I'll stir the pot. If the title of the thread was asking if broccoli is still considered a go-to vegetable, there would no doubt be a minority-based groundswell of vociferous support for that sad little plant.
The 16 ga.? Sadly, yes. There was a time, several generations ago, when a 16 was an intriguing solution to the 12-or-20 question. With the improved choices of 12 and 20 ga. ammunition, it's easier to use either of those gauges to replicate 16 ga. performance, or even leap over the 16 to the other side. It is easy to see why the 16 got pushed to the back.
As to weight advantages, another poster pointed out that pre-war 16s can easily weigh less than a post-war 20. But similarly, 20's can be found to weigh less than a post--war 28. That goes nowhere, really, because it all goes to underscore the question, what do you really want your gun to weigh? There is probably a gun out there in an task-effective, non-16 gauge just waiting to be picked up.
As much as I hold 16s at arm's length, if someone wants to jump in and say that 16s have a certain visual elegance, there's little argument from my corner.
Bottom line. Most everyone here on this thread is a throwback. We can't really argue that a SxS is best design out there, but we embrace its svelte lines, and the things warm our hearts. How close are they to obsolete? Pretty, but out on the fringe of the settlement, some of the people still demand them. And of all the stuff they clamor for, the little broccoli of the group is there by it fingertips. Much the same can be said for the big ten.
