20 ga or 16 ga

[swamp]

found the make and model i want and now am considering getting a sxs... now debating 20 ga or 16 ga... i know 20 ga shells are much easier to find but i like the feel of the 16 and the extra killing power

[Badger]

swamp,

My first shotgun way back in 1958 was a Winchester Model 37 single barrel 16 gauge. I own a few 12 and 20 gauge shotguns and more 16 gauge arms. I vote for the 16 gauge, everytime.

Badger

[pepaw]

16 shells are expensive unless you reload.
Can somebody explain to me why the 16 wasn't more popular with bird hunters?

An over and under 16 would be a great whitewing dovegun!

pepaw

[sharpshooter94]

from a reloading standpoint the 16 would be the way to go. But, if you do not reload, you might be better off with a 20 gauge. Reason being, you can find 20 gauge shells almost anywhere you would be hunting. There is also a much higher range of factory loads for the 20 gauge. This is also an advantage with air travel, if your ammo bag is "misplaced" you can find shells wherever you are. I would like the extra power of the 16 gauge but just for practicality you might want to go with the 20. Let us know what you choose.

[Just a Hunter]

I like the 16gauge, but I must agree that unless your simply into something different you would be just as well served with a 20 or 12 gauge.
(Re ammo cost and availability)

Most of the public dont wish a little more improvement when you can take a full step forward with the 12gauge.
It matters little if this upgrade comes with a good bit more recoil so long as there content in feeling the penalty is worth the improvement.

I happen to feel the 16gauge may be the perfect choice just as I feel the 41magnum should have a greater following than it does.
Sadly people that wish more than a .357 will go up to a .44mag and the same can be said for the 20 vs 12 gauge.

[Joe Boleo]

It depends what you prefer. My vote is for the 16 gauge and ammo is readily available around here for it. The price at Wal-Mart is $1.00 more a box for 16 than for 12 or 20 gauge shells. Most of the gun shops I visit have 16 gauge ammo. I reload so getting 16 gauge ammo is not a problem. The reason the 16 gauge lost popular support is the mere fact that no one made a 3-inch 16 gauge gun and ammo. The 16 gauge lost by default to the 12 and 20 gauge 3-inch offering. No problem, 2 3/4 inch shells are all I shoot. Take care...
Joe

[Just a Hunter]

I cannot speak for everywhere but in my region the interest in the 16gauge had been lost long before the the 3" shotgun shell had become popular.
Youths looked forward to moving from there 20gauge to a 12 gauge like there fathers and nobody at that time used anything greater than a 2 3/4

[sharpshooter94]

In my area you can't get 16 Ga ammo unless you go to Gander Mountain for a selection of one or two boxes. Problem is, Gander charges $2-3 more for them than similar 12 Ga loads. If you reload, go for it but if not, you might be better off with a 20 ga. Especially if you go hunting out of state (or country).

[Altjaeger]

Depends on the frame. If it is a 16 gauge barrel on a 12 gauge frame I would go with the 20 guage. However, I would choose a 16 gauge on a 16 gauge frame every time.

[dave-t.]

I really enjoy my 20g sxs, it is a great field gun, and I couldn't ask for more from a dove/rabbit gun.

My wife shoots a Win m1300 16g and it is a solid performer. For as little as she actually hunts with it, the $2 extra per box doesn't hurt that much. If I did more pheasant hunting, I'd definitly look for a sxs 16g, but for what I hunt now, the 20g gets it done for me.

[Gil Martin]

Another vote for a 16 gauge. I have a few of them and really like them. All the best...
Gil

[Bayrat]

Finding 16 ga shells around here is a joke. Our local Walmart doesn't carry any 16 ga except a few Remington Foster type deer slugs come Fall (there's still alot of old-timers around here who swear by their 16ga Ithica Deerslayers).. If you do find any 16 ga shotshells, choice is VERY limited, and you'll pay about double what a box of shells for a 20, or 12 ga will cost.....and that box might be 15-20 years old !!!

As far as "extra killing power? Check how many more pellets there actually are in a 16 ga pattern verses a 20 ga pattern, ... and then spread those extra pellets out over a 30 inch diameter circle. Not much differance between a 3/4 ounce 20 verses a 7/8 ounce 16, or for heavy fiield loads a 7/8 20 verses a 1 once 16. Your talking about only around 30 - 40 more pellets in the patter spread out over more than 700 square inches.

Plus, if the "more pellets are more effecient in a wider bore" agument is the main reason, it makes even more sense for the 12 ga. And the argument for carrying a lighter frame aflield makes more sense for the 20 when you consider there's not much pattern differance between a 20 and a 16.

In fact, you may be surprised to find that if you closed your eyes and someone could hand you either a 20, or a 16 ga both close to the same weight, and you didn't know which you'd been handed, I doubt you could tell which was which by how well it drops birds, or breaks clays.

However, even knowing all that, good luck trying to get a 16 ga out of the hands of it's owner - they're VERY loyal to that gauge, and since so much of shotgunning is a mind game - if that's what works in your mind and the high cost and lack of choice of shells doesn't bother you than that's the gun to use.

I grew up with and love pump guns, but having borrowed my brother's old 20 sxs for awhile I can understand the attraction ...... they just make me feel like I went crosseyed when I bring that gun up !!!!

Bayrat.

[Sabre]

If you want to be practical buy a 12 or 20 gauge pump and forget the side x side. . Twenty gauge SxS's look like cork guns and 12 gauge SxS's look like a blunderbuss so if you're set on buying an impractical shotgun at least have the sense to buy one that is perfectly proportioned. That would be the 16 gauge.

[Sabre]

If you want to be practical buy a 12 or 20 gauge pump and forget the side x side. . Twenty gauge SxS's look like cork guns and 12 gauge SxS's look like a blunderbuss so if you're set on buying an impractical shotgun at least have the sense to buy one that is perfectly proportioned. That would be the 16 gauge.

[swamp]

are 3 inch 16 ga shot shells currently being produced? How does a 3 inch 20 ga shot shell compare to a 2 3/4 inch 16 ga shot shell... all being said I'd probably prefer a 16 ga 2 3/4 shot shell to a 20 ga in either length... given the added cost of the extra 1/4 inch

[Altjaeger]

To the best of my knowledge 16 gauge 3" chambering and ammo have never existed. Theoretically the 16 guage will have a more evenly spread shot pattern with a shorter shot string resulting in more hits on a moving target not reflected on pattern paper with the same weight shot load.

The first few years I hunted all I had was a hand me down 16 gauge 1940s Stevens SXS. Off the top of my head I can say I hunted and killed rabbits, doves, quail, ducks, rails, squirrels, armodillos, crows, coons, possums, water moccassins and whitetails with it. Today what little I use a shotgun I prefer my AYA SXS or Ithaca 37, both in 12 guage but still haul the old Savage out fron time to time. I don't use one enough to justify another shotgun, but if I did I would look for an old Ithaca M37 16 gauge.

[ncboman]

I'd go with the 16 regardless of ammo issues.

[Hi Ball]

In my youthfull days, upland hunting was done by at least 50% of those carrying a 16ga. shotgun. This is back in the mid-50's when quail was the bird of choice for most Upland Hunters. The 16 ga. has been making a very small come back but nothing like it used to be a in my hayday.

I never saw a 3 inch shell being used by anyone period, still think it was never engineered to be so for the 16ga. It was not as harsh on some smaller shooters but had plenty of killing power for most everything including pheasants. It was generally lighter than the 12ga. especially those monster 12ga. double guns.