16ga.com Forum Index
Author Message
<  16ga. General Discussion  ~  ever get in trouble for shooting a 16 ga?? - I have....
bustingclays
PostPosted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 3:09 pm  Reply with quote
Member
Member


Joined: 23 Nov 2005
Posts: 435
Location: Illinois (in the burbs of St. Louis)

Gentlemen:

This story is actually pretty funny Laughing Laughing both for what happened and where it happened. By NO means is it meant to discredit the shooting facility - we love it. I would HIGHLY recommend this shooting facility and their shells! But I still get ribbed about what happened from my friends.

Annually for the last 5 years, a large shell manufacturer with a GREAT public shooting facility in East Alton IL has had a spring and sometimes in the fall "step outside" shoot - they are open to the public and are encouraging new shooters - great program!!!! If you don't have a gun - no problem. You can get one in ANY gauge except 16 as a loaner by giving your drivers license to the person behind the counter - return gun and get license back. Glasses, ear plugs, and vests are available for free use too.

On this date (Saturday) each shooter can buy rounds at league shooter prices for either trap, 5-stand, skeet, crazy quail, and rabbit - as many shells and rounds as you can stand to shoot. One round (25 shells) ANY gauge includes birds and box of factory Winchester ammo (AA hulls - except 16 ga which are field loads Mad ) is usually priced at $6/7. Also get to keep the hulls Very Happy Very Happy

You can see that we arrive when they open and stay all day to shoot. Last year I shot 6 rounds 410 and 6 rounds 28 ga in sxs guns (mine) - all factory shells, all hulls in my reloading room now Cool

Did I mention they have all the tube-steaks you can eat with sides and all soda/water you can drink for free too.

Anyway, 3 years ago I had just gotten the 16 ga Browning A5 (some of you helped me date this gun recently - thanks) for $135 and I decided to take it along for a try out on 5-stand. Bought my shells (in the %$#* white box - looks like they went to WalMart and picked em out) and got squadded up with 2 of my friends and 2 executives from the manufacturing facility - one (She) who was the Director of outside programs at the time. Needless to say their (the executives) guns - custom citoris with blue fitted stocks - made me look a little out of place with my 16 ga A5. I did break 23 birds though (IC barrel - hammers the clays) and I'm pretty sure they broke much less Wink Wink

The trouble started when we started to pick up the hulls - required at this facility after each round. The boss-lady (who shot an over/under and did not need to pick any hulls up) started pickin em up and then started hollering about who brought in the 16 gauge shells to shoot there - that should NOT be allowed as they (the facility) didn't carry them (or make them either from her point of view). She wanted to know who was shooting them and of course my friends pointed me out right away (they and the trap help who knew me as Dr. 16 Gauge all were laughing their fool heads off Laughing Laughing Laughing ). I was asked where I got the shells and innocently Twisted Evil Wink I replied - in the gun room over there and she allowed that wasn't possible. By this time the facility manager (a very good friend of mine too) of the shooting facility who was close by had heard the commotion and walked over and straightened her right out. It took a few moments of explanation to convince her I had not sneaked the shells onto the property Rolling Eyes

Pretty funny Laughing Laughing Laughing in retrospect.

But sad too - Crying or Very sad Crying or Very sad Crying or Very sad - as the executive did not think that 16s were available.

Now my students who work there and the other help at the facility all know to keep some 16s in stock for when I go shoot - thank goodness Cool

_________________
good shooting.....

Dr. 16 Gauge
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
hoashooter
PostPosted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 8:49 pm  Reply with quote
Member
Member


