Sweet sixteen

From partridge to deer it drops them all.Shoots like a 20 gauge kills like a 12 gauge.One of the best.Winchester 37A ,a classic.Actually it's for sale on E.E.I never seem to take it out anymore.So maybe someone else can enjoy it
 
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I have a Stevens sxs that i just got back from my brother last summer. My 12 ga never made it out of the gun cabinet last hunting season. Love the 16 ga!

My wife bought a Lee Load-All for me for Christmas, so I have started loading my own. The only problem is finding good hulls and wads. Winchester doesn't make 16 ga. wads anymore, so I'm hoarding the 3 bags that I still have. Remington still makes their 1 1/8 oz wad, but I like to load 1 oz. I have to put a filler in the bottom of the 1 1/8 oz wad to get a good crimp with 1 oz.

I am always on the look-out for 16 ga ammo.
 
Ah " Sweet Sixteen " Makes me get all tearie eyed just thinking about it. I have a couple of SXS Belgian Guild guns chambered for it. Seems that my 12's have become safe queens. Would love to have one in an O/U (Anyone?). As far as ammo goes I have a buddy that shoots 28 ga and he has a harder time finding ammo than I do. Find a load that you like and order a flat,or a case.
 
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I am always looking for them. I currently don't have one but I have bought a few and the "16 Gauge Society" here on PEI keep buying them up.
They say the 1oz load in the 16 gauge is the perfect load.
Remember how gauge is measured....

Anyway they say because a 16 Gauge is exactly 1/16th of a pound, therefore the 1oz load is "square" and therefore patterns perfectly... I dunno.

see 16 gauge society at: http://www.16ga.com/
 
I shoot a Mossberg bolt 16ga. It's krylon'd and cammed up for turkey hunting. Great gun. Light and very effective. I also have a wall hanger 16ga. It's a 1880's SXS Belgian that my great grandfather shot. It's up on the wall beside his fathers SXS muzzle loader 12ga and my grandfathers Bernardelli Italia 12ga. Once I put my dad's to rest it'll be up there as well and I'll have 4 generations of of my families SXS's on the wall. I'm still looking for one myself, and when I do it'll be a 16ga. I've got enough 12's and I really enjoy shooting 16's.
 
The 16 is less versatile than a 12, heavier than a 20 (particularly because most of the current 16s come on 12 gauge frames) and less available than both gauges.

The 16 gauge does however have two undeniable advantages. The first is nostalgia. It takes us back to an earlier era much like the .257 Roberts or .219 Zipper. Nothing wrong with that at all if it makes you happy.

The second advantage is that it allows you to be wordly. It's a favourite gauge in continental Europe, especially France. So if you need to get in touch with your inner cheese eating surrender monkey, have a secret yearning for baguettes and foie gras and feel dashing while wearing a beret you must have a 16 gauge, preferably a Darne.;)

It's not that I don't entirely understand the appeal. The one (and only) time I ordered a custom gun I ordered it on a 16 gauge frame but the barrels are 12 gauge. It's the best of both worlds.:D
 
Claybuster said:
The 16 is less versatile than a 12, heavier than a 20 (particularly because most of the current 16s come on 12 gauge frames) and less available than both gauges.

The 16 gauge does however have two undeniable advantages. The first is nostalgia. It takes us back to an earlier era much like the .257 Roberts or .219 Zipper. Nothing wrong with that at all if it makes you happy.

The second advantage is that it allows you to be wordly. It's a favourite gauge in continental Europe, especially France. So if you need to get in touch with your inner cheese eating surrender monkey, have a secret yearning for baguettes and foie gras and feel dashing while wearing a beret you must have a 16 gauge, preferably a Darne.;)

It's not that I don't entirely understand the appeal. The one (and only) time I ordered a custom gun I ordered it on a 16 gauge frame but the barrels are 12 gauge. It's the best of both worlds.:D
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You just don't understand do you. "Not as versatile as a 12". Since when do you need a 12 for upland hunting? The only thing I use a 12 for would be for deer hunting or duck & geese hunting of which I do very little of anymore (smelly things). My 16's are 16's Not a 16 with 12 ga. barrels. Sorry but your whole post doesn't make sense to me.
 
