16ga or 20ga upland gun?

Turkeyslayer 1300

Turkeyslayer 1300

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My grandfather was telling me about his 16 and thought it might be nice to have one for old times sake. Am i crazy? Has the 20 gauge really made the 16 obsolete?

P.s. The odd duck or goose could be on the menu as i hunt an old marsh and surrounding woods.
 
There isn't a great deal of difference in the capabilities. If you load your own shells it probably wouldn't matter which one you choose.

If you don't reload, 20 gauge ammo is easier to find, is available in a wider range of loads (including steel for waterfowl), and cheaper than most 16 gauge stuff.
 
28 gauge said:
The 16 gauge is a great gauge.Get one and enjoy your connection to your past.You will not be sorry.
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X2 And they are not hard to find shells for. Don't know about Steel. That just gives you an excuse to buy a 12 ga. too.
 
16 gauge is a joy to shoot and the shell is not that hard to find, I can hardly understand why they are not quite common in Canada. I have seen ammo among nine to eleven dollars a box, not quite sure how much for steel shot.

Trigun
 
Turkeyslayer 1300 said:
My grandfather was telling me about his 16 and thought it might be nice to have one for old times sake. Am i crazy? Has the 20 gauge really made the 16 obsolete?

P.s. The odd duck or goose could be on the menu as i hunt an old marsh and surrounding woods.
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For waterfowl I'd rather have a 16 gauge than a 20 but rather have a 12 than a 16.

But Win/64 is starting to convince me that I may need a 16 at some point in my life. :)
 
16 ga

Well, I guess I'm sort of biased in that I collect and have quite a few 16 ga guns. I enjoy a 16 ga made on a true 16 ga frame. Try to stay away from the Remington Semi and pumps as they are on 12ga frames as well as the new Browning BPS at over 7 lbs. True 16's weight 6 lbs to 6.5 lbs & some lighter -- carrys like a 20 and will shoot anything from 3/4 oz load commonly up to 1 1/8 oz. 1 oz & 1 1/8 oz are not hard to find. CDN Tire stocks 1 oz loads and are comparable in price to their other hunting loads in 20 ga. So really, you can have very close to 12 ga performance in a generally lighter gun.
I shoot waterfowl with my 16's using Kent Tungston and loading my own with Bismuth. I recommend anyone buying a 16 to join the 16 reloaders group, 16ga.com for lots of support and advice. Also get yourself a ballistic Prodicts 16ga reloaders guide. I won't mention ballistics here because it usually starts a pissing match.
Cheers, enjoy
John
 
Yes, 16 gauge is sweet. They're so named because they hit that sweet spot where everything comes together; a light gun, with 20 ga. quickness and 12 gauge power.

16 ga. and 28 ga. shot streams are said to be the only two that are the same length and width, thus producing better patterns.

I've never verified this myself, but I do love my 16 gauges. Could be science, could be superstition, could be self-fulfilling prophecy.
 
Availability of 16 ga seems to be a local thing. I rarely see any for sale in Sask. Pitty as a few years ago there were great deals on 16's at the gun shows and Canadian Tire must have made an error and had tions of the ammo for sale at very low prices.
 
I have hunted with both the 16 and 20 and I must say I prefer my good 'ol Ithaca 37 16g. Points nice and follows thru nicely. I do like my 20g, dont' get me wrong (Mossberg 500). But if its a walk along a trail I like to carry the sweet 16.
 
Huntsman said:
I have hunted with both the 16 and 20 and I must say I prefer my good 'ol Ithaca 37 16g. Points nice and follows thru nicely. I do like my 20g, dont' get me wrong (Mossberg 500). But if its a walk along a trail I like to carry the sweet 16.
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I prefer a 16ga. myself . Only on a 20ga. frame with 2 barrels. It's nice to have a SxS with 2 triggers so you can select the choke you want to use.
 
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