Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns 16 ga popularity

I was always under the impression that the 16 ga was one that enjoyed nostalgic enthusiasm but not a shotgun you'll find a lot of on the shelf.

Was at the local Fleet Farm today - no 30-06, or other common hunting cartridges but they did have Heavy Shot 16ga on the shelf.

Was that an anomaly or is there a real 16 gauge following?

98.9% of my shotgunning has been 12 ga targets. The rest, 410's for rabbits and sub gauges for targets mixed in with some snow goose/ducks and canadians - again 12 gauge.

Anyone here dedicated to the 16? Why? What's it doing that a 12/20 wont?

Like the 16 and use a couple regularly However, I would reverse your question. What will a 20 or 12 do a 16 won’t?

And the answer is nothing….at the ranges most of us can accurately connect. Excepting you may have to look harder for quality factory loadings.

Good flip on the question.

It's just conversation - I'm buying nothing, was just a little shocked to see the 16g on the shelf is all.

I know of no one that uses one but am familiar with the old saying "Sweet 16" for the A-5. Never actually seen one.

I love a 16 ga but I think with the advent of better 20 ga shells that it put the 20 closer to a 12 ga and kind of squeezed the 16 out.
Think the same thing happened with chokes as well. A lot of older guns had full choke barrels on them due to the old wad types and as new plastic wads came on the seen, they patterned better (tighter). For that reason you see/saw fewer full choke barrels because a modified choke with a newer type shell shot about like a full choke barrel with the older shells.

I think the same type thing pushed the 16 to the side lines. I don't think that the fact that back in its hay day that the game of skeet used 12,20,28, and 410 leaving the 16 on the sidelines again.

Purple hulls still hold a place in my heart.

The old school of thought that I have read...10 gauge was for Fox hunters, 12 gauge for waterfowlers, but the 16 gauge was for bird hunters. I think I read this in one of my old books written by someone in the East coast. The 20 gauge was listed as something for the "women and kids". Obviously this was before the advent of modern powders. I can remember well the older fellows I always looked up to as a boy mostly had 16 gauge offices or remingtons. That and pointers. Quail used to be the greatest joy around here but sadly the numbers are really low.

Ithaca not offices. Auto spell always cheeses me off when I don't proofread well enough.

My great-uncle grew up bird hunting and working on his family’s ND Farm, WW1 vet. He moved to Fond du lac WI settled down and raised champion English Setters. He was a very dedicated bird hunter and his gun was a Browning Sweet 16.

I've killed Quail, Turkey, Squirrel and Pheasant with a 16.... Mostly with Model 12's with Modified and Parkers with IC/Modified or Quail 1/Quail 2...(Which most say relates to Skeet1/Skeet2.) And Companies like RST make excellent 16 gauge loadings.

Other than Full or Cylinder, I personally don't worry about chokes all that much..

Currently messing around with a couple 28 Gauges...One Mod and the other Ic/Mod...out to thirty yards or so...I can tell little difference between the 28 and the 16.

I shoot a 16 SxS and an Ithaca 37, dad has a SxS, coworker is seeking a new A5, he’s pissed because his buddy just bought one out from under him, contractir buddy occasionally shoots a 37, contractor buddy’s right hand man shoots a new A5. The last few years 16 ammo could frequently be found on the shelf while nothing else was there.

To me, it’s just another arrow in the quiver. It’s an oddball that not everybody has, so it’s kinda fun to be different. And nostalgic.

The first shotgun that I ever shot was a H&R single shot 16ga more than 60 years ago and I haven't been without one since.....our local Walmart carrys 16 ga ammo in stock.

If your Fleet Farm is anything like the one I worked at or the others I visit regularly, most if not all those Hevishot boxes came in since Christmas. And at ~$50/box, they tend to sit around for a while, especially this late in the year. It also helps that most 16 ga guns in use today were made before non-toxic shot became common so the majority of owners are hesitant to use non-lead shot no matter the type.

My first "real" shotgun was an Iver Johnson single shot which lead to my main upland guns being a 16 ga. I The exceptions are when going to Canada to waterfowl/upland hunt (due to gun permit fees and ammo limits), when primarily waterfowl hunting, or when needing non-toxic pellets in the uplands where a 12 ga is usually preferred. And I'll occasionally carry a 28 ga for ruffed grouse or an early season hunt for prairie grouse.

