Remington used 12 ga frames for all their 16 ga guns as far as I know. Stevens too. Don't look at used Remingtons for a good 16 ga. Winchester Model 12 16 ga were built to scale, and are nice to handle. I had one. I don't know about Winchester doubles. Ithaca made a nicely balanced 16 ga in the old Flues model, but it was not a strong design. I sold mine after using it a few years. The Browning Auto 5 Sweet 16 is famous for its proportions and handling qualities, and is well named. I have a very good modern 16 ga. Browning Citori White lightning built on a 20 ga frame. It is my every day bird gun. Interchangeable chokes and proofed for steel shot. But as a collector I mostly seek out the European guns in 16 ga. I have a Merkel O/U, and a very old Italian SxS hammer "guild gun" that are both beautifully proportioned. The Germans also favoured the 16 ga in combination guns. I have a couple that are nicely built to perfect scale on 16 ga frames - a Krieghoff Drilling and a Heym BBF. Many old 16 ga guns were chambered for 2.5" shells, which you can still buy, but in my opinion the gun has to be nice enough to make sourcing short shells a worthwhile effort.
Last edited by castnblast; 01/12/20.
