Those not wishing to reload for the 16 now have another option: Herters 1 oz loads, available from Cabela's. Usually around $6/box; a little less when Cabela's has them on sale.
I'm currently field testing one of the new A-5 Sweet 16's from Browning. 3 rounds of skeet the other day, with the IC choke tube in place. Shooting low gun: 24-23-24. Mine tips the scale at 5/15. I was a fan of the original Sweet 16, but never carried it afield because a 16 that weighs right around 7# (you're unlikely to find an old one under than unless it has a plain 26" barrel) doesn't make a lot of sense to me. This gun does. Function was perfect . . . once I realized that the through bolt hadn't been properly tightened. Borrowed one for a couple rounds from fellow writer Phil Bourjaily a few weeks ago. Discovered with that one that RST's, either 3/4 or 7/8 oz, wouldn't cycle it. But no worries, because there's no real issue with recoil from the 1 oz loads in that gun. Tomorrow I'm going to try a few 1 1/8 oz loads, just to see how they feel.
The gauge has seen somewhat of a resurgence in popularity. You can get a BPS 16ga as well as the A-5, if you're into magazine guns. And you see a higher % of Spanish 16's these days than 30 years ago. In addition to really light sxs like Merkel's 1620. And looking at data from the Loyal Order of Dedicated Grouse Hunters, 30 years ago vs currently, there's been a bit of an uptick in the gun's popularity.
I'll be doing an article on doing it all with one gun--if by ALL you mean all upland hunting--later this year. It'll be based on my experiences with this A-5, plus my hunting notes from several years ago when I did nearly all my hunting, from woodcock to pheasants, with a Poli sxs I'd had Briley fit with choke tubes. That's one I wish I still had.
Last edited by L. Brown; 08/27/16 12:42 PM.