I was an "acquirer" of 16 ga guns at one time, I've owned 20+ different 16 ga guns with a max of around a dozen at one time. A good number were drillings and one Cape gun so some may not consider them true shotguns. I am down to 6 at the moment and will probably drop 2 for sure, maybe another pair, one of these days.

Though shells have typically been readily available until recently, the options have been relatively meager compared to 12 and 20 ga. The 1 oz field loads are fine for ruffed grouse and rabbits but the 1 1/8 oz load of 5 shot I prefer for pheasants has been tough to find for a while. I can get by with what is out there but reload most of my loads to get what I want and for less as the price of 16 ga ammo comparable to 12 and 20 ga became a few dollars more off the shelf.

Browning has done the most to keep 16 ga guns relevant with Remington having made an attempt. The 16 has been a niche gun for decades and I don't see that ever changing.

I visited a small lgs last week, and asked, "Don't laugh at me now, but do you have any 16 ga. shells?"

The reply: "Sure. How many boxes ya' want?"

I did not expect that!

16 gauge is more about the shotgun than gauge to me. I really like Winchester Model 12 16s. They are the same weight at 20 gauges and have more range. One of the great combinations. I also really like Browning Auto 5 Sweet 16s. The Brownings have 16 gauge specific frames and balance really well if you like Brownings. Ithaca 37s in 16 are nice, too. Remington 870 16s are the same frame as 12. I would far rather go 12 with one those.

Finding good ammo can be a challenge. These days,I like Remington Express in 16 gauge.

16ga shotguns seem to handle better than the 12ga of of the same platform, shoot a sxs 16ga and a 12ga can really feel clunky. A 20 can feel whippy with the 16ga feeling better. I shoot all three, surprisingly I shoot the same 1oz load in all three as it is effective. The 1 oz in the 16ga is very versatile, I use 1oz of NP BB's in my 16ga drillings for coyotes, Ioz of 5's or 6's for upland birds an only 3/4oz of Bismuth 5's for waterfowl. All of my 16ga loads are in 2.5" hulls for my old guns.

Killed my first pheasant with that one, before I could drive. It’s taken me sixty years to circle back. Funny how ones’ views change as one ages. On many things. 😉

One thing a 16 gauge does better than a 12 or 20 is look good in a SxS platform. A 12 gauge SxS looks like a blunderbuss while a 20 looks like a cork gun. The SxS 16 is just right, svelte without looking like a toy.

First pheasant I killed was with a 16ga J.C. Higgins bolt action; one with a tubular magazine, not one of the clumsy detachable boxes that came along later. Those were very common farm guns once upon a time, and worked very well.

If I was looking for a 16, first thing I’d do is secure the shells, then look for a gun. Someone that wants to shoot clays or other high-consumption activity would be better off with a light 12 or 20. Can’t imagine anything more frustrating than having a nice bird gun and no ammo-nition.

I still have one of those old tube fed J.C. Higgins bolts. Inherited it from my FIL. Nobody else in the family hunts or wanted it so it came to me. It was the only gun he ever owned and was used for pest control around the farm.

We had one of those in deer camp when I was a kid but in 12ga and a Mossberg bolt action 12ga.

Here, the various manufacturers never learned how to make light and balanced shotguns. Yet the Germans and Brits knew how to accomplish it 100 years ago. They even made SxS 12’s that were light and balanced.

With few exceptions American shotguns were made to handle our ever increasing desire for more and faster pellets. And it still goes on today.

Federal Prairie Storm 12 gauge: 1500fps and 1350fps.
16 gauge: 1425fps

And when they arrive at around 40 yards, for practical killing efficiency purposes, all are moving about the same as a 1250fps load. And their patterns may not equal the 1250.

Something else the Brits figured out 100 years ago.

The 16 is a great option,,,, the shotguns we put them in, most often are not. Unless we leave the country.

Agreed. I remember the first time someone in our group bought a Krieghoff. Everyone flipped out on paying that kind of money for a shotgun when a Browning could be had for 1800 (at the time) or a Peerless for 1000 if you had to have an O/U

See it now with the money for an Echols or something.

Americans won't spend 20k on a K80, but will put 20k into a side by side UTV like it's nothing. You'll shoot the equivalent of 90k miles worth of traveling on that K80 and get a lot more of your purchase price back when it comes time to sell vs the UTV with those miles on it....

