what happened to 16 and 28ga

I think American consumers have a "Small, Medium and Large" mentality. Shotgun shoppers gravitated to one of the three popular gauges... Want a 16? Settle for a 20 0r 12... Want a 28... a .410 or 20 will do.

It may be funner to take your own road but the path taken by everyone else is cleared. Another way to look at it is swimming upstream. The question is... is it worth the losing fight?

I don't question the preceeding comment. To it I would add, who would wish to buy a 16 thats more of a 12 or a 28 thats more of a 20. The CZ mini 28 which is I suppose built up from a .410 action? It is the only proportional 28 I've seen.

A lot of different markets have been both compressing and becoming more standardized. Specialization in comparison is more of a luxury. Trends have also shifted, less farm-boy hunting, more waterfowl and turkey.

I have seen exactly one 14 ga. and one 8 ga. in my 56 years. I suppose someone mourned their passing.

My local Wally world carries 28ga in a good stock. They carry Winchester AA in 8 shot and 7 1/2, Remington in 8 and 9 shot, and another remington in 7 1/2 shot. They seem to keep roughly 10-12 boxes of each on hand all the time.

16ga is a little harder to come by. One local shop carries a few boxes of 7 1/2 and 6's but that's about it.

Whenever my hulls start showing signs of giving up. I order another flat of Win AA's. Shoot them up and get several loads out of the hulls. As proud as they are of empty hulls you might as well buy loaded and make your own empties.

we have two 870 Wingmasters in 28ga. These are built on .410 frames and are a fair bit smaller than the 20ga frame. I got mine when I was 10 years old it now belongs to my oldest son. My youngest son has one just like it. Dad ordered a youth stock from Remington 24 years ago. It has come in handy still today for his grandkids.

I can tell you what happened to the 16ga, the 20ga Magnum.

The 28 Gauge at WalMart is about ten bucks. Not too bad!

The best wing-shots I know use the smaller shotguns.

I only own a couple 20ga's because it's illegal to shoot turkey with a 28ga. My 28ga has taken ducks, pheasant, chucker, grouse, dove, quail, rabbit, squirrel, and then some.

Yes but 16 is great on pheasant and rabbit without tearing them to shreds like a 12.

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Depends on which ammo you are using. 7/8 oz of #6's has the same effect from a 12 as it does from a 16 or 20 or 28. Both guns and ammo have changed over the years. 12 guage ammo can be loaded to duplicate any of smaller guages or nearly as heavy as a 10 ga. I've never felt the need for anything but a 12.

Years ago 12 guage guns were all heavy and cumbersome. If you wanted a light gun for carrying you selected a 16 or 20. Today you can get 12 guage's under 7 lbs that carry like yesterday's 20 guage. With the right ammo they have less recoil, and shoot better patterns than either the 28, 20, or 16. Without tearing them to shreads.

From a hunters perspective there is no reason to have them anymore because of the much wider selection of ammo available. Unless you just want to be different, and I guess there is nothing wrong with that. The 28 only survives because it is used in competition.

I too like the smaller bore shotguns for smaller game. I reload and have for close to 25 years. I have never found a light load that works in my 12 gauge as well as the reloads for my small bores.
When it comes to reloading we are having similar issues. As companies consolidate their product lines it is becoming more difficult to find the components I am used to using. Seems most of the wads I find around here are for trap/skeet loads. Without mail ordering finding heavy load wads is almost impossible.

I still get most of my 28ga from JG sales. If I am in the area I will stop in and pick it up but most of the time I just have them ship it to me. They have a good selection of Magtech in 28ga. I don't care for the Noble in any gauge especially in an auto, the cases are too soft and the pellets hang up in the chamber when trying to feed.
http://www.jgsales.com/index.php/ammo-for-shotguns/28-gauge/cPath/52_462

You can always reload. A year after getting my 28 I bought a MecJr for it. Trust me, if I can reload shotshells anyone else can.

what happened to 16 and 28ga

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16ga Auto 5: In the safe; ammo is hard to find and I really don't see any point in buying costly ammo for it when I can buy 12ga ammo for half the price (and same recoil).
28ga Citori: I'll find a way to continue to feed this shotgun no matter what. Ammo is pretty common around here, although costly. I've shot everything from skeet, sporting clays, quail, dove, crows and even took the little 28 out west shooting pheasant.

Klutchless - you may want to join the following:

http://www.16ga.com/

http://28gasociety.46.forumer.com/

You'll find a lot of folks who prefer both those gauges to anything else - the 16 for large birds and the 28 for small ones - especially in guns built on properly scaled receivers

Your big box boys like Gander and Cabela's carry ammo as do many online sites, but the savings come from reloading both

I,m just wandering what happened to these great rounds and why are they going the way of the dodo.

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as they should, won’t be the first gauges to slip into oblivion. This last revival in the 28 was a fad and steel shot laws killed the 16 gauge

This last revival in the 28 was a fad

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Not in quail country. The 28 ga has maintained a very strong following among quail hunters. It's regarded as the Gentlemen’s shotgun. I can understand why it may not be popular in other parts of the country.

small bore

Over the past couple of years I've gotten to like my 16 and 28 bore guns a lot more. They are lighter to carry in the field and shoot/kill just as well as the 12 bore guns (on upland game) and I think a little more sporting. I've got a couple of 16 gauge SxSs with double triggers and they are pleasure to shoot. Yes, ammo is a little more expensive but it's available almost everywhere. But I do reload for both. Just nice upland guns for quail, grouse, woodcock and sporting clays.

For years I thought the 28 guage was a waste of time. Then I got my first O/U with a proper sized frame. As I have gotten older and more beat up I have learned to really appreciate the 28. It's lighter throws a better pattern and I can shoot twice as many clays without missing anymore than my 12. I think it should replace the .410. Just like my .41mag it is harder to find factory loads. But there will always be a place for it in the scheme of things. Yes Wally world two miles from my house does carry two different loads for it.

Cheers,

ts

24 gauge

I have a friend who still shots a 24 gauge Beretta O/U. I don't think Beretta makes it any longer but Fausti and number of European gun makers still turn them out. Ammo is surprisingly easy to get. Neat little guns.

This last revival in the 28 was a fad

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Quickly has become THE gauge of choice for sub-gauge sporting. Is THE standard in quail country. Preferred by many who walk a lot as the guns are lighter than 20s and so is the equal amount of ammo

There are plenty of choices for both the 28 and 16, even in non-tox ammo so they can be used where such ammo is required