Win/64 said:
You just don't understand do you. "Not as versatile as a 12". Since when do you need a 12 for upland hunting? The only thing I use a 12 for would be for deer hunting or duck & geese hunting of which I do very little of anymore (smelly things). My 16's are 16's Not a 16 with 12 ga. barrels. Sorry but your whole post doesn't make sense to me.
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Why would I burden myself with a gauge that is harder to find when there is lots of 12 gauge in a variety of load weights? Why would I fool with a gauge that is close impossible to find loading components and equipment for?

As for "needing" a 12 gauge, I shoot light loads ranging from 7/8s to 1-1/8 for upland hunting in a gun that is 6-1/2 lbs. Perfect. I can also put on my belt a couple of low recoil slugs should I need them in the bush and I have needed them a couple of times.

I know the 16 gauge fanciers are very sensitive when it comes to the vigourous defense of their favourite gauge and easily offended when rational thought is applied to the issue. In that way they ARE a lot like the French.:p ;)
 
Well if you are not a fan of the 16ga, Why did post on the topic of sweet 16. We've done this before CB. As far as 16 ga being harder to find. That's a lot of c**p. It's easier to find 16ga than 410 or 28 and a lot of time easier than 20 ga.
 
Claybuster said:
It's not that I don't entirely understand the appeal. The one (and only) time I ordered a custom gun I ordered it on a 16 gauge frame but the barrels are 12 gauge. It's the best of both worlds.:D
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Tell me what are the advantages of a 16ga. with 12 ga. barrels? Did the gun you ordered come with extra long firing pins? What would be a ballpark price for something like that? :eek:
 
I have several 16's, pumps, semis and side by sides. I love them all because of the bore not the gun. The 16 is a very versatile and effective bore. Sure 12 gauge ammo is easier to find, but if we all thought like that we would be all shooting .30-06 rifles too. I will never argue that a 16 bore is better than any other bore I just like it better.

Darryl
 
Win/64 said:
Well if you are not a fan of the 16ga, Why did post on the topic of sweet 16. We've done this before CB. As far as 16 ga being harder to find. That's a lot of c**p. It's easier to find 16ga than 410 or 28 and a lot of time easier than 20 ga.
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16 gauge easier to find than the 20? I've never seen that anywhere. I suppose it depends on your location. Are you in France perhaps?:p

The reason I get involved in these discussions is the nonsense propogated that there is something magical about the 16 gauge. There isn't. Regardless of what you are shooting if you put the pellets in the right place gauge doesn't matter. The 16 ounce to a pound, 1 ounce payload equals a square load and perfect pattern doesn't make sense either. Read Brister. Of all the qualities that affect pattern shot hardness and velocity are the most significant.

If you like it great. Use it, enjoy it and kill as many birds as you can. But don't try and make the gauge into something it isn't.

Win/64 said:
Tell me what are the advantages of a 16ga. with 12 ga. barrels? Did the gun you ordered come with extra long firing pins? What would be a ballpark price for something like that? :eek:
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The advantages of a 16 gauge frame with 12 gauge barrels are twofold. The first is weight. It's lighter. Second is flexibility. I load 12 and have ready access to a good assortment of factory loads. I also don't have to listen to the clerk at the gunstore sneeze when he blows the dust off the box of 16 gauge that has sat there since the early 70's.;)

I have no idea what you are getting at with your comment about extra long firing pins. As for the price that's between me and my banker.

Overall don't take my comments too much to heart. The most fun I have with the 16 gauge is rousing its more excitable fans to spirited Internet debates. ;)
 
The 12ga, from a perspective of versatility should have no competition, period :)

However, as far as availability of 16ga shells go......I always see those at the BP store at Vaughan in a variety of Upland loads i.e. #6, 7 1/2, 8 from all three manufacturers - Kent (my prefered brand), Remington and Winchester and those are not old stock either.

Admittedly, not every store will carry 16ga shells but locating such will not be a great challenge either, IMHO.
 
As far as finding shells,here in NB Canadian Tire carries them for $8.49 /box and lots of buckshot and slugs around too
 
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