S |
M |
T |
W |
T |
F |
S |
|
|
|
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
11
|
12
|
13
|
14
|
15
|
16
|
17
|
18
|
19
|
20
|
21
|
22
|
23
|
24
|
25
|
26
|
27
|
28
|
29
|
30
|
31
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Forums10
Topics38,374
Posts544,017
Members14,391
|
Most Online1,258 Mar 29th, 2024
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 329 Likes: 5
Sidelock
|
Sidelock
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 329 Likes: 5 |
I love my 16 ga JP Sauer Hammer gun and Fox Sterlingworth. The RST and Polywad Ammo are both excellent. I just ordered 2 flats of Polwad Vintager 7/8 oz 2 1/2 inch. They work for me on Clays and Wild birds. 2 day delivery to the door. Very reasonable. Im not to crazy about the spreaders.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 601 Likes: 39
Sidelock
|
Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 601 Likes: 39 |
I agree with every thing wingshooter16 said. A 16 SxS just feels right in the uplands.
The RST Lite 1 oz load is excellent. The B&P F2 classic 1 1/16 oz load is OK also but has more recoil than I like in my 6 lb.1 oz 16.
I exchanged E-Mails with the current US distributor for B&P re. why no lighter 16 ga loads were available. Their response was that they had asked B&P for 1 oz & 7/8 oz loads but B&P wasn't convinced that there was a large enough market so & a few calls & E-Mails to them might help.
BTW,they told me that the 12 ga High Pheasant 1 1/6 oz of #5 would be put back in the lineup which is good news for people wanting an excellent pheasant load that can be used in 2 1/2" 12 gauges.
Last edited by Brittany Man; 03/29/12 12:51 PM.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 13,879 Likes: 15
Sidelock
|
Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 13,879 Likes: 15 |
I think of Joe Wood's "It's not how many, but how" matra at the foot of his posts.
If the gun is a fine piece of craftsmanship and it handles well, the gauge is incidental, to me.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 331 Likes: 1
Sidelock
|
Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 331 Likes: 1 |
Can't add much other than personal experience. My handle is a clue to my preference, and the only 12 I own is limited to turkey and waterfowl. Otherwise, the three sxs 16's get the nod. I have a large build and very large hands, but a 12 just feels like a cinder block married to a 2x4. Likewise a 20 or 28 is too small and whippy, the recoil in the former sharp and wicked with many loads. The 16, to me, is just right. YMMV.
A short time ago, someone posted that if he needed to shoot 7/8 or 3/4, he just picked up a 20 or 28. I am not a natural or a great shot, so anything I can do to keep following the fundamentals is a plus. Thus it makes sense for me to change the load, and not the gun- perhaps not unlike subgauge tubes for serious skeet shooters.
You do have to be more proactive with your ammo than a 12 or 20, but it's not the big deal that skeptics claim. I reload on a PW 375c, and mostly load 65's since two outa the three are 2.5 " chambers. I'm loading them mostly with 3/4 oz, and if I do my part, am consistently surprised how far out they will break targets. This one load covers me for targets, quail, and dove: for roosters and grouse I have a flat of RST 1 oz mixed (they do so happily for you) between 6's and 7's. One oz is usually plenty: I took out a long, crossing rooster the last week of KS pheasant season this year with an ounce of RST Lite 6's in a 65mm hull out of a light mod barrel. Post-mortem revealed numerous pellet strikes going past the meat well into the vitals.
The 16 has been called Queen of the Uplands for good reason, and is my go to gauge for even more. Long live the purple shell. You're quite welcome, Padawan.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 4,076 Likes: 442
Sidelock
|
Sidelock
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 4,076 Likes: 442 |
Im not to crazy about the spreaders. I shot the low pressure (Doublewides?) from Polywad out the full choked left barrel of my 16 gauge A. Ilsley and they worked fine on quail this past season. I shot either handloads or Vintager 2.5" out of the right barrel.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 5,021
Sidelock
|
Sidelock
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 5,021 |
What's wrong with the 16 gauge for waterfowl? If you can use a 20 you can use a 16.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 11,372 Likes: 103
Sidelock
|
Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 11,372 Likes: 103 |
Larry, where did you find the "even lighter 20's"? They are about the hardest shell to find in a light load. I would reload them to 2 1/2" and roll crimp them, but I have only found a few loads light enough to use. These were 2 3/4" 6 fold, but will work in a 2 1/2" hull roll crimped.
I was referring to guns, not loads. But RST, for one, makes 3/4 oz 20ga loads. So does Fiocchi, I believe. However, thanks to Claybuster's relatively recent release of a very good 3/4 oz 20ga wad, reloading light 20's is a piece of cake. And good hulls are readily available.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 11,372 Likes: 103
Sidelock
|
Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 11,372 Likes: 103 |
What's wrong with the 16 gauge for waterfowl? If you can use a 20 you can use a 16. The main problem is the limited choice of steel shot loads for the 16. That being said, in my relatively limited experience shooting ducks with a 16, Kent's Tungsten Matrix loads are great stuff--but very pricey.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 141
Sidelock
|
Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 141 |
Mr. Brown "brainwashed" me to the attributes of the 16 ga. years ago on the old "AllOutdoors" board and I will forever be in his debt. Grouse and woodcock are my passion and the 16 ga. with light 1 oz. & 7/8 oz. loads is in my mind perfect for these birds.
Rick
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 312 Likes: 77
Sidelock
|
Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 312 Likes: 77 |
With a fine gun on his arm, a man becomes a sporting gentleman, both on the field and off.
|
|
|
|
|