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The quail gun of the south was the Browning Auto 5 Sweet Sixteen. Only guys that weren't shooting one were the guys that couldn't afford one.

Geo,

You post some of my favorite pics. You have some good friends too.


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https://youtu.be/lYWPYnTYy2U

Steve he's talking out his arse.

George for released quail you could get buy with a long handled tennis racket...a long handled dip net would be murder.

"The quail gun of the south was the Browning Auto 5 Sweet Sixteen. Only guys that weren't shooting one were the guys that couldn't afford one."

True that...Geo

A good friend's dad was a quail guide in Emmanuel County, Ga, growing up. Sports from the north would come down by train and stay at Coleman's Lake Resort and ole' Tangerine (guess his hair color) would take sports quail hunting. He made more in tips than his dad made at the local saw mill. He carried a 16 ga. Ithaca pump. My buddy's dad always had six pointers. Two pups, two young dogs in training, and the 2 "pros", the made dogs. The coveyrise counter was a box of matches. For each coveyrise, Jerry would take out a match and put it in his shirt pocket. At day's end, the matches were counted. His dad wouldn't let him skin out the birds. Jerry had to pluck out each and every bird.
Here's Thomas Turner's effort to make a lightweight 12 with 2.5" chambers . Gun is 28" Damascus barrels made no latter than 1887 according to proof marks. Stock is scalloped on both sides and forend is much shorter than conventional. 6 lbs., 1 oz. I shoot low pressure loads, 7/8 oz. At some point in the gun's history, the right side of the stock was peppered with shot. Because of the quality of the photo, one can barely see the lead putty attempts to cover the holes. When asked by the man who I sent the gun for sprucing up, he asked if I wanted the shot repairs to be concealed. "Better to leave as be." was my response. If only it could say how it happened. Gil

Reality is "ALL" shotgun patterns have an in-efficient fringe around the outer edge of the pattern. "IF" you do a bit of pattern testing you might be well surprised to find that with the 12 vs a small bore using identical shot loads the 12 will have a bigger effective pattern with a narrower ineffective pattern than the small bore even though both have an identical percent in the 30" circle. This is a result of that greater "Central Thickening" of the pattern already referred to.

As already mentioned the higher the central thickening of the pattern the greater the max effective range with a "Centered Hit", but the wider the ineffective fringe.

Personally, I consider the banning of a light 12 using light loads nothing but "Pure Snobbery", not based on any real evidence,

PS; I too love the 16 gauge for upland use with the old standard 2�-1 field load in the appropriate shot size for the game at hand. I have also done some great shooting (For ME) with a light 12 carrying essentially the same load & also a 20 with this same load, a personal favorite load of mine, but I do not care to shoot an ounce of shot from a gun smaller than the 20.

Miller, I think the same about light loads in the 12. In 40 years I have had one such opportunity to hunt such a place that had numerous wild birds and private ownership. I don't disagree about repeaters being banned on quail property. Last thing a responsible hunter wants to have happen is for a covey to be reduced in numbers that imperils its survival. I've heard stories of autos nailing more than five on a coveyrise with and without crossing birds. As for 16s, it's my favorite gauge for quail and woodcock. I'm not shy about using a 20, either. Gil

What year did this guiding take place ?

Just before the war. He guided for the Coleman Hotel, which became a resort and now is a restaurant. The hotel supplied the dogs and had access to the land. Often the sports would bring their own dogs. Back then it was all about the coveyrise and singles weren't normally pursued. He was 13 when he started guiding and bought the Ithaca when he was 17. It had to be one of the earliest models as the 16 wasn't introduced until 1938 and had the cigar shaped forend. Jerry said he hunted with the old Ithaca up until he couldn't hunt any more. Jerry remembers him shooting it faster on target than folks shooting autos. He'd bring home more money guiding than his dad did at the sawmill and following a mule pulling a plow. He also had a lot more fun. Jerry was supposed to inherit the gun but Hugh sold it for $40 and the kid who bought it shot it after it got plugged with mud. Jerry is still sick about it. He learned how to shoot on it after graduating from a .410. Aside from making money, one of the Yankees taught Jerry's dad how to use a fly rod. He never fished anything but a fly rod with live bait or poppers for red breasts and bream. He was a character for sure. He's been gone for 10 years.