Well I have 2 and want more. A friend only hunted upland game with one (A Winchester M21) until he gained too much weight in his face and didn't shoot it well anymore. Now he uses adjustable stocked 12ga. I am prett sure if he found a 16ga that fit him he would go back to it.

Just sold a K80 I bought used...shot at least 30 thousand rounds out of it and lost 1k when I sold it after 3 years of use. The cost per day was less than some spend on a daily Starbucks or Big Mack.

As far as the UTV, you left out the truck and trailer to pull and carry it...

Ive got quite a few older shotguns. 870s , model 12s, 311s , A5s ,BPS , 1100s , 50s in gauges from 10 -410 . With the exception of the rare trip to eastern Va for deer i use a 16 gauge 90% of the time. In my humble opinion a 16 gauge model 12 is just about shotgun perfection. Last few years with the ammo shortage 16s and 28s were about the only thing on the shelves consistently.

Still have my dad’s 12 but it had a box magazine. Strangely to me anyway, it’s very light for gauge. Cheap American guns usually weighed and handled like a fence pole.

Speaking of shot shells, Scheels the other day were fully stocked with 28’s, 20’s, 16’s…but no 12’s!

Battue, nothing there I disagree with. Totally different cultures in about every way. Here, not every landowner is wealthy or has available disposable income, and with public lands, even the peasants can hunt to a degree. Most of them want a tool..

There, land- owners are aristocratic or oligarchs and can order a high quality gun for thousands of £, €, or francs, and have many of them. There’s a real market.

And thankfully, we get a few coming this way.

I have an old Remington model 11 on 16 gauge that I love. It has somewhat taken over as my small game gun. I opened the full choke to modified to make it a bit more versatile. It held it’s own in the dove field this year and has proven to be a great squirrel gun the last couple years. I can see myself using it more and more, as long as I can find ammo for it.

It may come as a surprise, but probably the most used shotgun by the masses in Britain are the various Browning O/U's. There will always be those who for whatever reason can afford...or appreciate, and sacrifice for....higher end wares. And the average Brit thinks we are rich in comparison....and rightfully so. Much the same with the Italians, however it seems they are willing to sacrifice more for good gear.

Here, most are willing to sacrifice for a 50-70K truck.....and the UTV....

I have 3. An 870 with all three barrels, an Ithaca 37 with a Polychoke, and a M12 with a Polychoke. One for each grandson.
Btw, I have plenty of shells.

The Citori / Mirokus are another nice 16 gauge. The 12 gauge Citoris are well-made but on the heavy side for a field gun, though I had one I used as a target gun and shot 20,000 rounds or so at sporting clays and really liked it for that. The couple of 16 gauge Citoris I've owned were an ounce or so less than 7 pounds, well balanced and really nice shotguns. Another example of where the gauge and gun design / balance go together well.

Yeah but shotguns are all the masses of Brits own. Rifles being more controlled and most don't own large numbers like is common here. I have never owned a high dollar shotgun myself and probably never will but have and do own quite few.

In the last 25 years or so we have seen a resurgence of the 16 gauge. As late as the mid-90s, I remember several specific guns on dealers racks that were discounted because they were 16s. Today we see premiums on them. That said, I think it’s growth/demand has leveled off, but doubt it will go down. It’s also a bit of a cult gauge, with lots of hunters like me who roll their own.

I love the gauge, have three that I use a lot: a 1969 Browning Sweet Sixteen, a 1959 Winchester Model 12, and a Browning Citori Superlight (steel receiver). And I pine for the Piotti 16 gauge that I sold several years ago!

They may not own as many, but most often go for high end rifles and air guns...Same with scopes.

For verification, I receive a Brit sporting mag and shoot with a couple Brits who are here...There is more going on with Brits in the field than most realize....and it isn't just the wealthy that participate.

I used to talk at length to a Brit on another forum who was a professional game manager for many years. He said comparatively few Brits own rifles and that those who do usually don't or can't own many due to licensing restrictions/requirements. When you can't or don't own as many firearms, you can afford to spend more on the few.

The English middle class with industrialization rose out of the peasantry but a long way from purchasing a £100k Purdy.

Perhaps it’s because of the vast distances here that settlers put a premium on a good horse; maybe that attitude inculcated into today’s brain results in the $70k 4w truck ( the technical features of which will never be used) the Stevens 311 20 lying on the floor in back.

