Is the 16 guage comming back?

[TreeDoc]

Was recently at a gun show in OKC and picked up an older M37 Ithica in 16. The gun was 85% and handled better than my 12. For 2 bills, it followed me home. Haven't shot it yet but am hoping to take it out dove hunting Sept. !st. Shells seem a little more costly but only few dollars more than 12 or 20 g. Good gun, thoughts.

 

[WardenWolf]

Not really. A niche between 12 and 20 really isn't needed. That said, .410 is declining fairly rapidly. I believe a few years down the road we're going to be looking at 12, 20, and 28 as the most popular sizes in terms of new sales.

 

[TomADC]

I shoot 12, 20 and 28 but still have a 16 ga model 12 Winchester I doubt it will ever get another round thru it as long as I own it. My 20's are just better suited for anything the 16 ga can do. But there was a time in my life when that 16 ga was all I had, just grw out of it.

 

[MCgunner]

I doubt it. No need for the 16.

WardenWolf leaves out the ten gauge which has a niche for the serious snow goose hunter. Sure, 12 3.5" can toss almost as much T shot, but the 10 patterns SO much better. Sure there are effective 3" 12 gauge hevishot loads...at $3.50 a shot. 10 is not much more costly than steel shot 3.5" 12 at about a buck a shot. I think it SHOULD be more popular than 28 gauge, but I really don't know if it is nationally. I know it is down here, but we have a lot of goose hunting. I suppose I could find out by googling sales figures if I really cared that much.

But, 16 just doesn't offer any real advantages over 20 for a light handling gun and 12 for shooting heavy loads. 12 and 20 kinda overlap. Stuffing the 16 in there between them fixes no problems as nothing is broken. I think 12, of course, will continue to dominate down the road as far as I can see.

Meanwhile, enjoy that 37 in 16 gauge. I'd like to have one. I still remember my uncle's gun that I used to borrow occasionally for duck and goose hunting back when I was a kid and no one ever heard of steel shot. It was as deadly as a 2 3/4" 12.

 

[drsfmd]

There are still a handful of 16ga guns being made, but for all intents and purposes it's dead. At best, it's in critical condition and on life support.

 

[JAshley73]

It's in one way a bummer too. Saw a Winchester 1897 in 16ga at the LGS the other day. If it were a 12 or 20, I imagine it would already be in someone's gun safe. I imagine there's a lot of nice guns chambered 16ga that do nothing more but collect dust...

 

[WardenWolf]

It looks good on paper to have 12, 20, and 28, with 3 even steps, and it's good for marketing as well. It also happens to be just about the perfect range. That's why I believe that will evolve into the standard. Let's face it: .410 is obsolete except as a handicap nowadays. There's so many lightweight and light-recoiling shotguns available that there's no reason to gimp yourself with a .410.

10 gauge is out there. It's not going away, but it IS a niche. Most people just don't need or want that much power and shoulder pain.

 

[oneounceload]

The 16, if built on a 16 or 20 frame outshines both he 12 and 20 in the uplands.
As to the 410, it Is a mandatory Bore for skeet and is becoming a fav for sub gauge sporting, if anything, it is increasing in popularity

 

[rule303]

It is strange that there are new rifle cartridges coming out all the time along with new rifles to fire them, but nothing new in shotguns really since the late 80's when the 3.5" 12 gauge was introduced. I wonder if the manufacturers came out with new 16ga models and some more ammo variety if they would catch on?
And the .410 is hardly dead, in fact it is probably more popular now than it has been in the last half century. Look at the different .410 loads on the market for everything from skeet shooting to zombie apocalypse protection. And .410 versions of popular guns always are in high demand, and bring a premium.
IMO the best thing the 16 gauge has going for it is the fact that you can buy some nice classic guns for much less than you would have to pay for the same specimen in 20 or 12 (with the exception of the Browning A-5 for some reason). Really nice Winchester model 12's and Ithaca 37's in 16 gauge can be found for around the same price as a new 870 Express.

 

[Tom Held]

16 alive and well

I didn't know it ever went away.

