16ga.com ~ View topic

06sep06

Jeff Mulliken's Parker production post spurred some questions. Is the 16 competing with the 12 or the twenty? Are more guys coming down from 12's or are the 20 shooters feeling a tad undergunned and want to try a 16?

I'd be interested in your thoughts, --16ga.

Member Joined: 02 Feb 2006 Posts: 602 Location: western pa

In the real world,most of us probably own them all or at least have shot them all a bit. My vote is for going lighter and more graceful from the 12 to the 16.

Member Joined: 20 Mar 2005 Posts: 1522 Location: NH

I went from the 20 to the 16. Not because I felt undergunned, just wanted something different. Still have my 20's and use them once in a while.

"graceful" - Now theres an adjective for ya.

Me - I started with a single barrel 16 as a training gun - "one shot make it count, it's gonna push you but not put you on your arse and it's effective down range..." kinda training.

then I moved to a 12 auto - got a 20 pump as the opportunity presesnted itself.

now I'm looking for a 16 again - I've always had an affinity for the 16 since my introduction to shotgunning. It's capable & pleasant to shoot - it reminds me of my youth - I time in my life when I had less - obligations - to take a word from Frost.

12s are becoming 'specialty guns': turkey, waterfowl, maybe late season pheasant
The 'do everything' overloaded 20g Mad

is dead and now the 16 is 'doing everything perfectly' Very Happy

The light 20s and 28s are 'specialty guns' also: quail and woodcock.
But we all need hidden in the closet a plastic stock Benelli M1S90 or Ultralight for those pouring rain days Rolling Eyes

I moved up from a 20ga.
17yrs ago, I thought I'd be OK with a couple of hand gun's & the deer rifle, so I sold my old 20ga that I had since I was 13. Then, last year. I got a new dog (Brittany) and well.......Do I need to say more? Funny how time and a new dog can effect your life.....Anyway, when I started looking for a new shotgun for bird hunting & some clays. I knew that I really didn't want a 12ga and really wasn't sure that I wanted another 20ga. I considered the 28ga, but thought a 16ga would be better. The 16ga should handle anything I'm after, even the low flying geese. A new dog & gun, and I feel like a kid all over again! Mr. Green

Member Joined: 27 Jun 2005 Posts: 1545 Location: Michigan

My first shotgun was an Ithaca model 37 in 16 gauge. (I still have it) Givin to me by my Dad, back in the late 60's. The first 12 gauge that came to rest in my house, I bought for my son about 4 years ago. Since then I have added a few 12 gauge Parkers, along with a 10 gauge. All of which are fun to shoot. I also own a 20, 28, and 410. But the majority of my SxS's are 16 gauge and I use them for everything. They are just a pleasure to handle and shoot. My latest find should be here any day now. Laughing

Parker, DHE, 16gauge, 30" barrels, choked full & full.

Member Joined: 25 Jul 2006 Posts: 781

Dave, you really know how to pick them! You ready for the Mich grouse opener? I leave for Baldwin on tuesday....

Based on the Parker numbers the historic trend was from big bore to small for most shooters and I think that trend has continued long after Parker went buns up.

Personally I have never owned a 20. I always had 12's and liked the lightest and fastest handling ones the best. I always wanted a 16 because they mostly handled the way I wanted my 12's to handle. My first 16 was the result of a quest to duplicate W.H. Fosters "The Little Gun" from New England Grouse Shooting. You can't read that first chapter without wanting to buy one.....

Also, I'm a big guy and I find that 16's are about the smallest guns that I can shoot without them becoming too whippy/inconsistent with my shooting style. And hell, a 16 in my meat hooks looks about like a 28!

Jeff

Member Joined: 15 Mar 2005 Posts: 358 Location: Houston

Can't say I'm either coming down from the 12 or moving up from the 20.

I've got one 12 and a 20 I bought as a 13-year-old, but when I decided it was time to get back to shooting and hunting (after realizing how much I'd missed them for several decades), I looked around and decided to go with the 16.

Why? Well, because not everyone's doing it, and that feeds my contrarian streak. It also makes it more satisfying when you find that gun you want, shoot well at the trap range, limit out in the field, etc. Like a professor once told me "If it was easy, everyone would be doing it."

The other reason is that I just find it more sporting and that appeals to me as well. As has been said many times before, the old hands recognize the 16 as a very sporting gauge.

