I don't know which is "better," but I can tell you that I sure as heck don't understand why the 16 has fallen into such disfavor!!<P>I hunted with the same 12-gauge Belgian Auto 5 for the last 20 or so years. I swore by that gun. This year, I picked up a Belgian Sweet Sixteen that my Dad had been urging me to shoot, and boy was he ever right! The gun feels handier, but not so whippy as the 20, has great balance, and still shoots 1-oz. and 1 1/8-oz. charges. I made more really good shots this year on quail with that 16 than I had a right to expect.<P>Also, by all accounts the 16 patterns 1 oz. of shot better than the 12 due to the relationship between bore diameter and shot charge length. I never did any scientific surveys, but I can tell you that it sure felt like it when I hit birds square.<P>I love the 16. The 12 has its work cut out for it this year.<P>Rick

"What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated." Thomas Paine