Joined: 08 Nov 2005
Posts: 3436
Location: Illinois

Your'e shooting a what ?--yeah Iv'e heard that many a time.I tell 'em relax I have a 16 not leprecy Twisted Evil Sometimes I am completely amazed at how we are looked down on---Second class if you will--some places more like third or fourth Embarassed I am not shy I stand my ground-let's compare scores when we are done Exclamation Very Happy I really have no idea why the 16 is seen as a disgrace.Those folks have no clue.I let a few folks shoot my autos and the first response is--WOW--that gun hammers the target and it don't really kick--DUHHHH Wink Wink Wink
Others have a more positive outlook.During practice rounds of skeet at some clubs I have had folks walk up and ask if they can buy a box of shells and sho
ot a round. Cool Sure,I tell 'em ---but I want the empties back Smile
Never have understood those who have oddball caliber rifles are looked upon as reloading authorities{same procedures are basically used as with common calibers}While the established 16 is still seen as a remnant of of past and something to be swept under the rug and forgotten.We are lucky to have a place to discuss this great chambering,the guns and the history Exclamation Exclamation Exclamation
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
16GAwaterfowler
PostPosted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 6:54 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 15 Dec 2005
Posts: 287
Location: missouri

Maybe the lady Exec was right in what she said. The 16 ga upland game loads were or are made there in East Alton. The rest of them are made by other plants overseas, pick up a box of the Super X loads and look on the side panel, some say made in Italy and others say made in Australia.
Personally I think the quality of their ammuniton has gone into the sewer, the new AA hulls are junk and most of the rest of their shotgun ammo isn't much better. Remington and Federal both have higher quality ammuntion, although all three of them are lacking in the 16 ga.
Really a shame too as Big W had some of the best shotgun ammo going not to many years ago.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Foursquare
PostPosted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 7:55 am  Reply with quote
Member
Member


Joined: 18 Nov 2005
Posts: 398
Location: S Fl

An opportune moment to bring up this anecdote.

Got squaded with an Argentinian ex-pat at the skeet range last month.
He was admiring the FAIR I was shooting, and when informed it was a 16 he got even more excited. He started waxing nostalgically about the bird shooting back home and how much he loved the 16 ga. Etc, etc.

Then he said the line which is the point of my story.

"You know, in Argentina, 16 is the most popular gauge".

I have no reason to disbelieve him. But can it be true?
On a more pragmatic note, if I ever get a chance to shoot birds in the "really deep south", will 16 ga ammo be available.

I know this was mentioned on other threads. Something to the effect that members of this forum didn't take their 16 ga guns to S. America because they were told that ammo was not available.
I guess my question is - did you just take somebody's word for it? Or did you research availability of 16 ammo?

Thanks
Pete
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
fin2feather
PostPosted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 2:28 pm  Reply with quote
Member
Member


Joined: 06 Aug 2004
Posts: 2171
Location: Kansas High Plains

Yeah, I get "in trouble" every time I tote my 16ga side bys when I go out with my brothers-in-law, to whom I fondly refer as "The-12ga-Auto-Loader-With-the-Plug-Out-Crowd". Nothing against auto shooters; I own one myself (a 16, of course). But these guys will never understand why anyone would want a gun with only two shots (flushes sound a little like armed conflict skirmishes around this group), nor why anybody would shoot anything other than a 12 (bigger and heavier must be better, right?). I tried to explain the ballistics to them once, but only once (never try to teach a pig to sing; it's a waste of time, and it annoys the pig). One of them told me once that my 16 was "a nice gun for a girl".

They're convinced I'd get more birds, be a better shot, and be much more of a manly-man if only I'd get myself a 12ga, probably preferably a Browning Golden Hunter (no offense to anybody, but they're just U-G-L-Y!), which they all have. I've given up long ago trying to explain to them the reasons I'm out there at all, and that the number of birds I kill is somewhere south of last place.

