What's up with 16GA

[DDG89]

While looking through Gunsamerica and a few other sites that offer shotguns for sale. I notice quite a few 16ga guns. Some pretty old but some that are new in the box(saw a few nib 870s). I have only shot 12 and 20s and I thought that 16s were a dead issue and there doesn't seem to be a lot of ammo available. Please excuse my ignorance. Does the 16 GA have any advantages or has it fallen into the background cause the 12 and 20s?

 

[kentucky_smith]

A lot of people like the 16 in it's pure essence because it "carries like a 20, but hits like a 12".

But low-recoil 12 gauge and magnum 20s have truly made it fall in the background.

I can still find plenty of good 1oz or 1 1/8 field loads for my 1942 Win M12.

 

[ArmedBear]

low-recoil 12 gauge and magnum 20s have truly made it fall in the background.

Also, 12 Gauges have lost weight since the 1950s Okay, nobody seems to have told Ruger or Browning, but there are plenty of guns out there that have...

A lot of 12s carry like 16s used to. A new Wingmaster 26" or Beretta O/U 28" 12 Gauge weighs 7 lb. even; that's about what the old 16s weighed. And if you really want to go lightweight, some alloy-frame 12s carry like 28s (see the ultralights from Beretta, Franchi, Guerini).

 

[jamesb]

I do not think it has an advantage anymore. I think it is more a personal preference. I shoot 16ga for clay games and hunting. I own a 12ga but the 16 is my choice. Alot of folks that grew up on a 16 or remember learning with their grandfathers 16 are getting their own now. Gun makers are listening to our small but vocal minority and seeing that if they build it, it will sell. Gun owners are also seeing that 16ga's are selling so more are being put out for sale rather than just sitting in a safe somewhere. It is all about choice, why does one shoot a SxS or O/U or Auto or Pump?

 

[Steve C]

They've been saying the 16ga is dead for the last 50 years (or more) but it still has some life left.

 

[ArmedBear]

Actually, manufacturers producing new 16 Gauge guns seem to stop doing so after a short run; I'm not sure they are selling. I think the old guns are coming out of closets all across the country.

The response to the new gun market seems to be the widespread production of light 12's and ultralight models with modern alloys. Even Ithaca seems to be in no hurry to produce 16's again.

What appears to be happening is that guys are inheriting 16's and finding that they're great old guns. The size of the bore is incidental to the balance and feel of the gun, as well as the good feeling that comes from having great-grandpa's pheasant gun out in the field.

For example, the old Auto-5's are pretty bulky in 12 for upland use, but the 16's are just right.

 

[Okiecruffler]

Truth of the matter is, the 16ga doesn't work anymore. Birds hit with a 16ga will just continue to fly, quite healthy but prehaps a bit miffed at being shot with such an ancient weapon. The shot from a 16ga will simply bounce off of a clay, not even changing it's direction. Yeap, it's a useless thing now.

 

[chas08]

It was my grandfathers gauge of choice. I now own two, a Remington Spartan SxS that I purchased about 3 years ago, and his, a Winchester Model 12 that was passed on to me about a year ago. That Model 12 sure does "carry sweet" and with a 28" modified barrel it is still an all around gun. Browning offers a 16 in their BPS that carries like a 20 also. I fondled one at a gun show. The only advantage is probably purely mental. But it's so nice to hang on to a piece of yesteryear. I wish the ammo manufacturers would realize this and offer a better variety. Especially in the "Safe for Older Guns" non-toxic shot department. There's no warmer or fuzzier feeling than taking a limit of ducks with "Grampaws Old Pump"

 

[ArmedBear]

Oh they still work fine. So does a .32 Winchester Special.

The 16 is just not common, or particularly popular, in new production guns.

If upland hunters were the dominant market for shotguns in the US a couple of decades ago, I have little doubt that the 16 would be what the 12 is now. The 12 might occupy a specialty market for goose guns and the like.

However, since Trap is a 12 Gauge sport and it seems that duck hunters are more common than flies in the US, 12 took over the market for the "do-it-all" round. Steel shot sealed the deal.

That said, I like my little O/U 20 Gauge.

