I participated this past weekend in a small gauge sporting clays competition at our local site. I understand that a small gauge is any gauge less than a 12 gauge. So, I shot the first round (50 birds) with a 20 gauge O/U and shot okay, but not as well as usual. The course was not a "20 gauge course" as some might think. (easier?) The last 2 stations would be considered difficult even with a 12 gauge and tight chokes. I know the course must have a station or two to separate the "men from the boys". Would 1 ounce 20 gauge loads have helped? I doubt it. (I did use mod and full chokes)I decided to shoot my "el-cheapo" Stoeger 16 gauge O/U (fixed mod and full choked barrels) the second round. The ammunition I used was 1 ounce 7 1/2 shot self-loaded Fiocchi shells. I couldn't believe the difference! (9 more broken targets) I realize that shooting the course a second time should help, but distant targets I missed the first round were broken with ease. I think I was the only person to shoot a 16 gauge the whole day.
Whenever someone asks me what gauge my gun is and finds out it is a 16 gauge, they admit one of their first shooting experiences was with a 16 gauge or they have an old one in the gun cabinet at home, but rarely use it. This observation led me to research different Internet sites on the present use of 16 gauge shotguns for sporting clays. Here are some of the items I found.- Shooters didn't like 16 gauge barrels on the 12 gauge frames as on some of the newer guns. They felt the gun was still too heavy to swing as easily as a 20 gauge.
- Shooters said a 20 gauge 1 ounce load was as effective as a 1 ounce 16 gauge load and their 20 gauge or 28 gauge gun was lighter and swung more easily. Also, 3 inch chambers are not available.
- Readers complained they couldn't find reloading supplies (especially wads) to reload their hard to find 16 gauge shells.
- Non-reloaders complained about the price of a box of 16 gauge 7 1/2 to 8 sized shot. ($10-$12 per box)
- Some contributors said their 16 gauge gun had fixed chokes and didn't allow them to mix and match different sporting clays presentations.
- Some shooters hinted at "brand-lusting". They intimated that unless you shoot a Browning, Krieghoff, or some other "better made" gun that you would not be successful shooting sporting clays.
- Another group said the newer 16 gauges were just too expensive.
- Finally, some said few good auto loading 16 gauges are available.
- My Stoeger weighs 7 pounds with 28 inch barrels. While not much lighter than a 12 gauge, it is more streamlined and compact than many auto loaders. The main objection I had to a little 28 gauge that I used was that the 28 gauge, being lighter, hit my shoulder harder, so it seemed.
- Some experts call the 16 a "sweet 16" because the shot column height and width has square dimensions creating an evenly distributed shot pattern. Only an expert could prove this phenomenon makes it better than a 20 gauge shot column. I do know that I hit a lot more targets with the 16 gauge than a 20, 28, or .410 gauge shotgun.
- Reloading components are now becoming more available. Claybuster CB0100-16, 1 ounce wads are available at Sportsman's Den in Shelby, Ohio, as well as Ballistics Products, Inc. (www.ballisticproducts.com ). For empty hulls, I shoot local Walmart purchased ones and save the spent hulls for reloading, and have had about 1000 hulls given to me by old timers (ha) who used to shoot the 16 regularly. Ballistics also has 16 gauge hulls for sale (expensive!) to get started with. I also was lucky enough to be given a 16 gauge Mec Jr. reloader by a friend who seems to be able to find just about any shooting supply in Ohio. I spend less than four dollars a box to reload the 16 gauge.
- Reloading recipes are available on the Internet if you search hard enough. I use 19.5 grains of Unique powder, 1 ounce of shot, Win 209 primers, CB0100-16 wads listed at 1220 ft/sec. I do not like sites that want you to pay for their recipes! Ballistics has a book called "Sixteen Gauge Manual - 6th Edition" for sale also.
- Nostalgia is important to me, because older guns and gauges really interest me. There is something to be said about taking the path less followed. I love to hunt pheasants with my 16 gauge. I wish my dad had handed me down one of those bottom ejecting 16 gauge pump guns.
- So far, my 16 gauge Stoeger "farmer's gun" ($250 after rebate) has worked flawlessly. I've shot about 2000 rounds through it in one year. So, I say pooey to those people who say a 16 gauge is too expensive to try out and a gun like the Stoeger is a waste of money.
- Humm... Fixed chokes? I have a challenge for you. Shoot several rounds of sporting clays or skeet with mod/full or full/full in your trusty O/U shotgun. Truthfully, I shoot better with more closed chokes. Some people spend more time changing choke tubes at each station instead of concentrating on where or how to break the target! Learn to have confidence in your technique, not your tools!
- I don't like auto loaders for sporting clays anyway. All that clinking and clanging and extra cleaning are bothersome. (I did start shooting with a Remington 1187 auto loader.)
http://www.chuckhawks.com/16_gauge_wakeman.htm
http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/guns/2002/06/16-gauge-revival
Get off your duff, do something different for a change. Dust off and clean that old 16 gauge in your closet, or borrow one and accept my challenge to you at your favorite sporting clays site. I think you will have fun as well as success with these forgotten guns! I would, myself, be interested in a local sporting clays competition open to just 16 gauge shooters. How about you?
"Know guns, no crime. No guns, know crime."- Ralph Lauretano
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