.16 gauge Shotgun, Pros and cons.

Foilist said:
I've often thought a 12 or even 20 gauge side-by-side coach gun would be good for home defense. The trick is finding one with exposed hammers so you can decide for yourself when to cock it.
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Remington also imports a SxS coach gun with exposed hammers. It is under their Spartan line and is made by Baikal in Russia. Baikal's are not known for their beauty, but they are built like Russian tanks and will serve you well.
http://www.remington.com/products/firearms/shotguns/SPR_models/SPR220_side-by-side.asp
 
Don Rearic said:
And if you think the .16 Ga. is strange, try on .28 Ga. for size. :)
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Yeah but the 28 gauge actually had a purpose. For those exceptional trap and skeet people. :eek:

Don Rearic said:
And therein lies a problem, take the shotgun to a Gunsmith and make sure it is not a Damascus (twist) barrel which would make it unsafe to fire modern smokeless ammunition in. Otherwise, like Daffy Duck, you might find yourself picking your own face up off of the ground which is really rather unpleasant. :D
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Yeah. Good point. Though there are many smokeless barrels in 16 gauge. You do not want to fire a smokeless round in a Damascus barrel. We had a guy catch a face and hand full of wood splinters from firing a smokeless round in a Damascus barrel. He was lucky, at least he had on eye protection but needed surgery on his hand and arm. We warned him several times about using smokeless rounds in his shotgun. He was convinced that he was ok using "low brass". He was correct right up until the explosion. :eek: Don't risk it. If you have any doubts about the gun have a gunsmith go over it.

KR
 
Growing up had a buddy who hunted with nothing but an old Noble 16. He took more game than we did with out Mossy's and Remmy's.

Also note, shotguns, for the most, are measured in gauges, not calibers.

As such, 12, 16, 20, and 28 are correct, where .12, .16, .20, .28 are not correctly stated.

The .410 is in fact stated as a caliber, not guage.
 
The only 'bad' thing about a 16 is if you also have a 12. A 16 will fit into a 12's chamber snugly enough to fire and blow up the shotgun.

My Grandfather was very explicit about pointing this out to me. He had 3 A-5's in 20, 16, and 12.

Sadly, they were all stolen many years ago.

Rob
 
I am a 16 gauge nut, but that is what I learned to hunt with. The ammo problem is not really a issue. You might not be able to find it at some discount stores but its not that hard to find. Walmart has had a few different loads as well as Dick sporting goods and Sportsman's warehouse. If the gun shops in your area dont have it they can at least order it.
 
Thanks for all the replies.

It was given for free, I ain't gonna complain. I have a few other guns so this is not my only weapon but hey, I got a shot gun.
 
My Grandfather was a Survivalist before anyone knew what that meant, he used an old double 16 gauge to take small game whenever he got hungry. Sadly my Grandmother, after my Grandfather passed, gave it to someone else in the family and not me, I would have taken good care of that gun until the day I died.

Enjoy your 16, I would have it checked out though as someone earlier suggested.

RickJ
 
correct me if im wrong, but wouldn't a .16 gauge fire a slug the size of a soccer ball? :D

Gauge = number of lead balls of a given diameter needed to make one pound. 12 balls of .72 diameter make one pound, therefore a shotgun with a .72" diameter bore is a 12 gauge, or 12 bore.

in order for sixteen 1/100'ths of one ball to equal one pound (16oz), wouldn't each 100'th of the ball weight one ounce? This would produce a ball that weighs 100oz, or 6.25lbs. OK, so maybe not a soccer ball, but at LEAST the size of a tennis ball. :D Keep in mind that a standard 12 gauge foster slug weighs only one ounce. The bad boy we are talking about here is 100 times that weight. :D

the 16 gauge is a nice all around shotgun cartridge. the .16 gauge is a naval gun. :D Notations with a period in front of them are CALIBERS not GAUGES. When you try to convert calibers to gauges you get ridiculous results such as what you see above.
 
chrisaloia said:
I am working on the reloading speed. I have one of those stock ammo bands. Lots of moves to coordinate.
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Chris,

Try the reloading in this manner. Hold an extra shell in your left hand, between your pinky and ring fingers. Primer facing away from your palm.

Then, when you fire, you can use the right hand to toggle the breech lock, drop the barrel, take the left hand rotate palm down, drop in the new round and away you go.

This is how I used to do it.

D
 
I have two 16g's, one from my grandfather and one from my dad. I just keep them because they were their's. I don't even buy shells for them and I am an ammo addict. If one of my calibers is below 100 rounds I panic. 16g will hunt and work fine but shells are not as easy or cheap to get. Buy a 12 or 20 and your set. I have a Beretta 12g that has a few thousand shells through it but in the past two years have come to realize a 20g is all I really need. I picked up a cheap Russian OU for a quail hunt (20g was max size) and it has become my #1 bird and clays gun. I also like the OU for HD as it is easy to operate.

I however would love an 870 in 20g...

tjg
 
Maybe get a chamber adapter to shoot 20 guage..... Solves the problem of ammo, and gives you some versatility. Being a single shot would make this easy.
 
pinetree said:
I picked up a cheap Russian OU for a quail hunt (20g was max size) and it has become my #1 bird and clays gun. I also like the OU for HD as it is easy to operate.


tjg
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Sounds interesting, Around what price range?

Model numbers, name, etc?

Thanks

Chris
 
It is a Baikel bought several years ago for $399. I treat it like many do an H&R. It rides my truck box or on my four wheeler. A similiar thread at THR that I read tonight mentioned Yildez, Turkish guns as being a great bargain. They have a website. I am unsure if Baikel is still imported. It seems some of the inexpensive imports are being relabeled by big manufacturers and sold as bargain brands. I did look at the H&R Pardner Pump...sweet.

tjg
 
I have a 12 gauge Yildiz (paid $386 for it) and I really love it. They are only available through Academy Sports and Outdoors, a outdoor store mainly located in the south. I have shot mine for two dove seasons now and it has not failed me. I did have to add a Limbsaver recoil pad to it, but that was easy to do and only cost me about $20. The Limbsaver pad made the gun much more pleasant to shoot.

They are quite a bit different than the Baikal's in that they are very light (my 12 gauge weighs about 6.5 pounds) and look a little fancier than the Baikals. I have shot the two guns side-by-side to compare them and I really enjoy both guns. If you wanted a target gun, I would get the Baikal because the extra weight soaks up more recoil and after a couple hundred rounds the Yildiz starts to wear on you. If I was getting an upland gun, I would get the Yildiz since it is quite a bit lighter and would be easier to carry all day. The Yildiz guns are serviced by Briley Mfg. in Houston, Texas, so if anything ever goes wrong with my gun, it is just a quick trip down the road to get it fixed.
 
Watchful said:
What have you observed with the 16? It's not a weapon I've ever thought much about until now.
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A 16ga doesn't have the full power potential of a 12 ga, but with an appropriate load a 16ga shotgun can handle some pretty big targets.

The basic rule of shotguns is that if you want big penetration then the number of pellets in the load is nowhere near as important as the penetrating capabilities of the individual pellets. If you compare a 16ga buckshot load with a 12ga load with more pellets of equal weight and diameter the difference in lethality at close range is going to be surprisingly small. The main advantage of 12ga is that while it's hard to find bigger than 1 buck in 16ga it's easy to find 00 or even 000 buck for your 12ga.

If you trust #1,2, or even #4 for home defense then a 16ga will do the job just fine.
 
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