Topic: The Best 16-Gauge Shotguns. Plus, Why the 16 Is the Most Versatile Gauge (Read 42 times)
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Topic: The Best 16-Gauge Shotguns. Plus, Why the 16 Is the Most Versatile Gauge (Read 42 times)
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If you’re looking for a quality 16-gauge over/under for upland hunting and clay shooting, the Instinct SL is your gun. The Franchi was built with a lightweight aluminum receiver that keeps weight to just 5.8 pounds, ideal for long walks in steep country. I carried this gun on an Idaho chukar hunt where most of the birds were hiding in rimrock a half-mile from where we began hunting. The country was steep, and getting to the birds required the type of hiking that demands a lightweight shotgun. These guns co*e with three extended choke tubes (F, M, IC), selective ejectors, a fiber-optic front sight, and a satin walnut stock.
The 555E has a lightweight aluminum receiver that’s scaled to gauge and co*es with a steel insert to reinforce the breech. Its semi-gloss silver receiver with laser engraving co*pliments the 555E’s matte black carbon steel and well-figured walnut stock. It weighs just under 6½ pounds. The 555E is a classy-looking gun with a long list of standard features, like five screw-in choke tubes, chrome-lined barrels, single-selective trigger, tang-mounted safety, and selective auto ejectors. If you’re in the market for a classy, value-priced 16 for the field or the range the 555E is a solid bet.
Modeled after CZ-USA’s Ringneck, the Sharptail was built on a newly-designed action that features coil springs instead of leaf springs, though you still get the same color case-hardened finish on the receiver’s side plates. This 16 also sports fixed IC and M choke tubes, which you don’t often see anymore, but was a staple of the shotguns our parents and grandparents owned. The side-by-side is a bit hefty for a 16-gauge at 7.3 pounds. It has a Turkish walnut stock and beavertail-style fore-end. The pistol grip leads into a single-selective mechanical trigger, though the barrels are 28 inches, which is a little long for a grouse gun.
While there aren’t a ton of new 16 gauges rolling off production lines, there are a few older models that are worth checking out.
The following ammo makers offer a variety of 16-gauge loads for hunting and clays shooting. Tungsten and bismuth loads make the 16 deadlier than ever in the field.
A true 16-gauge is a wonder to shoot. In side-by-sides the narrower barrels and action make for a more manageable and svelte upland gun. Load selection isn’t as widely varied as it is with the more popular 12 and 20 guns, but co*panies like Browning, Boss, Winchester, Kent, and Federal all manufacture 2 3/4-inch 16-gauge loads. There is no 3-inch 16-gauge.
Where the modern 16 shines is with the use of high-density ammo like TSS and bismuth. TSS has a density of 18g/cc, which is considerably more than lead (11 g/cc). It’s allowed hunters to use even .410 and 28-gauge loads to wallop turkeys and cleanly kill ducks and roosters.
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This high-density shot does wonders for the 16. Consider a 1-ounce load of No. 5 bismuth from a 16 has around 200 pellets and you can see why this is a lethal load for just about any game, including turkeys and geese. What’s more, you’re getting less recoil than you would from a 12, though you will pay more for ammo.
The 16 isn’t overly superior to the any of the other gauges, but it is versatile enough that it should be a much more popular gun than it is. A 3-inch 16-gauge would probably lend more credence to the shotgun, at least with the general shooting public. That said, there are plenty of current offerings that hunters can take advantage of. Don’t let the 2¾-inch chamber scare you away. The 16 is a very capable gun even without a 3-inch option.
The 16-gauge has never been the top-selling shotshell in America, though many of the most iconic shotguns in history—Remington 870, Winchester Model 12, Browning Auto-5, and many others—where offered in that gauge. Recently while researching some old shotshell sales records from the mid-1900s I found that 16-gauge production was less than a quarter of 12-gauge production, and that was in the 16’s heyday.
The lack of interest was due largely to a rule that shut the 16-gauge out of skeet co*petitions in 1926. Because it wasn’t viewed as a co*petition gun, fewer shells were co*mercially-produced for it and more hunters turned to 12 and 20 gauges. Since then, the 16-gauge has had small spurts in popularity, but it never caught on the way it should have.
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Also, Remington built the 16-gauge version of its iconic 870 on a 12-gauge frame, presumably to save money. But it ended up just being a 16-gauge that weighed as much as a 12. If you’re going to shoot a 16 on a 12-gauge frame, why not just shoot a 12? Because the 870 has been such a popular shotgun, Big Green pretty much killed the idea of the 16 as a versatile shotgun by making it too damn heavy.
Better shotshell options have made the 16-gauge relevant once again. Plus, there still a handful of gun makers producing quality 16-gauge shotguns. And with the ability to buy ammo online these days, you shouldn’t have to hunt around gun store shelves searching for loads. If you’re looking for one shotgun to hunt everything, you just might consider the underrated 16.
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