I'm known as the family eccentric anyway, and they're my huntin' buddies and my wife's brothers, so I gotta love 'em! Very Happy

_________________
I feel a warm spot in my heart when I meet a man whiling away an afternoon...and stopping to chat with him, hear the sleek lines of his double gun whisper "Sixteen." - Gene Hill, Shotgunner's Notebook
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
16GAwaterfowler
PostPosted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 5:12 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 15 Dec 2005
Posts: 287
Location: missouri

You gotta be like me and keep them guessing........most of the year I shoot my 16's for quail, pheasant,etc. This time of year all the other guns go into the gun cabinet and my Browning Gold 10 ga comes out for goose season. Really screws up a lot of folks minds....shooting such an unmanly gun most of the year then the cannon comes out for few months.... Very Happy
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
BayouBuck
PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 12:04 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 24 Jul 2006
Posts: 3

I hear the same thing when I started dove hunting with my inlaws. All of them have SBE,Berettas and Browning Golds. When I pulled my sweet 16 out of the case I got a funny look,(like Ha Ha look at the little gun)after taking as many birds as the other in the feild I had an offer to trade for a SBE( of course I turned it down). I am not knocking those guns just mine is twice as old as I am and still gets the job done with less pain to my sholder and hurt on my wallet
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
16gaugeguy
PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 12:26 pm  Reply with quote
Member
Member


Joined: 12 Mar 2005
Posts: 6535
Location: massachusetts

That deer in the headlights look most folks got over a 16 ga. double or Citori is fast becoming passe. There were times I was told I was a damned lier when answering the question as to what gauge my Citori was. It was especially amusing to show the gauge designation on the barrel to the non-believer. If I was a real S#B and maybe a tad quicker witted, I could have won several bets over the fact. I still run into shotgunners who remain clueless as to the facts However, now I'm meeting folks who pick up on the gauge as soon as they see the barrels. Where it used to be, "16 gauge...why?" Now its, "16 gauge... sweet!"

As far as shooting ability with the gauge, most folks who know me don't mess much with that issue anymore. To do so will cost you money or at least get you a big helping of humble pie. (I gotta start hanging with some new suckers...er... I mean friends. Wink) Anyway, they all know the gauge in my hands gives up nothing to a 12 accuracy and results wise within its effective range to about 45 yards max to the mark. Outside of that range limit, only a handful of very skilled shooters would benifit anyhow. The rest are just skybusting.

The fact that one of Olin's own folks did not know her butt from her earlobe doesn't surprise me. All one has to do is look at the sad shape the company is in marketwise to see that dumbasses run it. Remington is not far behind. Their folks are about as sharp as baseball bats too. I wonder if That female Olin Exec picked the gun she was shooting 'cause the blue stock went with her ensemble? Can you say AIRHEAD? Rolling Eyes
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
MGF
PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 2:03 pm  Reply with quote
Guest





At the club where I shoot skeet, I get more the "neat" reaction. I usually carry six or eight extra shells in my shell pouch and offer to let guys interested in the gun shoot it at the end of round.
Back to top
16ga.
PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 4:18 pm  Reply with quote
Site Admin
Site Admin


Joined: 02 Jun 2004
Posts: 227
Location: California/Kansas

24jul06

It has happened to me. Really annoying trouble.

I signed up to shoot in a charity sporting clays shoot to benefit the wounded coming back from Iraq. A 'friendly shoot' open to all comers regardless of skill or experience. I show up with my FAIR 16 and bring my own shells (factory Win, No. 8's, in the boxes) and sent out to start on station 10. I'm in a squad of 5 and the organizer asks me to look out for 2 beginners. When I arrive, I'm supposed to go first and show the rest the targets and the procedure. The Marshall asks me if I want 20 or 12, he was going to hand out 2 shells at a time. I handed him my box of 16s and he went off on me as being a threat to everyone's safety.

A guy with a radio showed up and he went off again. The guy with the radio blinked and I could tell he didn't want any part of it. He told me 'to please shoot the 12.' and move on. I said OK, he radioed and a Berreta auto showed up. It was going to work because one of the newbies didn't have a gun and we would share the auto.

