doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com 16 gauge premium over a 12?

To answer Rogers query on the 16ga popularity in Continental Europe I believe the answer lies in a Napoleonic Era edict which forbade the populace from owning firearms that were equal to military issue muskets. The Brown Bess, Brunswick and French Smooth bores were all .720-.730 caliber, thus sportsmen were confined to 16bore and smaller.

Hugh, that's good info. I had always "guessed" that the 16s fit the commonly used drillings etc. better than the 12 did. Probably better ammo availability for the 16 , too.

My comment about the availability of 2-1/2 28 gauge compared to 2-1/2 16 gauge was in answer to this:

My godfather's father was an officer in the Naval Marines in the Golden Age of Shotgunning. He favored the 16 as it deterred the shell moochers on a busy drive.
Only works if they are shooting 12's.

Thanks Hugh, I was unaware of that historic piece of information. It makes lots of sense. I had been thinking along the lines of Daryl's comment because the few 12 gauge drillings I've encountered seemed awfully bulky.

Thanks,
Roger

I feel the % increase in British guns is less because Brit guns were usually upland guns and lighter than their American cousins. In our country, 12's (and 10's) were all around guns for deer and waterfowl while sub-gauges were for upland game. In Britain, 12's were mainly upland guns and 6 pounders were not uncommon. A 20 in a classic American shotgun is both rare and neatly balanced and light. They are worth more and sell quickly.

As I recall the Brown Bess shot a ball of about .720" dia while the french musket shot one of .69". Both had a good deal of "Windage" in the bore for easy loading so the Brown Bess went to about .750 as I recall with the Frwnch going about .720". A lot of the French muskets were used in our American Revolution & it became the basis for muskets of this period built here in America as the Commitie of Safety muskets. Some versins of the smoothbore .69 cal muskets were in use as late as the "War Between the States". There have been other instances in history where guns of "Government Caliber" have been declared illegal. This is in fact as I understand it what brought on the development of several non-.45 caliber Nitro Express rounds for use in Africa such as the .465s .470 etc all with similar balistics to the .45s they were replacing.

The Brits were much more into "purpose built" guns, while American gunmakers turned out far more "all around" guns. There's no shortage of vintage British fowlers and pigeon guns. We certainly had trap guns and waterfowl guns, but a lot of Americans used their Sterlingworth 12's for everything. I look at most American 12's in the same way I view a pair of the old LL Bean boots: not perfect for any specific purpose, but functional for just about everything. And while there are plenty of 12ga Brit game guns in the 6 1/4-6 3/4# range, finding one much lighter than that takes a fair amount of looking. But it takes a whole lot more looking to find an American 12 that goes mid-6#--which is why the 16 found (and still finds) favor with those who are looking for a gun for upland game.

Well, that was interesting, Joe I asssume that in the UK the 2 1/2" 28 ga shells are available?
I'd love to have a Webley 728. I would pay more for that that a 12 ga 700
I would not want a 16 ga though.

Mike, you would not need to worry about 2 1/2" shells for a Webley 728. They're new enough to be 2 3/4". I never owned one of those, but I did own a 720 (which was made during the same time period, dating from around 1970), and it had factory 3" chambers. It also weighed in the 5 3/4# range, and I figured anyone who shot a 3" shell in that gun had me in the bravery department. Or perhaps the foolish department.