how many of you agree with me that the 16ga was taken off market due to gun industry, in collaboration with gun writers, were en

[richard fisher]

how many of you agree with me that the 16ga was taken off market due to gun industry, in collaboration with gun writers, were encouraging we hunters to buy two shotguns instead of just one. ( the 16 could have been loaded up to the 12 and down to the 20). It'time rhe truth came out.

[Grassroots89]

[Blank]

[jhjimbo]

I heard the 16ga came from Europe and when the 20ga came out in 3", the manufacturers stopped supporting the 16ga.

[99explorer]

jimbo is right. The laws of supply and demand govern the market.

[ITHACASXS]

I disagree.

[bayouwoof]

Ah can't imagine gun makers collaborating.

Anybody who read the article in F&S magazine on 3-D pattern shape wood only ever prchase a 12 ga. and the 20 wood become obsolete.

[FirstBubba]

I cut my teeth on 16's and still possess two!
The 16 is everything any shotgunner could want.
The 12 offers a heavier (but not THAT much!) payload which translates to denser pattern.
The 20 offers a lighter recoiling gun perfect for small game.
The 16 is very near the 12 with high brass loads and light field loads surpass the performance of ANY 20!
The demise of the 16 game is a matter of convenience.
The 12 for waterfowl and the 20 for birds and small game.
One gun hunters opt for "not a 16"!

[Hobob]

I also disagree, my father swears by the 16 I have no use for it. I think the 12 is way better in every way.

[99explorer]

I do not believe in conspiracy theories involving gun manufacturers and gun writers, except in the area of advertising, and even there it's more of an understanding than an agreement.
That is the reason for suspicion about favorable gun reviews being linked to full page ads, often in the same issue of a magazine.

[NM]

The late Grits Gresham wrote an entire magazine on shotguns in the late 80s. He explored in great depth the various gages and his conclusion was that the 16 was the best one of the bunch. His conclusion was based on factors such as the bore diameter in relation to the shot column, length of the shot column, recoil, balance of the 16 built on a 16 gauge frame, not a 12 gauge. It is my understanding that the decline in the popularity of the 16 started when the competitive shooters dropped it and stayed with the 12 and 20.
I have a late 60s 870 in 16 and it has done everything that I need shotgun to do.

[buckhunter]

The 16ga was built on the 12ga frame. It was the same size and weight as the 12ga with less firepower. There was no practical reason to keep it around. You can load a 12ga shell very light if you want less shot in the air.

[Treestand]

WoW..This reads like my answer on the "Blog"The Browning Sweet-Sixteen V Rem 870. Now it is true most 16Ga Guns are just a Barrel Chambered in 16Ga on a 12Ga Frame. But the Browning A-5 Sweet Sixteen(Gold)and Beretta A-390, are built on a True 16Ga frame.I believe NM and 99E have right on the Death on the 16Ga. It made a come back in the early 90s just to stimulate Gun Sales.

[Guest]

My Sweet 16 is built on a noticeably smaller frame than the Standard 12 standing beside it. The sixteen gauge's popularity waxes and wanes. Some years, birdshot is available and some years, it is not. Slugs, and buckshot, the same. You hardly ever find discounted five and ten packs of sixteen gauge loads, such as appear before every dove season for the twelves and twenties.
I doubt any conspiracy, just market driven economics.

[NM]

I believe that the Browning BPS in 16 gauge is made on a 16 gauge frame.

[ITHACASXS]

If I did not hunt waterfowl, (which I have always loved to do), I believe I could be very happy with only a 16 gauge, but a 16 on a 12 frame is no fun. I do have Browning's not as sweet cousin, a 16 gauge Remington model 11. Well made and going strong, bit she's heavier than the Browning.