 

[ArmedBear]

Browning offers a 16 in their BPS that carries like a 20 also. I fondled one at a gun show. The only advantage is probably purely mental.

Probably not. The BPS in 12 is a pretty heavy gun, whereas the 16 feels a lot like the Ithaca it ought to.

 

[Bud Tugly]

The 16 used to be the "niche" gauge for folks who wanted an all-around hunting gun. Back in my youth (40+ years ago) lead shot was legal for everything and shell selection was more limited than today.

Back then (at least in these parts) the 12 gauge was mainly a duck and goose gun and the 20 was the preferred choice for upland game. If you wanted to be able to do both and could only afford one gun, then the 16 was the perfect compromise.

Steel shot and the widespread availability of light 12 gauge and heavy 20 gauge loads have blurred the lines. The niche for the 16 has been pretty much swallowed up and more folks seem to be willing and able to own multiple guns rather than just the one for everything.

IMO the 16 is mostly a nostalgia gauge these days.

 

[tube_ee]

"Nostalgia" gauge?

I'm not so sure about that. That was certainly the reason I first shot 16, having been given my Grandma's 16g "Springfield" (Savage) Mod. 1929 single shot. Hell, it's Grandma's gun... I wanted it, and shot it.

But along the way, I came to really appreciate the 16 on it's own merits. Enough so that, although I primarily shoot a autoloader 12, and will probably be "inheriting" a 20g pump and a 12g SxS soon, I'm pretty well convinced that the next shotgun I actually BUY will be a 16.

The 16 is "a little bit 12 and a little bit 20", but that in-between place it occupies is big enough to let it stand on its own.

If you love shotguns, shotgunning, and birds, there is room for the 16, even if you have a 12 and a 20. I've never met anyone who's shot one who didn't like it.

--Shannon

 

[DDG89]

Guys, I appreciate your insight on the 16ga. I have never had the exposure to this caliber before and I learned something!!! Thanks

 

[Bud Tugly]

If ammunition wasn't so danged expensive, limited in factory loads, and hard to find, the 16 would still be an excellent choice for many people. Unfortunately I would find it hard to recommend to a beginner as their only shotgun these days.

I'm sure there are lots of folks who handload and have found a 16 gauge that is a perfect fit. More power to them, and may they keep the 16 alive forever.

 

[David N]

Don't limit yourself to brick and mortar stores.

If you find 16 GA hard to find then I would try the Net and mail order outlets such as dansammo.com, ammunitiontogo.com, and cheaperthandirt.

 

[andrewdl007]

I love my 16GA. Ive used it on quail and if I hit them with the 16 they go down hard. Same with sporting clays, I think the 16 is great on clays. well, thats my 2 cents.

 

[ArmedBear]

Alot of people I know hunt quail with a 12 or 20 and if they arent dead on, the birds just get wounded.

So you're claiming you can shoot somewhere in the near vicinity of the bird and it will drop dead with a 16, but it will just be wounded with a 12?

Man, I've got to get myself a 16 Gauge, then.

I'll be the first to say that a lighter, quicker gun is the only way to go when hunting quail around here, but a 20 loaded with 7/8 oz. of #7.5 is plenty of firepower. Many 12 Gauges don't work worth crap because they naturally swing more slowly (the same reason they DO work well on passing waterfowl), but certainly not because they can't drop a quail with a hit.

 

[41magsnub]

Alot of people I know hunt quail with a 12 or 20 and if they arent dead on, the birds just get wounded.

That seems like more of a shooter problem than a platform problem to me.

 

[mswestfall]

16 gauge is alive and well especially in the Midwest.

I've always wanted on but have never gotten around to the subguages.

 

[Leif Runenritzer]

I bought some 16ga. for a borrowed shotgun last summer. Big 5 had it, a local gun shop, but Bi-Mart didn't.

 

[TAB]

Truth of the matter is, the 16ga doesn't work anymore. Birds hit with a 16ga will just continue to fly, quite healthy but prehaps a bit miffed at being shot with such an ancient weapon. The shot from a 16ga will simply bounce off of a clay, not even changing it's direction. Yeap, it's a useless thing now.

I will take all of those worthless guns off every ones hands...

I love 16ga.