Agree with a lot of what you say....but the Settler DNA for the most part no longer exists in the majority of those here today. Most, myself included probably wouldn't last a month on the trail west. You either had it or you didn't, and you couldn't BS your way West on the internet.

Then again like guns, I never favored beater vehicles.

The Citoris have always, mostly, been overweight though of good quality. Ive had three? Even their so-called “lightweight” or “feather” or “featherlight” models, Lightening and Field Grade’s, etc., have mostly been too heavy in my view. How many ways can you describe a 20 or 16 ga (if offered) shotgun that weighs 61/2 to 7 lbs? 😀 12’s we’re often a bit over.

The one that hit the mark for me was the Superlight Feather in 16 at 6lbs (Miroku) which I just obtained though it took some years of casually looking. Of course it has an aluminum receiver but with a steel breech face. These have been shown not to wear any quicker than an all steel receiver. Obviously they didn’t have a big demand for them which mystifies me.

That philosophy has been mentioned as what they should have done by more than a few here...

Oh, there were a lot that “didn’t have it” that are under the sod somewhere or turned around at some point..

I’m pretty sure there were the usual BS’ers too, including some of the “journalists” who recorded the various personalities of those bygone periods.

Yes but we like variety. Many of us even have several different rifles and/or shotguns for hunting the same species under different conditions. In contrast that professional game manager, who was contracted to kill upwards of 500 muntjac, fallow, roe and red deer per year off of several different large estates only owned two rifles.

Because purple shells are cool.

Well, not much has changed when considering journalism….

Been buying cases for clays online, about $120 a case, but my club is selling good ones now for $8 a box, for use there only. Good B&P shells too, so I’ll be using those as long as they’re available. Saw 12s there yesterday, didn’t look for 20s.

I knew a man who did exactly that about 40 years ago. A sporting goods shop was discontinuing 16 ga shells and marked them down to get rid of them. Bill bought them all and went shopping for a 16.

I've been hearing about the end of the 16 ga for 60 years at least. Doesn't look like I'll live to see it.

I started in on the 16ga thing several years ago. I simply got tired of lugging a 8 lbs twelve ga around for upland hunting, especially when I started chasing sharptails. Read somewhere about how many of the classic doubles from Europe would build the 16s on their own frame size, or graft the barrels onto a 20ga frame. That coupled with the standard field load being 1 1/8oz, it seemed like carrying a 20 with the thump of a 12. So I opted into a Browning Citori (all I could find then ) and never looked back. Now I have two SxSs (one German, one Spanish) , a Winchester 1897 pump, and a Remington M11 autoloader. About the only time my 12 bores come out is if there is Geese on the menu. For ammo, I mail order Baschieri & Pellagri ammo in the 2 5/8 inch case, #5 shot. My only gripe is the "case" is 8 boxes instead of 10. Works through all my guns though, and will knock a fully plumed ND rooster deader than snot if I do my part right. Fiocchi has good loads too, if you can find them in the store. I got lucky several years back and scored a case of #5s and #4s. They are 2 3/4 inch hulls though, and won't run through my short chambered guns.....If your ancient 16 needs short chambered loads and especially low proof loads, RST is your friend. Both RST and Kent make Bismuth loads for the 16, though only RST loads short hulls.

Kaiser Norton

I should perhaps clarify my views concerning Brownings Citoris. I think they are good guns, even a good value at their prices, for their dependable quality, which is not at all damning with faint praise. I have had two, now gone, and presently have the Superlight Feather 16 mentioned above. I had a Field Grade 12 that I carried successively for years. And then came a Gran Lightening 20, a very attractive gun. And it also shot very well.

The 12 was a bulky gun, and I decided both were heavier than they needed to be. Purely a personal opinion, but that for the walking uplander, they are generally too heavy. At least true at my age now. 🙂

I have a Model 12, a J.P. Sauer drilling, and a Krieghoff drilling, also an old Iver Johnson single shot that belonged to a distant cousin that died when I was very young. Only shot it twice, and it popped open both times I wish it could talk though , and I see it every time I go into that safe I load most of my ammo, 2 1/2 inch for the Sauer. .I also go with the 1 oz NPBB for coyotes. Just always loved 16's

The Superlight Citori 16 sounds nice.

