doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Fitting 16 ga. Barrels to 20 ga. Action

Eightbore

My gunsmith is not in the US or Europe. He is in Asia and is quite capable of the job to be done (that sounds as if I am getting hot under the collar but nothing could be further from the truth. i appreciate your interest!).

All the best

Skeeterbd

ALL KIDDING ASIDE, I know the 16 is not dead to us. But to many it is, or almost is, as it has become a forgotten relic. Hard to find shells for in many locations is the norm. To those sellers who know the 16 is dead I confirm their belief that their guns are mostly heirlooms with almost no value as good hunting guns. That alone keeps the prices depressed to where I can afford a few more guns. And if you go by the ease of finding ammo they are right. Poor selection of ammo off the shelf is the norm and spotty availability makes it a harder gun to use if you do not prepare well in advance.

True believers buy shells in volume whenever they come across them. They hit the internet and have shells shipped to them in bulk if needed. They take twice the expected number of shells needed with them when shooting away from home. So they never get caught short of ammo when hunting or shooting. Reloading is easier than ever for the 16. In the last five years the shortage of wads, which was a major bottleneck, has been overcome and a reloading shooter has a wider selection of wads than any time in my lifetime. I only wish Winchester would bring back the AA compression formed hull again. Buy 10K of them and you would be set for life.

But if you are shooting a SxS are you into current or hot trendy guns or gauges? No. You are one step above muzzle loaders, two above bow and arrow and three above throwing rocks or slingshots.

Since the 16 ga is dead and junk, all those old guns are just in the way.I will do my civic duty and take them off your hands and out of your way.For those usless old drillings, vierlings, and combination guns, I will even pay the shipping.
Mike

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

Thousands and thousands of (european) hunters have been wrong....?
I would say, as in real life, there is always a golden middle way (don't know, if you say so in english, in german: goldene Mitte). That was (and still is) 16 gauge. 12 was for some more power(driven hunt, sporting), 20 for something less(ladies, young) and, perhaps, more elegant(noble). And of course it corresponded with the combination gun. 16 g is tradition and for me, no bad one, which still makes sense and fun! And please, don`t forget the dubious influence of the industry. Further examples are the old german rifle gauges 9,3x62 and 8x57 I(S). For years they were talked down, than with wild boars increasing, they became more and more popular again because of their well balanced characteristics!

It's only my opinion, may be I'm wrong...

Gunwolf

I enjoy a particular 16 ga. lady (Susie) on the late season dove fields, but only because it is so pretty and handles so well (and knocks down very high birds with it's tight chokes). I agree that 16 ga. shells are harder to find, but I have no trouble keeping plenty to shoot without reloading. I reload every other gauge I own, but don't use the 16 enough to justify a loader and all the other necessities.

What I find funny is that so many pooh-pooh the 16, purportedly because of ammo scarcity, and recommend at the drop of a hat that someone not hesitate to buy a 2 1/2" twelve ga. gun. Ammo is no more scarce for the 16 than the 2 1/2" twelve. In fact, it is much easier to find in the boonies.

SRH

That particular 32" 16 would be hard to resist, Stan. A real peach for certain. I well remember the day you picked it up in Georgetown when we met for the first time.
JR

As much as I love 16, I have to admit that while 16 ga is way more available the 2 1/2 shells, you can still trim any 2 3/4 inch shell down easily and reload and if you roll crimp (which has become more common for me as of late) you can use all the same 2 3/4 data in the roll crimped shell. 12 gauge components will always be more available and cheaper than 16 ga components.

Bottomline is no gauge is undoable, some are just easier from a logistics point than others. A good gun is just that regardless of gauge. Maybe we should restart a new thread as to "what makes good upland game gun?"

It used to be cool to be a 16ga shooter, and fun to be just a little "out there" where all the good things really are. Now that everybody's doing it we long time 16-ers may have to find another anachronistic gauge to adopt.

Fortunately I live in magnum-autoloader-with-the-plug-out-real-men-shoot-12-gauges country, so I'm still good !

But I order all my reloading components online and have them shipped in, whether 12 or 16 gauge. And it is just as easy to click my way through ordering my 16 gauge components as it is my 12. I have a couple of thousand of sixteen hulls and about twice that of wads. Same primers and shot go in both gauges, I have one powder for 12 and one for 16. I am set for life in sixteen reloading, excepting powder and primers.