves
05 Oct 20 3 doves,Remington 3200 20 gauge ported barrels