I bought two of these shotguns one for me, and a second as a present to my Mom. I won’t mention my results, but I will say that my Dad hasn’t fired a shotgun in nearly 20 years. The Weatherby’s point-and-shoot ergonomics had him scoring 19 of 20 through four rounds of five clay sets. In its first trip to the clay range, my Dad put the shotgun through its paces. Benched, it shot straight and true right out of the box. With a simple vent-rib / brass bead sight, there’s almost nothing to getting this scatter-gun on target. Once familiar with the process, you can assemble the shotgun from full-takedown to field-ready in under a minute.Īfter a brief wipe down, the Weatherby came right out to the range.
#Hunting unlimited 2011 review manual
The PA-o8’s barrel fits back into the receiver best when the shotgun is at “half-shuck”-a fact that the owner’s manual forgot to mention. Weatherby incorporates a drop-out trigger system (giving you a fourth part) it’s easy to clean this weapon to a Marine-pleasing shine.Īssembly is a tad tricky until you get the hang of it. After unscrewing the magazine nut, the Weatherby breaks into its three main parts. I don’t have the tools needed to measure the pull, but in comparison to the other shotgun platforms I’ve owned, the Weatherby is heavier than John Coltrane on a rainy Tuesday night. The PA-08’s trigger is a little on the heavy side. Cycling the shotgun is like listening to a Lowell George slide guitar solo, with Richie Hayward providing punctuation. Less poetically, both the Mossberg 500 and Remington 870 fall well short of the Weatherby’s PA-08’s cyclic-smoothness.
The PA-08’s barrel and bolt are both chromed. But not too tight and there are no seams, gaps, or finishing defects.
The Weatherby website promises that all their stocks are “hand-selected, shaped and finished… superior wood-to-metal fit.” They aren’t kidding everything about this Turkish delight is tight. I agree with American Rifleman Field Editor Phil Bourjaily: the PA-08 sports the most beautiful wood you can buy on a $400 shotgun. The Weatherby PA-o8 stock put a spring in my step. I have an untreated not to say unnatural attraction to long guns with heavy-duty wooden stocks. An extended bolt shroud on the Weatherby’s barrel extends fully to the rear of the receiver, completely covering the left side of the bolt when the shotgun is fully assembled. The twist-off magazine nut holding the barrel in place includes a break-washer-which prevents over tightening and creates a uniform tightness throughout the gun every time it’s broken down. Field assembly / dis-assembly requires no tools. The shotgun arrives in three pieces the stock/furniture, barrel and bolt. In the event a shooter happens to be hunting geriatric former political-appointees, the Weatherby also accepts standard Remington screw-in chokes. These three will satisfy almost any shooter’s needs. The PA-08 comes with the three “standard” screw-in sporting chokes IC/M/F. A pound or so might not seem like much, but after a day of swinging through clays or trudging after doves, a pound saved is a pound appreciated. The Weatherby’s CNC machined aircraft-grade alloy receiver significantly reduces the shotgun’s weight. That’s more than a half-pound less than same-gauge offerings by other major brand pump-action sporting guns. mark, I almost threw it through the ceiling the first time I picked it up.įully assembled, the PA-08 weighs in at 6.5 easy-to-carry pounds. Expecting the Weatherby to come in around the 7.5 – 8lbs. The box-fresh Weatherby PA-08 Upland was a minor surprise. When I read “walnut stock” in the description, I was expecting a heavy, hefty “uwf uwf uwf” set of wooden furniture.