 

[MCgunner]

It is strange that there are new rifle cartridges coming out all the time along with new rifles to fire them, but nothing new in shotguns really since the late 80's when the 3.5" 12 gauge was introduced.

I can argue there hasn't been anything new ballistically in rifle cartridges for a long, long time. There are short magnums, there are one off Beowulf/SPC/whatever stuff for the AR platform to attempt to make a serious gun out of one, but there's nothing really new in hunting rifles ballistically. Most of the stuff they bring out, latest and greatest and most up to datest, is for sales. I mean, if everyone was content with their .30-06, the manufacturers would have to rely on the president for gun sales (he's doing a pretty good job of that). Shotguns, well, shotgun ballistics ain't that complicated and there's really no other way to do it than how it's been done. The 3.5" 12 was an answer to the steel shot mandates for goose hunting, buy this 12 and you won't have to go buy an expensive 10.

10 gauge is out there. It's not going away, but it IS a niche. Most people just don't need or want that much power and shoulder pain.

Well, the 10 is better and, BTW, kicks less than the 12 3.5" because the guns tend to be 9 lbs or more. I've put a box and a half through a 10 without TOO much shoulder soreness the next day. Hell, there's always SOME soreness, even with the 2 3/4" 12, if you shoot enough. But, I'll admit, I'd be hard pressed to spend 600 bucks on a BPS, that's why I got an H&R 10 gauge. No real need for a repeater, more fun with a single shot, anyway. I do have a new to me 535 Mossberg now, but I need to pattern it with 3.5" T shot. That 10 shoots over 90 percent 40 yards, 30" circle. Best pattern I've ever shot out of a shotgun, truly amazed me, and it's KILLER on high flying geese. If I hunted geese more than I do, I'd get a BPS. My primary quarry is ducks, though, and 12 2 3/4" does fine on the biggest ducks over decoys. Snow geese can be up there on clear days even over decoys. They ain't stupid by the time they get down here.

 

[WardenWolf]

And the .410 is hardly dead

Not dead, but it's declining pretty rapidly right now as people find they can do better without a real increase in weight or recoil.

 

[drsfmd]

I agree with those who have said that the .410 is gaining popularity. Seeing more and more of them out there...

 

[huntsman]

Was recently at a gun show in OKC and picked up an older M37 Ithica in 16. The gun was 85% and handled better than my 12. For 2 bills, it followed me home. Haven't shot it yet but am hoping to take it out dove hunting Sept. !st. Shells seem a little more costly but only few dollars more than 12 or 20 g. Good gun, thoughts.

for that price you can afford to pay a little more for shells and if you're an upland hunter that gun should be fun to use.

I dumped all my sixteen’s as the 90's came to a close, last year I was cleaning up the man cave and found a bag of my Activ loads and for a brief moment I thought it would be nice to get a gun and shoot up the 200 rounds in the bag, then reality hit and I cut the hulls to save the lead and burned the rest.

 

[cfullgraf]

As to the 410, it Is a mandatory Bore for skeet and is becoming a fav for sub gauge sporting, if anything, it is increasing in popularity

Right. In recent years I have found target .410 shells at Walmart. Walmart does not stock anything that they do not think will move quickly. In the early 90s when I was shooting skeet, you could not find a 2-1/2 .410 shell anywhere except the skeet range. I love to get the .410 out on the skeet field when I am feeling cocky. It re-adjusts my attitude a bit.

Skeet has also kept 28 gauge alive. In the 60s when my dad was introducing me to shotgunning, he wanted to use the 28 gauge that he grew up with. He had to order a case of shells from a local sporting goods store and they were skeet loads. Great for learning on the skeet and trap fields (I would stand directly behind the trap!). Not so good in the field. Again, I have seen 28 ga shells at Walmart.

Unless some shooting game requires the use of 16 ga., I question how long 16 ga will hang around. With the range of shot loads available for 12 ga and 20 ga, they pretty much cover the capability of 16 ga.

 

[PJR]

The 16 gauge is not coming back. But it's not going away either. The fans will continue to blow on the dying embers to keep it going.

There is nothing wrong with the gauge. Nothing particularly great about it either.

