Chuck:
Timely topic for me. Not sure if concern is value or effectiveness and I am guessing the latter.
I have a 16 that is choked .010L/.001R and I use it for grouse/woodcock and I would like to use it more for pheasant. It is proofed for 1 oz loads and I have been using RST's. It seems to work fine for grouse, but I missed a crossing shot this fall at maybe 30 yds with nothing between me and that bird and I am fairly certain I was holding where I should have been on both barrels. It was the last grouse shot of the season, over a perfect point, and it will haunt me until I drop another grouse.
Since that time I have tried it on pheasant and missed the same shot at about the same distance. At 15 to 20 yds the gun seems to be deadly, but over maybe 25/30 yds I drop, but do not kill the pheasant. I prefer clean kills so I have taken up my 12 again for pheasant. It's interesting that it is .002 in R barrel and that extra 1/8 oz of shot seems to make a big difference.
I would hunt with it a bit more, because unless you know you will only use it for quail and fairly close shots you may want the restriction back. In a perfect world I would like two sets of barrels for my 16 with one tighter for pheasant.
How is that pup doing after surgery?
Mike