This. So much this.

Purple shells sure are cool .

Smooth, red 16 ga shells by Winchester are the coolest...:)

I've mostly hunted with 20's for the last 50 years, but have had a couple of 16's now for awhile; an old Savage Fox B and a 1916 production 1897 Winchester. When I was a kid roaming/hunting the river behind the house with my buddies down the road, they carried Model 12 16 ga. shotguns.

I've carried the Fox a little, mostly for nostalgia sake and to get rid of some of the old shells I have. One year I guided a turkey hunter on a spring hunt and carried the Fox loaded some old Winchester Mark 5 shells loaded with 1 1/8 oz. of #4's. I figured with the typical presumed MOD/FULL choke combo of these shotguns (this one had no choke designations stamped on it anywhere) and #4's, if I had an opportunity, the rig would be fine to 30-35 yds. As luck would have it the Toms were persistent that morning and the client got one right away, so I decided to call one in for myself. One made haste to my call and I whacked him at around 30 yds. Sometime later I was measuring the bores and muzzles on some of my shotguns to see how they were really choked. I grabbed the old Fox and measured it, expecting a .020 or so constriction in the left barrel and around .030 in the right. They were both right at .005, which is about skeet.

The '97 came to me with a whomper-jawed barrel, looking like it had either fallen a considerable distance or been run over by a vehicle. A few cycles of shooting it at a pattern board then wailing it over a tractor tire corrected the wayward point of impact, but it still looks pretty dreadful.

Gotta agree about the purple Federal hulls, they are pretty sweet looking!

I have a 1913 Winchester model 1912 and a Remington 48 Sportsman auto in 16 gauge . Have owned A5's and a few doubles over the years but they have got gone.

Yes they are and Im always looking for the hulls to reload

At one time in the not so distant past, I owned a Rem 870 and a 31, Ithaca 37, 2 Win model 12’s and 3 Browning A5’s. All at the same time and all in 16 ga, so you might say I’m a fan.

I'm certainly a fan. I own four - a Kettner sxs, an Austrian sxs hammer gun, a Stevens Springfield sxs and a very well worn Winchester Model 12. I've owned a number of others during the years, including a Merkel 200e and an Arietta 558. I've never been disappointed that I chose a 16 rather than a 12 or a 20.

I have hundreds of the Winchester compression formed 16 gauge hulls and an equal number of the Remington black field load hulls, along with thousands of wads, so I'm set for reloading and don't need to worry about finding shells on a dealer's shelf. Makes a huge difference.

"I have hundreds of the Winchester compression formed 16 gauge hulls and an equal number of the Remington black field load hulls, along with thousands of wads, so I'm set for reloading and don't need to worry about finding shells on a dealer's shelf. Makes a huge difference."[/quote]

Same here and federal hulls as well as cheddites. A guy who can't load his own 16's is doomed to limited selection and supply.

I'm a big fan of the 16 gauge it was my dad's only shotgun. I have a couple 94C's a 311A and a Sweet 16. Scored a jackpot of Winchester compression formed SuperX Magnum #4's, and also load Steel at about 1550 FPS. Nothing cooler than a 16.

I'd rather carry my 16s than any other. A Merkel and a Ithaca.

I did a census just now. I have ten guns in 16ga of about any type; four drillings, two good sxs doubles, an 11-48, an 870 corncob, a vintage single shot Savage 220, and a Mossberg bolt action.

I notice that good 16ga sxs doubles go for a premium now. As mentioned before by some here, I prefer the feel of a 16ga double to that of a 20 or 12 and seem to shoot better with the 16s.

Drawback:
I hunt harder for ammo than I do for chukar, quail, and grouse.

I’ve been known to use a few 16 gauges in the field and on the sporting line. If you enjoy reloading you can do anything the other gauges do as well if not better. The gauge calls back to a different age while refusing to lay down in a time when many have forgotten it. It’s time we found our place given among the sporting divisions and yes, a magnum 3 inch option for those wanting that. I think these 2 steps will bring on a new day where the obscure title is finally gone forever.

im keepig some 16ga's in my inventory for when all else goes obsolete. no one else will want it, so odds are the invading hoards of dooms-dayers will overlook it.

I've kind of noticed the last few years a big surge in 28 gauge popularity again and around here 16 gauge seems to be doing the same lately.

