I grew up shooting my Dad's Ithaca 37 16 ga. with a 28" modified barrel. That was all I had to use. Once I got out on my own and could afford a new gun, the 16 ga. dropped off the radar real fast.
My opinion on the 16 ga. is this: not worthless, just not useful. If I want a slimmer, trimmer, lighter, racier gun than a 12 ga., I go to my 20 gauges that handle everything from 3/4 oz. creampuffs to 1 1/4 oz slobberknockers. The 16 ga. just has no real usefulness for me. And please don't start with 16 ga. handling these loads "better" than the 20, which is useless also.
But I do understand its appeal to the romantics out there, who are the only ones keeping it viable, along with the accompanying old classics and unique combination guns in 16 ga. Nothing wrong with that.
JR
