16 gauge who still hunts with one???

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cant_rope_the_wind01

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was just curious
who still hunts with a 16 gauge??
what make and model?
would you mind to please post a picture of what you use??
for some strange reason I have an attraction to 16 gauge shotguns
and would like to know more about them and here the pro's and con's of hunting with one
 
I have several now. Have had up to 10. Win M12, Citori and a host of vintage SxS from makers like A H Fox, F.W Heym, Henri Pieper, Husqvarna etc.

The upside is that, when scaled properly to the gauge rather than being a 12 gauge frame chambered for 16, they typically "feel" better in the hands. Lighter, more responsive. The same dynamics can be had in a 12 but much harder to find.

The downside is the scarcity and cost of ammunition. I keep 1000-1500 rounds (mostly hunting loads) at all times. There are often shortages of supply and I don't want to be held hostage by what the ammo makers and importers are doing. Additionally and in the same vein, limited selection from the gun makers themselves.

Get on the 16 Gauge Society forums and read a bit. IMHO get a 12 gauge first and only get a 16 if you are prepared for the limitations. I am and I have about 6 specific 16 gauge guns I'm on the look out for and will buy when I see them.
 
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Here are a few of my 16's:

A couple Piepers made at the same time 100 years ago.



A Fox 16 gauge I sold because I decided I didn't want an ejector gun.



My F W Heym I sold because VictoryXC on this site pestered me until I sold it to him. Big mistake. Now he gloats every time I seem him.

 
Sixteens you say? True sixteen gauge guns by design carry and handle much like a twenty but as an upland gun are as effective as a twelve. Hunting ammunition for upland birds is readily available, even in big chain stores like Canadian Tire and although the selection is modest it's no worse than the darling 28 gauge. Luv using 'em. A couple of my favourites, a Highest quality J D Dougall Lockfast hammer gun from about 1881-82 and a beautifully restored T Mortimer ( Edinburgh) from 1893.
 
Well, lol, I hunt with a single shot Cooey 16. It was somebody's art project before I had it, with a goose wood burned into each side, and a crude cross hatching burned onto the fore stock. Maybe its because of this art work that it is so effective. 42 partridge this year alone. Shells are always stocked at our local hardware store. The guy who sells the guns there tells me that when we had a lot of Portugese people in town for the logging industry, the 16 was their favourite gauge. Anyway, first 16 I have owned, and I like it a lot. The cooey has a pretty tight choke, which enables me to separate the head from the body quite nicely, and at a good distance.
 
love my 16 ga,s. I reload my shells for skeet and trap, no more expensive to shoot than a 12 ga that way.
an old hunter told me ,back in the good old days, that 16 ga is the best gauge there is.

Brownie
 
Pair of 16's here in our cabinet.My wife has an Ithaca Model 37 and I have a Cooey 840.Ihandload all of our rounds on a basic old fashioned Lee Load-All.Although we went through some boxes of factory ammo to get enough hulls to play with.
 
canvasback said:
My F W Heym I sold because VictoryXC on this site pestered me until I sold it to him. Big mistake. Now he gloats every time I seem him.
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He gloats about it to me too. I almost stole it from him when we were at Pelee island. Problem with that plan was....well.....I couldn't have gotten away with it as I was stuck on the island with him. Maybe next time
 
1963beretta said:
He gloats about it to me too. I almost stole it from him when we were at Pelee island. Problem with that plan was....well.....I couldn't have gotten away with it as I was stuck on the island with him. Maybe next time
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It is worth the risk!

I am a fan of the 16 for the reasons already spelled out. The Winchester model 12 in 16ga is about as perfect a shooter for me that I can find.
 
The 16 gauge is good - as they are lighter and have less recoil then a 12 gauge but offer more pellets then a 20 gauge. It's often over-looked and I could never quite understand why...
 
dilly said:
It is worth the risk!

I am a fan of the 16 for the reasons already spelled out. The Winchester model 12 in 16ga is about as perfect a shooter for me that I can find.
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First gun I ever bought. It feels like I’m missing something when there isn’t one in my safe.
 
Most of my bird hunting is with a 16. I usually use a sxs but I have a couple of pumps that get out once in a while. The ammo is more expensive than 12 gauge but I can usually find what I am looking for.
 
I like a 16 gauge side by side as a nice lightly proportioned gun, but less recoil than a 12 gauge - can't be unless you give something up, usually it is weight of shot.
Heavier shot weights and higher velocity hunting loads will recoil noticeably in a light 16 gauge gun.
My current favourite is an AyA Model 106.
 
I have a Beretta 409 that I use occasionally for upland birds, it's lightweight, carries really nice. Ammo can be hard to find so you buy it when you see it even if you don't need it, Federal seems to be the prevalent manufacturer of 16 gauge around these parts anyway. I buy hunting loads but reload target loads for mine, I have a really soft shooting 1 oz/1150 fps load for it.
 
Highwind said:
The 16 gauge is good - as they are lighter and have less recoil then a 12 gauge but offer more pellets then a 20 gauge. It's often over-looked and I could never quite understand why...
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Sorry, don't mean to be picky but none of this is true.

I have a 6 pound 11 ounce 16 ga in my safe and I have a 6 pound 2 ounce 12 ga in my safe. They are both SxS shotguns with barrel lengths within an inch of each other.

1 oz of #6 pellets is the same quantity whether it is coming out of a 12 ga, a 16 ga or a 20 gauge. 1 ounce is 1 ounce.

Recoil has effectively zero to do with the gauge . It has everything to do with the following four main factors.....weight of the gun, weight of the load fired, speed at which the load is accelerated to and whether the gun uses some kind of system to re-load (semi-auto) which will absorb some of the recoil. Gun fit can also be a factor along with some other minor issues.

Typically 16 gauge TEND to be lighter than 12s and because of the lighter weight 16 ga TEND to have more felt recoil than a 12 when using similar loads. Which we TEND to do when hunting.
 
Canvasback is correct but I'll also add that the fit of the gun to the shooter and stock ergonomics can change the "felt" recoil. In other words, you can have two different guns of the same weight firing similar loads and the recoil is the same but the felt recoil can be different.
 
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