The 3 inch 16 came and went a long time ago....And in today's market of limited availability, I think it would be long time before you would see it again.

Old time 16 gauge 3 inch on the left....today's 2 3/4 inch on the right...

If they would bring the 3" 16 gauge back, that would be awesome. It would give a lot more versatility to the 16. It's been the red headed step child for to long.

The 16 doesn't need a 3 inch for the uplands...combined with the fact a great 16 has no reason to be a heavyweight shotgun...The 3 inch would give little more than unneeded recoil. Fellow who posts here on occasion has shot more Wild Pheasants than most could imagine with a 16 using 2.5 inch shells.

I didn’t even know that the 16 gauge was ever made in a 3”. I am surprised that it was abandoned as an option. I could see the duck hunters of years past wanting the extra payload. Upland guys, not so much.

The sixteen doesn't need a 3" anything.

2.5" 1oz NPBB


2.5" 1ozNPBB


The 2.5" 16ga is one of my favorites for close cover coyote hunting.

I have a little French 16ga from the turn of the century 1900 era that is awesome on everything from quail to ducks 3/4oz of ITX 6' and 7/8oz lead 7 1/2's and 1 oz of Lead 5's.

What I meant by the 16 gauge 3", is it would be better for duck hunters and us turkey hunters.

Maj. Charles Askins wrote of having a 3" 16 ga. in one of his books. I am not sure of the make, but he liked Ithaca guns. He passed in 1946 so it was a while ago.

Waterfowlers and turkey hunters have there 12ga's that shoot all the 3" rounds needed. You build a 3" 16ga and you build away everything that makes the 16 so desirable. I killed a pile of waterfowl back in the day with a 16ga with an 1 1/8 oz of lead 5's. I got away from the 16 for waterfowl with the advent of steel shot because in the early days of steel it wasn't loaded in anything but 2 3/4" 12's. With the availability of Bismuth, Nice Shot and ITX the 16ga is back on the table for waterfowl. I still do most of my waterfowling with 12ga but in 2.5" shells holding 7/8 oz of ITX 6's and 1 oz of Bismuth 5's, I hunt public lands, kill a lot of ducks and a few geese that like my duck decoys.. I would kill just as many with a 2 1/2" 16ga with the same load as my 12's, it kills coyotes just fine.







You can kill any game bird or waterfowl with a light load of shot, you just have to have enough restraint wait for them to come into the effective range of what you are using and not trying to compensate for that inability buy using bigger and heavier loads.

Shoot the birds you KNOW you can kill not the ones you HOPE you can kill.

I’m not saying make them all 3 inch, just as not all 12 gauges are 3.5. But not having a 3 inch is ignoring what drives many hunters. Most, and I am not one, but many want larger shot loads for hunting. The single biggest complaint against me when I display my 16 gauge is the under load volume for the use we are doing. We argued for 50 years that’s not the case and clearly all that is lead to is less guns being offered in the gauge and fewer round options made. It’s time we give a little to get a little.

3 inch would bring more turkey, waterfowl, and yes, pheasant hunters back into the fold.

The added interest would only lead to increased load variety and the chance for recognition by shooting sports. God knows with availability and price where it is, sporting needs all the help it can get.

Charlie, first you need shooters pushing for companies to make 16 gauge shotguns…. And few are doing so. Occasionally Browning throws a bone….and then the hype dies. Why? Because the majority care less about the 16.

The competition games don’t care….and if they did the rules would be 2 3/4 inch max like the other gauges. The 12 gauge is 1 1/8 shot max, and some are pushing for 1 ounce max. 20 gauge 1 ounce max. Where would the 16 fit in. Well, it wouldn’t be a 3 inch.

Perazzi now has a 16 for sale on special order. Ask and they will cut the chamber for 3 inch. Then have a shell company do a special run of 3 inch 16 shells for you.

Here is your chance to save the 16. All it will take is some money. Someone has to make the effort and you seem like the right man.

Only starting at around $14,500 American...Of course by the time you factor in the cost of a minimum shell run of perhaps 100,000 it may be the cheapest part...

But really I could live happily with one in 2 3/4....Long live the 16 Gauge.