 

[T.R.]

As far as local ammo sales go, I'd say "no". I order my 16 ga shells from MIDWAY.

TR

 

[rajb123]

NO

I have not seen 16ga shells in stores for years....

 

[chas08]

I didn't know it ever went away.

Me either! Mine are alive and well and put meat on the table still!

 

[Detritus]

I think the best way to summarize the state of the 16ga is, that it has a stable but increasingly cultish following. And I think that it will be many many years before it drops off into true obscurity.

Ammo availability depends on locale and season. when i worked the gun counter at my local sporting goods store, 16ga loads from Remington and Winchester (2 or 3 loads per) were always restocked 3-4 weeks just prior to the opening of each dove season and kept in stock till a few weeks after opening.

My personal veiw is that there are a number of factors that will keep the Sixteen where it is now as far as popularity and gun/ammo production.

1. Most 16ga shotguns out there were made before the mandating of steel shot for all waterfowl, and thus are not rated for steel
2. in light of the above 3" 20ga loads narrows the niche (performance gap really) that the 16 occipied in many hunter's minds
3. in light of BOTH above, 16s are effectively upland guns now and to be blunt most american hunters want or feel they can only afford to own one or maybe two shotguns so overall versitility of the chambering comes into play
4. on the ammo side, the major makers do two things that aren't helping the 16. the loads they offer are mostly 1-1/8oz payload and meant to keep a browning "Sweet 16" running. so they tend to be unnecessarily brutal in a nice lightweight double or O/U (this is why my Lefever is rarely taken out of the safe)
5. the manufacturers know exactly how much ammo of each type they and their competitors sell every year, therefore they have a rough Idea of how many guns of a given gauge or caliber they can expect to sell. the trickle of 16ga guns we see is what the makers beleive the market will absorb, and it look like they're correct.

to sum it as best i can, the 16 is a hunting gun, and as such is veiwed by the industry as being in competition with 12s and 20s. In the current hunting enviroment (steel for waterfowl or anything on federal land) and considering the aforementioned tendency for hunters to own/use only one or two shotgun gauge(s), 16 simply doesn't have much space to occupy in the market.

 

[chas08]

Most 16ga shotguns out there were made before the mandating of steel shot for all waterfowl, and thus are not rated for steel

I shoot it in mine and have for a while with absolutely no ill effects visible or measurable on any of the guns! They do all have fixed Modified chokes in common. I think that new steel ammo is so far ahead of what we started with, that a lot of the old axioms no longer hold true. Particularly in the area of improved shotcups. Just my .02 based on actual experience not hearsay! The choice is ultimately up to the individual.

 

[DM~]

NO

I have not seen 16ga shells in stores for years....

I see a few boxes in every gunshop i go into, and i always look to see if they have any. Why do i look? Cause i see post like your's and wonder why some folks can't find any...

DM

 

[kingcheese]

About the only thing keeping the 410 alive are the variety of platforms it is legal to own, like as a pistol in areas where an sbs is not legal to own, now for the answer, its getting a second chance for people who can't handle a 12ga, or don't feel confident using their rabbit gun 20 on larger game, ammo for 16 is becoming more common for its good all around use. its really just laying all but forgotten for now, but i predict a boom in sales for it

 

[ritepath]

I have 3 16's my model 12 is my favorite shotgun of all time. I still pull it out every year and use it come hunting season, just like I did in the fall of 1983 when I traded a model 11 for it...I was 13.

 

[ElToro]

I have a few boxes of 16 game loads I picked up on clearance a Walmart one night for $1 a box. The cheap azz side of me just could t not buy it. So I will keep it for future trade or if I come across a nice 16 at a reasonable pric I'd buy it. Problem is every key thinks their 16 browning A5 is made of gold and I haven't seen a vintage win or Ithaca in 16 locally for sale in. About forever. I'd settle for a nice Parker or LC sxs... Seems like it would be a good gauge for pheasants My 20 ga 870 has never failed to bag pheasants or doves. I have never duck hunted My 12 gets thrown in when we go camping and no planning to shoot. Just to have for in case.