My policy of furnishing a pair of Briley Skeet chokes with Browning 16 gauge guns will continue. I've had lots of feedback from customers who've put the skeet tubes in and never took them out. A boon to guys who shoot over close-working dogs; or to shoot the occasional round of skeet or sporting clays. We enclose a full-size, 8-ounce bottle of Clenzoil with every gun we ship. This is a world class cleaner-lubricant-preservative that I've used for almost 40 years.

The importer has reduced prices on his remaining inventory (which I have passed along to you) and some models and barrels length are sold out. I've deleted the models and BRO numbers of barrel lengths no longer available.

The best 16 gauge hunting and target loads on the market today (in my opinion) is B&P's F2 Classic -- a 1-1/16 ounce load of hard shot that goes out the door at 1280 fps. B&P describes this as "a medium load (29 g.) in a 67 mm (2-5/8") case to satisfy the demands of hunters who still posses 16/65 gauge guns." My experience with these "medium" loads is that they operate at low chamber pressures (which explains why they can be used in 2-1/2" chambers) and still get 1280 fps velocities without uindue recoil.

As a matter of fact, I can make a pretty good case for B&P #9's in the first barrel, whether you're hunting or practising. This 1-1/16 oz. 29 gram load of B&P's puts 530 No. 9 pellets in the target area, enhancing your opportunities for dead-in-the-air head/neck shots in the field -- or -- crushing clay birds on the practise field.

These 16 gauge Brownings are built on true 16 gauge frames. There is always some variation in weight between models because of wood density, grip style, barrel length, etc. However, as a general rule these 16 gauge guns will weigh between six-and-a-half and six-and-three-quarters pounds. To give you a further point of reference, you can assume your 16 gauge Browning Citori will weigh about a pound less than the same model in 12 gauge and about a third of a pound (five or six ounces) more than a 20 gauge.

Use of the word Feather in the model name means that the model has an alloy receiver with a steel reinforcement plate in the face of the receiver. This lightens the butt portion of the gun by about three-quarters of a pound. This changes the balance of the gun, making the gun barrel heavy and reduces the ability of the gun to absorb the recoil of heavy or high-speed loads.

There are no quality control issues with these Brownings and after checking a few, it appears to me that they have a slight tendency toward cast-off -- maybe 1/16 or 1/8" max.
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	Not enough to give a dominant right-eyed shooter the full advantage of the cast-off required to get the most out of the instinctive shooting style employed by most bird hunters. A quarter-inch of cast-off will improve the dominant right-eyed shooter's game. I definitely recommend stock bending for left-eyed shooters. The small amount of cast-off you get in these guns, when you require cast-on, is going to bug because you'll find yourself shooting two feet to the right every time a bird flushes. Annoying and unnecessary. All my Browning Citori 16 gauge guns ship with five (5) choke tubes. They come from the factory with IC-M-F Invector choke tubes, to which I add a pair (2) Skeet choke tubes (which are made by Briley for Browning). This gives you larger patterns at 20 yards if you are working over dogs -- and allows you to play most of the clay target games the rest of the year. The Model 525 Sporting Clays guns come with five (5) Midas choke tubes in Sk-IC-M-IM-F, Invector and Midas choke tubes are not interchangeable.
To order a 16 gauge Browning drop me a note and give me the BRO number and name of the model and the barrel length you want. Add any of the options -- stock -bending, recoil pads, finish enhancement -- as needed and add $40 for S&H and then enclose payment. No plastic. Either enclose an FFL, or ask your dealer to fax me a copy of his license. My fax number is 541-265-7400.

The above illustration shows a pad on the 525 Field.
Your 16 gauge 525 Field does not have a pad.Repeat, no pad.

 

I include a case of B&P's great F2 Classic No. 9's with all 525 Sporting Clays purchases.

As most hunters know, the 16 gauge has superior patterning characteristics than either the 12 or 20 gauge -- and now competitive shooters are discovering the same little secret. Old-timers will recall that skeet was once a 5-gauge event -- which explains why many older 16 gauge Winchesters M21s could be found choked Skeet 1 and 2 (WS1/WS2). And as Don Zutz has remarked in his writing - - if we wanted to invent the perfect shotgun shell, it would probably look a lot like the 16 gauge.

A dynamite new product now offered as an option. The NECG (New England Custom Gun) Universal Recoil Pad solves a problem that has plagued birdhunters for years. The length of pull requirements vary with the season. Shooting doves or quail in your shirt sleeves with, say, a 14-1/4" LOP might suit you to a "T", but chasing last-season birds with snow on the ground while wearing an insulated parka calls for a LOP a quarter-inch shorter. The heart of the NECG Universal Recoil Pad is a unique Quick-Lok locking system that lets you change pads in twenty seconds. We install the system to your "summer" LOP length and furnish a second "winter" pad, a quarter-inch shorter than "summer." The pads are the highest quality soft rubber, so they do what they are supposed to do in absorbing recoil. They feature a classically styled leather grained face, so they won't hang up on your shirt or shooting coat on the way to your shoulder. And because the pads are available in thicknesses of 1-1/4" and 1-1/2" we can easily lengthen butt stocks that are too short. Cost for installation of the NECG Universal Recoil System, complete with two pads, shipping and handling $400.