"There are many permutations with 26 barrel lengths, 11 points of choke, more than 15 rib styles, six fore-end types, 
14 different recoil pads … you get the picture."
However, no 3 inch chambers...makes one wonder why?

https://www.shootinguk.co.uk/reviews/shotgun/perazzi-mx16

I know 16 gauges are a lot of times balanced better but, like Charlie16ga said, it would make the guns so much more versatile and bring more people into shooting 16's.

You may see it if lead is made illegal to use. And that may happen sooner than you think. However, I doubt you would even see it then. And remember for your Duck analogy, lead is already banned.... and something like bismuth, etc would only be the equivalent of todays 2 3/4 lead, Nothing gained. Or today you can load your 2 3/4 16 with TSS shot and have the equivalent of a 3in plus. If your barrel is TSS compatible. In addition, so far those who sell TSS shotshells have ignored the 16. There is a reason....

Federal Prairie Storm lists a 16 gauge 1 1/4 ounce load. How much more do you need? However, some say it doesn't exist.

Id just be happy if winchester came back out with the compression formed hull. Or if remington made a sts 16 ga hull

Seem to work okay for me.................

How does an old broken down waterfowler wind up with a 16 gauge in the uplands?

He wises up in his old age..........

My only point was and is, if we want more 16 gauges in the field, if we want more 16 gauge ammunition on the store shelves, and we want more variety among those shells we need to look at why people choose magnum 20 gauges and 12 gauges over the 16 gauge.

Regardless of the view, which for the most part I don’t agree with, the average hunter wants more “lead or steel” per shot and the average hunter isn’t buying $15/20 a round ammunition for waterfowl or turkey.

And just because something is ‘made’ doesn’t make it available.

The notion of being added to sporting competition is more a pipe dream that would benefit both parties. Who argues we don’t need more reasons to shoot or own new firearms?

we may want and like 16ga, but the gun makers and ammo makers did their homework long ago and we have what we have based on that. we keep the 16ga alive, but for the most part, 16ga died and was pushed aside by 12ga and others. it is easily confused by the untrained with other ga's, and it killed a lot of people due to their ignorance. (ever wonder why 20ga hulls are yellow?)
we can try to revive it, but itll pass and fade and companies are not going to dump millions into its documented failure overall.
its like dedicated windows 95 users trying to relaunch win95.
16ga has and is a personal choice based on traditions, handling, and memories of past family members. its used a lot and works fine by many who are sold on its qualities, but to think of pulling corporations back into a sunken ship to revive it is a pipe dream.
we have what we have from them only as a market pacifier. itll never be a mainline cash cow.
enjoy what ya got. it all may be gone sooner than we all think with all this left wing crap we are being fed in the usa.

First you need the guns in 3 inch….which you don’t have, and manufacturers haven’t seen a market for. And in reality never did. Nor has their ever been enough customers requesting same.

Second, the “average” hunter mostly buys the cheapest on the shelf, and TSS while expensive, yet hasn’t reached $15-20 a round. A purposeful exaggeration or a mistake?

Third, most dedicated 16 gauge shooters have found 2.5 and 2.75 inch shells are more than adequate.

Four, in the realm of shotshells loads, more has often proven to be less when it comes to efficiency.

Perhaps instead of here, you should call the makers and see what they think about a 3 inch 16 causing an increase in their profits….along with being the next big thing in shotgun and shell sales. I would be interested in their response.

Can’t remember how many times I’ve read about the “Return of the 16”, yet every time it turns into smoke in the wind. I doubt a 3 inch option would be any different.

And finally reality....There are great 16 gauge loads available from RST and Federal. And if one can't get it done with their 1 ounce and 1 1/8 ounce offerings in the uplands....the 16 never was a real player in the wetlands..... then practice is what they need...not an extra 1/8 or 1/4 ounce.

Strangely I see more 16ga now than ever before in my lifetime. So, some manufacturers are bucking the trend. I am seeing more 16ga shells on the shelves than 20 too.

That may be because for the last 1.5 years popular brand offerings have been practically non existent with the shortages of 12/20 gauges. Only recently have some of them started to be available again. And now that manufactures are working at full capacity to make 20's and 12's, the 16's will most likely not be a priority.

My experience as well. I've been a 16ga shooter for 40 years now. Feels like the marketplace has never been better for me, in that regard. I have no problems finding ammo that are worse than anyone else's such problems. I'm grateful to Browning for making their limited runs of shotguns, and some of my hunting buddies have climbed on the bandwagon. I admit to being a 20ga guy last season but my days being a 16ga'er aren't over.