Finally, the 16 gauge appeals because it is so versatile.

'Nuff said.

Member Joined: 28 Oct 2005 Posts: 665 Location: Louisiana

Never owned a 12---fellow gave me a 20 once and I sold it the next week.

I used my Benelli 20ga for Texas quail for a number of years and it was a great gun for that type of hunting. I moved up here to Colorado and spend a lot more time carrying the gun than shooting it. And when I do shoot, it is bigger birds and usually at longer distances. I decided on a Merkel 1620 because it is a light weight modern gun with plenty of punch. Maybe it is my imagination, but the 16ga seems to hit the birds harder than my 20ga does.

Member Joined: 02 Feb 2006 Posts: 602 Location: western pa

My dear old grand dad left me his favorite gun, a 16 bore Sterlingworth, about 25 years ago. Although he was gone, I could always remember him telling us boys how the 16 was the best bird gun. I tried it and was not surprised that he was right. Now if you've ever carried a 16 Sterlingworth for a while, you know it's graceful, I don't care who you are. Razz

Guest

I'm sure it's a factor of many things besides gauge (fit, balance, etc.), but -- at low-gun skeet anyway -- I'm shooting my 16 ga. FAIR as well as or better than any shotgun I've ever owned. The silly little thing comes to my cheek and shoulder like it was made for me.

There's two 12s, a 20 and a 28 in the safe, too, and they're all well made, average- to nice-looking guns and all shoot pretty well for me. I like 'em. But there's something about this gun -- even with a couple minor cosmetic issues that I have with it -- that just makes me reach for it. Repeatedly.

I don't really know what in the heck I'm doing or why I'm doing it or what exactly made me get a 16, but I'm just having a ball with the one I ended up with, and all I know for sure is ... I want to play with some more!

Joined: 13 Jun 2006 Posts: 145 Location: minnesota

i own 'em all and love 'em all, the 16 just happens to be a personal favorite. i try to get them all out of the safe for fresh air now and again.

*Last edited by brdhnt on Sat Feb 26, 2011 8:55 pm; edited 1 time in total*

I've documented in many articles and messages that my preference is for a 16 gauge followed by the 28 gauge. I still have 12's and 20's. I think a lot of shooters are "rediscovering" the 16 gauge like I did. From 1973 until 1988, the only gun I hunted with was a 20 gauge over and under. I still have it but can't remember the last time I hunted birds with it. It is in the safe to be handed down to my Grandson. I've always had a couple of 12's around for late season pheasants and waterfowl. I do have a favorite 12 gaue over and under with two sets of barrels (26 and 30) that I use quite a bit since I shoot it with the 30 inch barrels and/or 28 and 410 tubes in the off-season on clay birds.

The favorite shotgun in the safe with all of the o/u's and sxs's is an Ithaca Model 37 pump in 16 gauge. I don't like pumps, but I shoot this gun as well as any gun I own. It's a newer model "classic" with choke tubes and the ringtail forend. One hunting buddy of mine calls it my "illegal" 16 because I outshoot him so often with it that he wants it declared illegal to use.

Interestingly of all the shotguns in the safe, this one is right on the "average" for weight, length, LOP, DAC and DAH. I shoot it better than a 7+ 12 gauge or a 5 1/2 pound 28 gauge day in and day out.

For the last five years, unless I have been testing a gun for an article, this has been the gun I use in the upland fields for six months out of the year.

7/8th of # 8's for dove, 1 ounce of 7 1/2's for quail, Fiocchi Golden Pheasant 1 1/8th ounce Nickel # 5's for pheasants and some handloads of 1 or 1 1/8th ounce Nickel # 7's mixed in on quail/pheasant areas or for late season scaled quail.

I came back to the 16 for fun and I like having a gun that does what I want without beating me with the recoil (20) or being too heavy by the end of the day (12). I could buy a 6 1/2 pound 12, but pheasant loads in them kick worse than the 20.

The next two guns will both be side by sides. Both are right at 6 1/4 pounds. One is only offered in 12 gauge, so it will be used as a "loaner" for friends wanting to try a sxs 12. The sxs 16 will be the one I use. Since the 12 will have a stainless steel finish and costs $2000, it will also be the rainy day gun, the sxs 16 will be in my hands the rest of the time.

TMB
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