Wait, its not over yet. We all shoot and move on to the next station. After 5 stations, I've only missed 5 targets with the auto. I'm having fun and like the group, when the radio shows up again. It seems the guy on station 10 was wigging out because we carried off the Berreta auto. He said it was assigned to him and he was responsible for it. Again the radio guy apologizes but takes the 12 back to station 10. Now only 3 of 5 have guns and I shoot the 5 remaining stations with their guns. Now I'm not sure where they were pointing because of the fit problems and I end up shooting 78.

I wasn't even mad at any point of this farce but learned a ton about how stupid people could be with little or no help.

I had a good time anyway and the cause was good too.

Thanks, 16ga.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Twice Barrel
PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 6:50 pm  Reply with quote
Guest





Yeah and there just doesn't seem to be a cure for the three deadly sins...stupid, ugly and lazy....
Back to top
old16
PostPosted: Wed Jul 26, 2006 6:51 am  Reply with quote
Member
Member


Joined: 01 Feb 2006
Posts: 450
Location: Indiana

When I get questioned about why does anyone shoot a 16 I tell them once you reach the top of the skill line only the best and the deadlyest shoot a 16. Beware of them guys there are very cunning.

_________________
Anyone that is willing to give up anypart of freedom for a piece of security deserve neither.
Ben Franklin
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
fred lauer
PostPosted: Wed Jul 26, 2006 7:52 pm  Reply with quote
Member
Member


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

I never got in trouble , but I can proudly say that after 2yrs. on the trap range with my Sterlingworth and Nitro Sp., I finally made 2 (at least partial ) converts.One guy showed up with a well worn A5 and the other proudly showed me an older but very nice Fox B. You guys are right, a lot of folks think the 16 is cool, they just haven't gotten one yet. Keep spreading the word. Very Happy

_________________
Always get get a drink upstream of the herd-Will Rogers
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
mod11rem
PostPosted: Wed Aug 02, 2006 1:02 pm  Reply with quote
Member
Member


Joined: 20 Nov 2005
Posts: 117
Location: Jonesboro, AR

I guess I'll have to weigh in here with my story. My wife's cousin invited me and my son to a Sunday afternoon funshoot out on the levee a few years ago. There were a bunch of us dads and sons there. We let all the kids shoot first til they tired out. Then we went at it competing for the "First annual Lost Cane Trap Trophy". I was the only one there with a 16 (the venerable old Mod 11 of course) and all these other guys had their big old honkin' ass 12 ga. duck guns. They all smiled and smirked at my 16 but since I was the one from out of town (Jonesboro 35 miles away) and a city slicker too boot they didn't say much. We had two rounds of doubles and two rounds of singles in some sort of double elimination set up. I had one of those days and really believe I could have pulled off the old over the shoulder trick with a mirror. It got down to me and my wife's cousin (who is widely regarded as one of the best shots around and a frequent partner of mine in the duck blind). I thought we were tied so it was going to be that the loser was the first one who missed. After about 50 straight each, the other guys said we could just call it a tie. Having none of that, we kept shooting and I finally missed about 20 later. Turns out that Brad had missed two birds on the first doubles round, so I am the proud owner of the Trophy. The consensus among the group was two fold: first, don't ever laugh at a guy holding a 16 til you see him shoot. second, the age old adage, "if you want an expert, get somebody from out of town". However, I never got invited back Cool Cool Cool


By the way, MO was a short deal and I'm out in west TX. Lots of quail and dove out here. Watermelon season will be over mostly by mid Sept and I'll end up back in AR if she'll have me. mod11rem

_________________
If I can't throw lead from a 16, I'd just as soon throw rocks.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Display posts from previous:   
All times are GMT - 7 Hours

View next topic
View previous topic
Page 1 of 1
16ga.com Forum Index  ~  16ga. General Discussion

Post new topic   Reply to topic


 
Jump to:  

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum




Powered by phpBB and NoseBleed v1.09