doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com 16 bore Pheasant loads

Brent, you will be well advised to load 1oz No6 loads, and you will find them ideal for phez.Try searching the European manufacturers for 16g cartridges, 16g is very popular in the Northern European countries. Check out Danarms,Gytorp and Hull for good commercial loads.

B, in a gun of that era, stands for breech diameter; M for muzzle diameter. I may be wrong on this point, but I think "not for ball" should appear on both barrels.

One must be careful while exploring Euro 16br loads. For example, Viri 'Standard' 28gm 2.7mm shot at 385m/s pushed by felt wad generates AGP of 650bar. You would not want him to blow up that from Purdey's piece, do ya?

I believe, but I could also be wrong, the Not for Ball on one bbl only is correct. This is the only bbl showing both a bore & muzzle marking, indicating the right bbl was cyl bore. To load a ball which could be indiscrimanately fired from either bbl, it would need to clear the choke dia of the left bbl, the one marked Not for Ball. I have an old Birmingham proofed junker from the same era which is cyl bored in both bbls & carries only the one ga marking & does not carry the not for ball on either bbl. After the word choke replaced this mark I believe in the case of a dbl with one bbl bored cyl "Choke" appeared only on the one bbl with choke. These marks applied to the individual bbl on which they were stamped.

As per Jagermeister, if you can get the Eley Grand Prix 26g load - get it. I have been using it as a game load for years in my 16bores and it does the job nicely.

I prefer no.6 shot. It has sufficient striking energy at normal game ranges and provides a fuller pattern than no.5 when using lighter loads.

2 Piper, you're correct on the "not for ball" marking--assuming the barrel not so marked was originally cylinder. But the word "choke" didn't exactly replace "not for ball"--although it's pretty close, and it appears that the meaning of the "choke" proofmark changed somewhat over time. Up through the rules of 1904, all barrels with choke were supposed to be so marked. But under the rules of 1925, the marking was optional between 004-008 constriction, obligatory if more than 008. I can't find it stated anywhere, but apparently under the 1925 rules, the "choke" proofmark couldn't be used if the barrel had less than 004 constriction. I have a pair of Army & Navy guns made in 1933. Both have about 005 constriction in the right barrel, and both have left barrels tighter than 008. Only the left flat is marked "choke".

Small bore, I go back and forth between 6 and 5 shot for pheasants. Sometimes I opt for 4s. In a 12 gauge, I don't think it makes a lot of difference unless the wind is up, and then I like the heavier shot. Whether it really matters quantitatively I'm not sure, but it makes me feel better.

In a 16, the number of shot in a #6 load might be a bigger advantage. Have to think about that.

Brent

When I was shooting a lot of pheasants with 16's, I seldom used 5's. Not because they aren't deadly on roosters, but being limited to no more than 1 1/8 oz in the guns I was shooting (less than that, if I was using a Brit 16), the pattern gets pretty thin even in a tight choke. Actually, I like Brit 6's (about 6 2/3 by American standards) a lot, at least in the open barrel over pointing dogs. Heavier load of American 6's in the tight barrel.