Light guns are more difficult to shoot well. Light guns loaded up with late season pheasant loads, more so. I’ve been involved in some late season pheasant hunting that was more like pass shooting ducks, but, honestly don’t like that.
I haven’t looked real hard lately, but, if I see a 12 or 16 that meets your spec, I’ll post it. I do not recall the gun you were bidding on. Sub 6 pounds is a bit of a tall order, even in a Darne. My 12 is 6 lbs, with it’s sling.

Best,
Ted

John,
Yes, I agree, light and pistol grips are not often compatible, esp. with English guns. That's part of why the Darnes interest me. What is the geometry of the stock drop at heel and comb? Seems that many Darnes are pretty high combed, and that will beat up my face a bit.

6.25 would be acceptable. My current, lightest 12 is a 6.5# Merkel with a straight grip.

In a 16, that maybe more doable, but still your point is well taken

I'd not be indisposed towards an American gun. I don't have one actually. Most that I have seen are on the very low end of the quality scale and they seem to be often quite heavy.

I'm shopping, and I have the money at hand now that I did not before. But I am in no hurry. Looking for the right one.

KY Jon, I prefer the 2.75" chamber not so much to buy shells off the shelf, though that is a nice option, but because I often feel that I'm trying to get too much out of a small container and pushing limits. I have had a 2.5" 16 ga, but my experience with short cartridges is admittedly limited.

I cannot conceive any reason to use a 6 1/4 lb. or less shotgun with 1 1/4 oz. loads ............. even at pheasants........... even once per day. If I cannot carry a 7+ lb. gun long enough to to kill a pheasant I will gladly go to the truck.

Anyway, is 1 1/4 oz. load necessary to kill a wild pheasant? I seem to remember ChuckH doing a respectable job with a .410. Maximum in that bore is 3/4 oz., and he wasn't using that heavy a load, AIR.

SRH

Stan,
Some people may need 1 1/4 oz. for late season pheasants, but I've done very well with 1 oz. RST 2 1/2" #5 shells for pheasants most of the season.
Karl

I think some of you would be surprised to hunt wild birds with Gus and I here in Iowa. Bring your .410 if you wish. And if you want to carry a 7# .410 gun with 3/4 ounce loads, be my guest. At the end of the day, we can compare. I'm currently carrying a 7.25# gun with 30" barrels. It's fine, but I think a lighter gun will be nicer when it's 15 degrees, windy, and we are out in the cattails with snow. Maybe on snowshoes. It ain't georgia around here (I've hunted Georgia for 2 yrs so I can say that with some experience).

So, if you don't mind, I would like to try my hand at 6- gun instead of a 7+.

Let us know how that sub-6 lb. gun works out with 1 1//4 pheasant loads. And no, I don't mind at all.

SRH

You have all the answers, don't you Stan? You know more about what I hunt than I do. What's new?

I’m not a pheasant hunter per se, more grouse and quail, but I went pheasant hunting a couple years ago in northern Oklahoma. We hunted drainage ditches, black mucky soil with cat tails. Rough is putting it mildly. A light gun is what I wanted and needed. 1 1/4 oz shells are going to kick out of a 6 lb gun, but pheasant limit is 2 or 3 birds. What’s a guy going to shoot, 6-8 shells in a hunt?? A little recoil probably won’t be that big of a deal with only a few shots. Get what you want for your game Brent.

buzz, never fear, I will. Last year I kept a loose record of the number of miles logged on foot or snowshoes per bird shot. I wish I remember what the final average was in birds per mile, but it was less than one. And it isn't easy stuff to walk at all.

Lots of kids grow up with Stevens, Savage, or H&R singleshots that weigh a lot less than 6# and they manage. Or at least we used to.

Nope. But, I do know what a sub-6 lb. gun feels like with 1 1/4 loads, and it ain't pretty. But, you have at it, 'cause you're tired of totin' a heavier gun. I think you'll see for yourself that the pain ain't worth the gain.

SRH