# For The Shotgun Lovers



## Kevin (Aug 21, 2013)

I have a love for shotties. I have a couple of 12's and two 20's, but I am ignorant about the 16 gauge. I've heard of it but never knew anything about it. Do any of you have one? 

*Here's a good article about it* - of course now it makes we want one.

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## Kevin (Aug 21, 2013)

I already found one for sale! :no dice. more please:

http://i1077.Rule #2/albums/w468/WoodBarter/16gauge_zps67f635d1.png

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## Dane Fuller (Aug 21, 2013)

I don't think it would be very wise dragging that one out into the briers, Kev......LOL

I'd be a shotgun whore if I had the money and my wife would let me. I don't know how many I've had over my lifetime but I still have my very first one, a Stevens single shot 20 ga. Right now I've got 2-12's, 2-20's, and a .410. I want a 28 ga. so bad, I can taste it. Their shot string is supposed to be excellent (close to a 12) with just a few less pellets per load compared to a 20. That being said, I wouldn't kick a 16 out of the cabinet either...

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## Foot Patrol (Aug 21, 2013)

I have a sweet 16 and love to dove hunt with it. The problem with 16s are a lack of ammo. Stores hardly carry a few boxes.

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## davduckman2010 (Aug 21, 2013)

you could buy a small gun store fore 19.000  i got 13 shotguns and 2 rifles a 22 and 223 rifle always had a soft spot for my scatterguns only got rid of one a browning 28 gauge pump won it in a raffle new in the box to pretty for my style so i traded it for a browning gold 12 ga. 3 1/2 in automatic with a meat choke i named her precious . very few get by now :diablo:

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## SENC (Aug 21, 2013)

A 16 is a GREAT gun, but unfortunately shells are hard to find and expensive. I don't own one now, but will again at some point. Ballistically they are far superior to 20g, and if not built on a 12g frame (to my knowledge, which is limited, no 16s have been built on true 16g frames since the 70s), lighter and more maneuverable than 12g. A great gun is the browning a-5 "sweet sixteen" (I think the only autoloader 16 built on a 16 frame).

I'm also a fan of 28g... though also hard to find shells. I have an old Browning 28g over/under that I love. I searched for a long time before I found what I wanted at an affordable price. The 28g is ballistically superior to both the larger 20g and the smaller .410, and a very useable gun for dove and quail. Most, if not all, 28s these days are built on 20g frames, so the weight loss benefit doesnt exist.

Older 16s and 28s are typically obscenely priced, but with patience you can still find decent deals periodically, particularly if you're not stuck on super high condition. Michael McIntosh's book Shotguns and Shooting is the best reference I've ever read on shotguns... including how to inspect and buy older guns.

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## Dane Fuller (Aug 21, 2013)

This has the makings of a good thread!

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## Andrew M (Aug 21, 2013)

+1 on the browning sweet 16, never owned one but shot a couple while dove hunting. They are some really sweet shooting guns and I would love to have one.


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## Mike1950 (Aug 21, 2013)

Never been a shotgun fan- have a long Remington goose gun and a 12 Winchester pump. But I also have a shell collection. some old henry's and a brass 8 gauge shell case- they were men then cause I would not shoot that sucker................

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## SENC (Aug 21, 2013)

Here are some sweet 16s... priced a little better than the fox you posted earlier, but still not cheap given that they are 50 year old used guns (really good new shotguns can be had for considerably less).

If you get interested in a sweet 16, or any other browning, art's gun shop is one of the top browning repair/restoration/maintenance shops in the world. They know brownings better than anyone and are a stand-up. I have a heavily used 12g I'm planning to have them restore in the next few years.
[attachment=29692]

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## Wes Murphy (Aug 21, 2013)

I have a Mossberg bolt action 16 ga I got when I was 12. I'm 60 now. That gun never looked like a sweet 16 or anything half way fancy, but it always put meat on the table. Growing up there wasn't a duck or rabbit that could get pass a heavy Peters 6 shot, and doves didn't have a chance. Last I checked it was worth about 35 dollars, but the years of sentiment make it priceless. I use to hunt and shoot stuff all year long. Having been in the military for 23 years, I've been fortunate enough to have hunted in Germany, England and Scotland and many states here at home but health reasons have now curtailed all hunting and fishing activities. Over the years, I've owned very many nice shotguns and rifles and have sold them all, but I've still got that ol Mossburg. 