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Optional Leather covered Decelerator™ Recoil Pad -- a six-pound gun offers little protection in the way of recoil absorption, so a recoil pad makes sense. My pads are covered with hand-sewn black leather by an experienced gunfitter. They are not only look beautiful, but they utilize the recoil absorption power of the Decelerator™ pad, yet will not hang up on the way to your shoulder. The further benefit is that they can be custom fitted to your length of pull requirements -- as long as 15" if desired -- at no extra charge. Price: $300. Your gun is shipped to the gunfitter who completes the pad work, then drop-ships the gun to your FFL holder.

When a right-handed shooter with a dominant right eye brings it up to his shoulder the gun is pointing where he is looking. Cast-off is what makes instinctive shooting possible for him. You keep your focus on the flushed bird and when you bring the gun up to your should you don't have to find the sight plane or associate the front sight with the departing bird because the gun is pointing to where you are looking. This eliminates a head-fake on your part and clips maybe five yards off the distance the departing bird is trying to put between him and you. However, when a left-handed shooter cheeks a cast-off or cast-neutral stock, he pushes the butt stock to the left and down so he shoots a couple of feet to the right and high. The only time they "get lucky" is on a rising bird that flushes to the right.

The 2007 Browning 16 gauge guns that I've inspected have less cast-off than in previous years. It seems to be more 1/16" or 1/8". It's certainly not going to hurt right-handed shooters any, but its enough to throw left-handed shooters off their game.

Trust me, if you are left-handed with a dominant left eye, having the stock bent to accomodate your shooting requirements is the best $300 investment you'll ever make. It will change your life.

Browning (and some other makers) use a high-gloss polyurethane finish on their shotguns. It adds a lot of show room appeal, as well a high degree of field protection to the wood butt stock. But, in my opinion, it also hides the eye-appeal of great wood. The typical finish on Brownings guns is about 10 mils thick. Taking off the top mil, where the shine resides, leaves 9 mils of polyurethane protection with a matte oil finish-like appearance. The best of both worlds for $250.  

 

How to order:
Basically, I need payment (check or money order, no plastic) and a copy of someone's Federal Firearms License (FFL) where I can ship your gun. Fax copies of FFL's are now legal. Your dealer should put your name on his license, so I can match it up with your order.

My fax number is: 541-265-7400. I will enclose a copy of my license for your dealer when I ship your gun.

 

Bascheiri & Pellagri -- but more affectionately known as B&P -- is an old-line, highly regarded Italian manufacturer whose shot shells routinely win gold medal in international competition. It also one of the few companies that produce a full range of shot sizes for their F2 Classic of 16 gauge ammunition -- a 1-1/16 ounce load of hard shot that goes out the door at 1280 fps. B&P describes this as "a medium load (29 g.) in a 67 mm (2-5/8") case to satisfy the demands of hunters who still posses 16/65 gauge guns." My experience with these "medium" loads is that they operate at relatively low chamber pressures (which explains why they can be used in 2-1/2" chambers) and still get 1280 fps velocities without undue recoil. I've been told this ammo also works in the old "Sweet 16" Browning semi-autos with pre-WWII 2-9/16" chambers. These old beauties had small ejection ports that weren't large enough to allow a 2-3/4" case to eject, but are big enough to eject the 2-5/8 B&P case. B&P offers a full range of shot sizes in 16 gauge, but the headliner is No. 9 shot! First off, I am a great believer in the efficacy of high velocity No. 9 shot in at least the first barrel on birds over dogs. Yes, pheasants too. Not to mention clay targets. Second reason, good 16 gauge loads of No. 9 shot are hard to find. With the hunting season mostly over, B&P's No. 9's is a great way to get some off-season clay bird practice in with any of my 16 gauge Browning Citoris. But the clincher reason to buy is that through some weird pricing anomaly, you can buy B&P's F2 Classic No. 9's for only $61.78 a case (8 boxes of 25 cartridges = 200) including shipping! 32¢ a shot! Whoopee! Whether you're hunting or practicing, this 1-1/16 oz. 29 gram load goes out the door @ 1280 fps and puts 530 No. 9 pellets in the target area, enhancing your opportunities for dead-in-the-air head/neck shots in the field -- or -- crushing clay birds on the practice range. And while you are visiting www.bandpusa.com I want you to think about No. 7 shot. No. 7 has more heft than ordinary No. 7-1/2 shot. I consider B&P's No. 7 a perfect second barrel choice for big birds and for tough targets like barn pigeons. It costs a bit more than No. 9, but then again it does more at longer ranges.

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