I’ve been a fan of the 16 all my life, and yes it has seen a resurgence in the last 10-15 years. I also believe it’s market is likely tapped out already and expect it will stay at its current level of demand.

In guns built on the smaller frame, the 16 is a sweetheart, but we shouldn’t delude ourselves - we shoot it because we like it (about the same argument for the 28 vs. 20 gauge), not for some mystical power or real advantage. For example, in my rack sit 12 gauge Benellis, a Montefeltro and a Super Lite, each with 26” barrels and weights of 6#9 oz and 6# respectively. My favorite 16 just now is a 1959 Winchester Model 12 which weighs 6 1/2# with its 28” barrel. A Belgian Sweet Sixteen in the next stall, with 28” vent rib barrel, tips the scale at 7# 1 oz. The Browning Citori Super Light with steel receiver and 28” tubes next to that one, weighs 6# 15 oz with factory choke tubes.

While the ammo banging around in my hunting vest weighs a tad less than its 12 gauge cousins, the Benelli Super Lite 12 gauge package is a few ounces lighter, and a ballistically superior load to that of the 16. I shoot the guns about the same.

In spite of all that, however, the 16s usually get the nod. I just like ‘em.

I sense some hostility in your response which I don’t truly understand. As such I have no intent to continue this line of conversation. Enjoy what you shoot and have a great time doing it.

Don’t confuse hostility with having a strong differing opinion. One that has been formed from many years using a 16….along with the 20 and recently a 28. Admittedly been surprised what a well directed 7/8 ounce load will do. Enough to know a 3 inch 16 is not necessary for success. Or that it would have a significant advantage.

If you are here to have all replies qualified with a YMMV. You are going to back out frequently.

When was the last time you saw anything available from RST?

Me either...

I check their web page regularly and you are correct. Fortunately I still have a half flat of their 16 gauge 5's. 2.5 inch at that. They hammer wild Pheasants...

Suddenly I hate you...LOL

No need to hate anyone for having the foresight to have an adequate supply of what they need or just want whether it's shotshells or quality alcohol. Bird season is only 4 months of the year the other 8 months you can shoot targets. In those 8 months every single day you can be pulling the lever on a loader as simple as a mec 600jr. Or a more expensive model. The 3" 16 has been here for many years but has been camouflaged from the unknowing and uninterested. Most of us who use them call the Fiocchi Golden Pheasant loads with nickle plated shot the 3" load of choice and they are only 2 3/4" LONG which works in any 16 you have. It's amazing to me when you won't load your own to have what you want. 2 9/16" chamber? Not really a problem the federal hull and cheddites cut down easily. As far as more 16 ga. shells availible today? No just less competition from fellow buyers for that ammo come bird season. Some see it as a pita but having less competition for what is availible works for me. I don't see reloading ammo for my 16's as a onerous chore. Mb

I'm a firm believer in not relying on others for stuff. I keep a MEC 600's on 12 and 16ga set up to load 2.5" shells and have a good selection of shot sizes and types on hand and never let things fall below a couple years worth of shooting.

I believe the 16 gauge is here to stay, to say the 16 died is unrealistic, with Browning selling the new A5, in several different finishes,(including the new camo models) and Citori, along with Tristar and their 16 semi auto, they are more readily available for the average hunter.

I don't think the 16 is going anywhere soon. I don't see it being more popular but, it will stick around I think. If the ammo companies would load a few more load options, that be great. But, I am trying to get into shot shell loading.

I've been thinking about this statement a bit and I will agree most every 20 gauge shall I see is yellow but I do not shoot Winchester double A's or Remington SST or the nitros in 20 are they not still red green and gold in that order?

Was just again in the SF, SD Scheels, and they had B&P, Fiocchi, Win, and Rem 16’s. And, IIRC, some Kent non-toxic’s also. There were more 20’s and plenty of 28’s (that gauge has increased in popularity also). Of course there are plenty of 12’s. This is six months before their biggest period of demand.

Sioux Falls, in spite of the internet, is still a destination shopping for a lot of SW Minn, NW Iowa, NE Nebraska, and most of SD east of the Missouri. Inventory represents past and presumably current demand, so I’d say there has been a significant uptick in 16 ga use in this region in the past decade.