Wes

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## HomeBody (Aug 23, 2013)

In the late 80's I bought a 16 ga. L.C. Smith sidelock from a sporting goods store in Belfast Maine that had burned. All the guns were burned up...but cheap! I got the field grade L.C. for $50. With the help of a pro gun restorer I managed to bring it back from the dead. Barrels and ribs had to be resoldered. All the springs had to be retempered, and of course new wood to replace the burned away wood. I upgraded it by engraving it with the Crown Grade pattern. New case colors were added to the frame. Chokes were full and full and I opened one to improved cylinder. The chambers were for the short 2 9/16" 16ga. shells used before WW2 so they had to be lengthened to 2 3/4". He also reemed long forcing cones in the thing. I never fired it after I got it finished. Eventually sold it to a good friend to finance more projects. Here's a couple of pics. Have more somewhere. Gary
[attachment=29740]
[attachment=29741]

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## Dane Fuller (Aug 23, 2013)

Oh, my, gosh, Gary. That is a beautiful piece of art! I've got a field grade Weatherby Orion O/U with nearly that exact stock. A SxS with a traditional English stock is next on my shotgun bucket list. This grade 1 Ugartechea in 28 ga. is the one I want. A few years ago, a buddy of mine had one in 20 ga. It was a pleasure to shoot and I've wanted one ever since.

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## Darkmoorwoods (Aug 23, 2013)

SPAS 12

FN SLP MK I

3 mossberg 500s

yeah I love the shottie.. handload my own buck and slugs.. but the 16 is kinda obsolete, the 20 can do almost anything the 16 can, and the 3.5 inch 12 GA just about anything the 10 GA can

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## hardtwist (Aug 28, 2013)

Mike1950 said:


> Never been a shotgun fan- have a long Remington goose gun and a 12 Winchester pump. But I also have a shell collection. some old henry's and a brass 8 gauge shell case- they were men then cause I would not shoot that sucker................



My dad was a market (ducks) hunter during the depression and used an old 8 ga side by side. I've heard him tell of dropping 12 ducks with a single barrell!

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## ripjack13 (Aug 28, 2013)

My grandfather left me an old H&R Topper model 48 single shot. It looks like it's been through hell and back. I cleaned it up the best I could an then gave it to my older brother as wall art. The barrel was way to rusted and the firing pin bent. My grandfather had also carved his initials in the stock. CH as big as can be on one side. It makes me wonder what kind of stories it could tell...


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## Mike1950 (Aug 28, 2013)

hardtwist said:


> Mike1950 said:
> 
> 
> > Never been a shotgun fan- have a long Remington goose gun and a 12 Winchester pump. But I also have a shell collection. some old henry's and a brass 8 gauge shell case- they were men then cause I would not shoot that sucker................
> ...



Mike, It makes my arm hurt just to think about it. I believe the 12 ducks though. My Great granddad was a market hunter at the turn of the century. They lived on the Missouri river outside of Helena Mt. Gramps talked about his dads punt gun which was a giant shotgun that mounted to the oarlock of a boat. He told me that it sounded like a cannon and would just make a giant hole in a flock of geese or ducks. They have/had one at Harolds club gun museum in Reno. If I remember right it is 12' long.

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## HomeBody (Aug 29, 2013)

I have a 16 ga. M-12 that was my dad's. I borrowed it once to hunt pheasants. It was big medicine on those roosters. It has full choke and 28" barrel. I haven't shot it since I inherited it and it's a safe queen now. Gary

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## SENC (Sep 21, 2013)

Happy with my new 16 gauge...

[attachment=31482]

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## Kevin (Sep 21, 2013)

SENC said:


> Happy with my new 16 gauge...


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## SENC (Sep 22, 2013)

Yes, Kevin, this gun is your fault for resparking my surpressed want for another 16g. That said, how mad can I be? I have a new gun!!!! Shoots like a dream! Lighter and less recoil than a 12, with nearly the same payload. Thanks, I guess!

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## Kevin (Sep 22, 2013)

I guess this means I have to endure another chewing out - because sooner or later my desire to have a 16 ga will win out over my desire for peace and quiet around here . . .

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## SENC (Sep 22, 2013)

Just rip the bandaid off and get it over with!

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## ripjack13 (Dec 18, 2013)

Kevin, did you find a 16g?


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