Is chambered for 2 3/4. I would like to shoot 2 1/2 shells.
Browning says it won't damage the gun but might not have enough push to kick the shells all the way out (I just installed a new main spring also)
Art says 2 9/16 were bouncing shells off the walls when he shot it to check it out for me so I do have some alternatives.

There's a lot of discussion around here about using shells of different length than the chamber.

Nobody's ever happy.

The shorter shells may well work, depending on recoil impulse. Try it.

If you have the old spring, that might be the perfect place to start fine tuning it for lighter loads. I've not done it, but maybe chop a turn off the old spring and see if that works.

I would caution you to not just remove the friction piece. That controls the speed of the forward stroke also, and removing it can be hard on the forend wood. I think that's one reason there are so many split ones.

With semi autos the length of the shell can be just of much of a devil as the load, I am sure there are 2 1/2" shells with the correct recoil profile to work the action, might not feed/eject correctly though.....most semi autos have a too short too long window.....I roll crimped a worst case scenario load for Tom Armbrust to test for my Browning gold light ten, it came in around 10k which was safe for that gun but the whif of a roll crimp left untrimmed 3.5" rem loads to long to feed from mag tube....too short of a shell might try to load at a bad angle too.

You could also get some light 2 3/4" loads and not worry about anything:)

What he said!

Friction ring has a heavy and light position flip as well.... not heard about pulling it altogether, but I could see where that might be an option( I think it also acts as an action bushing so not so sure how wise that would be?)

When it comes to 16ga there is good incentive to try 2.5" shell vs. 2&3/4" one and not just because they have bunch of 2.5" game loads around. The short-cased "Euro slug" Vo. 1350fps standard American load Vo. 1600fps. Using Euro slug will spare fillings, shoulder and cheek from a lot of pounding "wear and tear". Interestingly most European 2.5" field loads should work fine in working the action because many are loaded to similar potential as 2&3/4" while allowing to avoid pressure increase when longer shell is fired through shorter chamber. Most American 2.5" specialty game loads probably will not work the action because they were designed to be shot in old guns that may even have twist or damascus barrels. This is kind of analogous to old American made 7x57 and 8x57JS hunting ammo that were loaded to be safe in old surplus clinkers thus establishing faux notion that those calibers were somehow gentle and soft recoiling which in reality they are not.

The issue with short shells (or, for that matter, 2 3/4" reloads with reduced velocity) is that they do need to make the gun work. You will almost certainly find that European shells--most of which we see in this country are heavier and/or faster field loads vs target loads--will probably work. Your own reloads? You need to play around. I could not get the new Sweet 16 to cycle with RST 3/4 or 7/8 ounce loads. Worked fine with the 1 oz loads.

The real 'Sweet Sixteen' is a fairly heavy gun for a 16 gauge and is very pleasant to shoot with standard 1 ounce loads.

I rather miss the point of going lighter.

With the new 'Sweet Benelli' you're stuck with 1 oz. anyway.

....or you can test your fillings if you have any by selecting "Tall Pheasant" or more factually correct American "Prairie Pheasant" 1&1/8oz loads at >1250fps.

What loads do you use in your 16 ga. double Jagermeister?

Oh wait... I almost forgot... you don't own a 16 ga. double. In fact, you don't own any doubles. How sad. Just like one of those poor wannabe guys who wears a Harley Davidson jacket, but doesn't have a motorcycle.

It's a revolutionary design with migratory game plug installed it can be fired three times before reloading. The top barrel is used to shoot the cartridges the bottom serves to store them. Have you ever seen or heard of such a gun?

It boggles the mind.

My 1963 model Sweet Sixteen with 28" VR weighs 7 pounds on the nose.

Shockingly, it's 1/4 pound heavier than that recommended by The Authorities using the ever famous 'rule of 96' for 1 1/8 ounce loads.

A brief session with a recoil calculator shows that the Fiocchi 'Golden Pheasant' in my S16 develops THE SAME free recoil energy as an 8.5 pound 12 gauge with the ever popular and traditional American pheasant load of 3 3/4 Deq. 1 1/4 ounce that we've been using forever.

The same free recoil.

Can you feel it? If you're not dead, yes you can.

Is it excessive? When the pheasant falls and you're watching a nice canine retrieve, you never notice recoil.

I usually just reverse the brass friction ring and put the convex on top.

I usually just reverse the brass friction ring and put the convex on top,which works well with lower recoiling ammo

I have some work to do. Thanks again
Linn

If you are going to run really light 2 1/2" loads in the A5, you may be better off with the old spring installed. I assume it was the big spring under the front wood you replaced, and not the action spring in the stock.
If you didn't do it already, pull the stock off and remove the action spring, and clean it and the hole it runs in-compressed air works well. Lightly lube, and reassemble.
An A5 will often need some tinkering to work well with lighter loads. The design does allow for some adjustability to make this happen, but, in my experience, most people won't do the work to get them running smoothly.
Then, you have to remember to switch everything around to run regular, or, heavy loads. I've met many people that own A5s that have no clue where the shock absorber is set.


Best,
Ted

The new Sweetie, even though it's a pound lighter than the Belgian original, isn't bad in the recoil dept. with factory 1 oz loads either.

And suddenly a square back Browning is cool again.

They use 'hump back' in their ads, a term originally intended to be less than flattering. I've been looking for the mythical 'hump' for a long time.

Is it really 6 lbs?

You do know adding weight to an inertia gun makes it a single shot, so a buyer needs to really want that light of a gun.

Yes, the new ones really are 6 pounds. Or a little less. I put the field test gun Browning sent me (28" barrel) on a postal scale.

My (new model) A5 SW16 with 28" barrel weighs 5 lbs. 12 oz. on my postal scale. It has very mild recoil with 1 oz. loads. (defies logic)

I didn't like the factory pistol grip so I changed it.

The 12ga action is designed to handle 3.5" shell while 16ga is not and has smaller dimensions giving that gauge better handling characteristics in that model gun. They did to very good job with that Sweet Sixteen. I didn't know they made some with straight grip.

You need to read better, Jagermeister.

Nice gripectomy there, Dave!

It looks so good I have mistaken it for factory option.

Aw shucks. Now I want to give you a big hug.

Larry, I had Lance Wells at Slim's Stock Shop do it. It was more involved than it looks. The big pistol grip was somewhat hollowed, so he plugged it with walnut and gave it a bit of a diamond grip cross-section. It feels great. He recheckered the whole gun. He said the Browning checkering was crap. I'm still a 2-barrel guy, but this is a nice foul weather option, or when I'm with my beagle running buddy chasing rabbits after the bird seasons close.

That is a big pistol grip on the new Sweeties. If I'd bought one, it would have had to go away.