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Joined: 17 Jun 2004 Posts: 265

The fall will be upon us soon and with it comes my passion. To be outdoors with an odd ball dog; a pudelpointer and my favorite 16. In anticipation of the Autumn I gave my guns a healthy dose of Artist Linseed oil and finished the stocks with some Howard's English wax. As my 16's were in my hand I began to ponder why there were so many 16 gauge guns in my safe waiting for their chance in the field this year. Sure there are some 12's nestled between the 16's but they haven't had their chance in quite some time to shoot behind my loving bird dog . The 20's and 410's sit lonely as well hoping for their chance that never comes. The 28's come out every week to the clays field but they are soul-less machines that know only how to crush targets with exacting precision.

As my hand warmed the English walnut with a light film of oil I pondered Why the 16? I have 12 gauges that weigh less than some 16s..surely they are up for the job of a long upland hunt. The 20's throw an ounce of shot pretty well and they too are a contender. The 28's crush targets at extreme ranges they too are up for the job but yet year after year only the 16s will do.

After a slow sip of some neat Caol-il single malt I think I came up with an answer. The 16 is a medium sized gun and I am a medium sized man. From my shoe to shirt I am right in the middle, not too big not too small. Like the the little Bear's porridge the 16's is just right. The perfect blend if you will of size and power. The action proportioned to the gun just right and the barrels cradling my medium size hands just right. The 16 falls in the middle and that makes me happy.

Or it could be just the fact that the 16 was my Granddad's favorite gun. He never seemed to miss with that old A-grade Fox and maybe that's all the reason I need.

What's your reason for choosing the 16?

Brian[/i]

Toward the end of WW2 my father wanted a shotgun; as you might imagine, they were hard to get. But a fellow told my father he could get one. Dad wanted a 12 gauge, but when the gun arrived it was a 16; a Savage autoloader made on the Browning patent. The fellow had two of them and Dad bought them both. My oldest brother (15 years my senior) got one, and Dad used the other for the rest of his hunting life. When I was about 14 Dad was involved in a hunting accident and lost partial sight in his left eye. He never hunted after that, and I graduated from my H&R single shot to carrying Dad's Savage. I thought it was the most wonderful gun ever, and although there was never a formal presentation, we both seemed to understand that from then on it was my gun.

It wasn't until much later, when I married and began hunting with my brothers-in-law, that I found out nobody shot 16 gauge guns anymore; I simply didn't know any better. These guys, to whom I fondly refer as The-Autoloader-with-the-Plug-Out-Crowd, all shot 12's (Remington 1100's at the time); one of them looked askance at my old Savage and said "Nice gun for a girl!" At that point I vowed to myself that Dad's gun would always distinguish itself, and even with me shooting it, it most often did.

Later in life I became enamored with double guns, and that's what I shoot now. My favorite has no more pedigree than Dad's old Savage, but it is of course a 16; I couldn't imagine it being anything else. Like Brian I've a 20, a 12, and even a cute little .410 double in the cabinet, but when I hunt it's the 16 hanging over my arm. Dad's gun mostly sits in the middle of the cabinet now, a well-earned rest in a place of honor.

So I'll always thank my dad for making me a 16 gauge shooter, even though it wasn't necessarily his intention to do so!

Now, of course, 16's are back in style. Used to be that gun dealers couldn't give them away; now, if you're lucky enough to find one you probably can't afford it! Somehow, to a guy who never wanted to shoot anything else, that doesn't seem fair!

F2F, I can commiserate with the girly gun comment. I joined a new shooting club last year. There were a few 12 ga. types who thought my choice of gun, my Citoi 16, somewhat "unmanly." that stopped pretty quickly when I challenged one particularly loud character to a friendly shoot off at the skeet range. The bet went this way. He could shoot any ga gun he wanted with any reasonable load up to 1-1/8 oz of 7-1/2 or smaller shot. I would use my 16 with 3/4 load of 9#. He could shoot any style, I would have to shoot low gun style. The loser had to wear a ballet TU-TU for the rest of the day. The fellow took the bet and even voluntarily spotted me two targets. He shot a 22 and I cleaned them. He looked very stylish in his chartreuse pink ballet skirt but was a good enough sport to actually put it on and wear it. I naturally complimented him on his attire. The tu tu now hangs from a beam in the club house and anyone can challenge anyone else to the tu-tu challenge. I've not been rechallenged yet.

Joined: 21 Jul 2005 Posts: 25 Location: Somerset County, NJ

16GG,

No wonder you love that Citori to death. I would have made you shoot one-handed. LOL

JCM

Hey, I got a pair of them. Will you let me use both hands?

Member Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 425 Location: Maine

I think 16gg had an unfair advantage; Wink

a well balanced gun with a light recoiling load. 3/4 oz. #9 performs exceptionally well in my M12 at the skeet range Cool

Shushh! We don't want the 12 ga. guys to catch on.

Joined: 19 Jun 2004 Posts: 1480 Location: Mpls, MN.

Hey Brian!
Great to see a post from you-I was wondering how you were doing. Pup must be coming along.
I bought a flat of each of the Eley 2 1/2 low pressure ammunition, size 5 and 6 for the Tobin-you know, the felt wad "Crank handle replacement for the starter motor" shells. I'm dying to pattern them, but, I'm busy with summer stuff, including planing a trip to the Apostle islands with my new bride in September-the "loadmaster" must be prepped to get the boat to lake Superior. I can't believe how much of my free time a wife eats up-is it always going to be like this?
Anyway, let me know if you want a box of each to test in one of your guns. I'll set you up!
Best,
Ted

Joined: 22 Mar 2005 Posts: 14 Location: Northeast Ohio

If you got a good one Ted, it will be the best thing that ever happened to you.

Joined: 19 Jun 2004 Posts: 1480 Location: Mpls, MN.

Orry,
I'm guessing I did get a good one. She is Colombian, and completely at peace here in my world. I'm not complaining, per say, when I say having a wife eats my free time-just that time is going so much faster now that she is around.

Peaceful, gorgeous, never married, educated (former financial analyst/controller at the national coffee bank in Bogota) I can't believe she saw a thing in me.

I hope I can get her interested in the shooting sports. I know my time afield would be better with her along.
Best,
Ted

Ted, thats the way life should be. It flies by when you are living a good one. It drags when you are not happy. May hers and yours be happy together. Yes, get her out in the field with you if she's amenable. Start with dogs if you can. Let her fall in love with a hunting breed puppy. No good woman can resist them. Just go slow, easy, and goodnaturedly with both the puppy and her. The rest will just fall in place if you are patient. It never fails.

Guest

Well, it proves that there is someone for everyone, even Toxic-Ted! Very Happy

Good luck, Ted!

(I lucked out and found someone who would even have me) Cool

Ted, it will always be that way. My wife hates to see me sit down. I figured out a way to get around it though. I pretend that I don't her her. I'm old enough to get by with that. My wife thinks I need to get a hearing test and of course, I never go.

My dogs never nag me, well almost never