Weatherby debuts semi-auto, designing long guns for women - Weatherby Inc.'s SAS semi-automatic shotgun

Shooting Industry, Nov, 1998 by Jon Sundra

A slow but definite trend toward milder-recoiling semi-auto shotguns in smaller gauges was one of the topics of discussion at the Weatherby Writers' Conference held in late August. The trend is being driven by women who are getting involved in the shotgun sports, especially sporting clays at the recreational rather than competitive level. This has caused a discernible rise in the sale of 20- and 28-gauge guns over the last three years.

Shotguns account for about 20 percent of Weatherby's sales, yet the company hasn't had a semi-auto since the early '90s. For several years the Orion and Athena over/unders have been Weatherby's only players in the marketplace. While both models are among the best values at their respective price points, the over/under market, in general, has not been showing any significant growth of late. However, the semi-auto market has. Moreover, Weatherby's vice president of sales and marketing, Brad Ruddell, told us that one of the most often-asked questions the company receives is when are they going to again offer a semi-auto shotgun.

To make a long story short, Brad and Ed Weatherby went to the SKB folks, the same company that makes their over/unders, and struck a deal that got them back into the semi-auto shotgun business for 1999.

The SKB self-compensating gas system is a proven design with over two decades of field use and competition shooting under its belt, so the basic development work had long since been done. But there's always room for improvement. based upon Weatherby's own testing of prototype guns and SKB's product warranty records, some minor modifications have been incorporated that should further improve the new gun's durability and performance.

Called the SAS, the new Weatherby line of semi-auto shotguns will consist initially of a 12-gauge version in 26-, 28-, and 30-inch barrels, and a 20-gauge model with a 26- and 28-inch pipes. For an extra-wide range of pattern adjustment, the SAS will come with five interchangeable Briley-made choke tubes in Skeet. Improved Cylinder, Modified, Improved Modified, and Full. A magazine cut-off has been incorporated so that when engaged, shells do not feed into the chamber when the action is opened, thus facilitating a quick-load change.

All the usual amenities and features one would expect of a Weatherby will be standard on the new gun: vent rib, left/right-switchable cross-bolt safety, Grade III Claro walnut stock and forend with oil finish, and full wraparound checkering. Suggested retail price has been set at $749.

I had the opportunity to use one of the new 12-gauge guns on sporting clays while attending the conference. All I want to say on that score is that the gun performed a helluva lot better than I did. l shot a 41 out of 50 the first go-round, and a 31 the second. As for the Weatherby SAS, it got perfect marks.

Women's Shotguns & Rifles

I mentioned earlier that the trend to smaller gauges was just one of the topics of discussion at the Weatherby affair. Indeed, when Ruddell threw the meeting open to round-table discussion and suggestions, some pretty entertaining debates ensued. Adam Weatherby, who along with Brad, was taking notes during the open-discussion phase of the meeting, was getting writer's cramp trying to get everything down on paper!

One of the more polarizing topics of discussion was the lack of guns expressly designed for women. We have, of course, seen several examples of gender-specific marketing in handguns, but very little in the area of rifles and shotguns. Terry Wieland, the shooting editor of Gray's Sporting Journal, suggested that many women who might otherwise develop into hunters and shooters are short circuited before giving either a try, because they find the typical rifle or shotgun to be too large and heavy for them.

While women represent 52 percent of the population, Wieland pointed out, our industry makes relatively few concessions to them. No other industry but ours feels they can afford to ignore the majority of the population. And by shortening the buttstock and calling it a "Womens/Youth" model, says Wieland, we may be doing more harm than good.

He may have a point there. Women are, after all, grown-ups, so even when the discrimination is ostensibly based solely on dimensional criteria, a lot of them don't like being lumped in with children. For that matter, a boy may not mind shooting a "youth" model rifle or shotgun, but he'd probably prefer to not be associated with a "girl's gun." It's almost a Catch 22 situation for manufacturers.

I'd be interested in hearing from dealers who may have an opinion on this subject. If we're honest about it, there are plenty of reasons - some real, some imagined why women feel intimidated about the shooting sports. However, does it ever boil down to something as basic and obvious as the weight and size of the gun? In your experience, is there any connection? Have you ever had a woman hand a gun back to you and say it's so big and heavy that she wouldn't even want to try shooting it?