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JD
PostPosted: Mon Jun 19, 2006 5:56 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 06 Jun 2006
Posts: 30

I am looking into a dove hunt down Argentina way.I asked what shells they have avaiable 12 ga. 20 ga. and 28 ga. but no 16 ga. Shocked Shocked :

JD
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Twice Barrel
PostPosted: Mon Jun 19, 2006 6:38 pm  Reply with quote
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I'm sure that if you made it clear to the outfitter that your booking the trip was contingent upon having ample 16 gauge ammunition he will fall all over himself finding some for you. These guys love the Gringos green backs.
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Foursquare
PostPosted: Tue Jun 20, 2006 9:30 am  Reply with quote
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Joined: 18 Nov 2005
Posts: 398
Location: S Fl

I asked about the availability of 16ga ammo "way down south" in another thread some months ago. Never got any answers. So, at the risk of repeating myself:

In Nov I shot skeet with an Argentinian who now lives in Miami. He got quite excited when I said I was shooting a 16 (FAIR 400) and asked how he could get one. Then he started waxing nostalgically of the good old days back home, and said, "You know, in Argentina, 16 is the most popular gauge."

This guy did not appear to be psychotic, so I have no reason to doubt him. Smile He looked to be in his 30's, so I don't think he's talking about the long distant past when 16 was very popular here also.
Anyway, the pertinent question is: Is 16ga ammo readily available south of the border? Has anybody persued the question beyond the automatic naysaying of some stateside booking agent? JD, who was it that told you no 16?

I don't have plans to go down there, but would like to some day. And I'd like to take a 16 or 3 with me. So, what's the answer?
Enquiring minds want to know!!!!! Smile
Pete
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Ted Schefelbein
PostPosted: Tue Jun 20, 2006 2:12 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 19 Jun 2004
Posts: 1480
Location: Mpls, MN.

What percentage of Argintinos can afford to hunt? What percentage of that (I suspect small percentage) group is interested in 16?

I got a feeling we are talking small numbers here. If the dude can't figure out how to get a FAIR, likely he doesn't have money enough to play the game.

That's my educated guess, worth every penny of what you paid. Most folks that shoot South America bring two nondescript autoloaders in 20, to manage the recoil of 500-1000 round days, and to consider disposable if lost, stolen, or broken. 20 isn't 16, but, it is available everywhere. Maybe the Russians will see to it that Hugo has decent ammunition to sell to the Gringos that come to shoot there. And MIG 29s, too.
Best,
Ted
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Steve Smith
PostPosted: Wed Jun 21, 2006 7:30 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 20 Apr 2005
Posts: 29
Location: Traverse City, MI

Ted is right about all of this. Argentina is a very poor country, similar in social structure to Mexico -- bird hunting is just not a big deal among the populace because they have no money nor access to land unless they are on the thin upper crust.

The 12 and 20 gauge loads available are there, of course, because the people shooting are Americans, and Yanks bring their 12's and 20's with them, or you can borrow a gun from the outfitter. All this is also true of Uruguay, the only other SA country I've shot in.

Interestingly, some lodges have told me that a guest's bill for shotshells is often larger than his bill for the stay at the lodge. One friend of mine who books Argentina says that a dove shooter will often go through 25 - 30 boxes of shells in the morning and the same number in the afternoon. He e-mailed me the other day to say that they had a fellow break the lodge record by firing 80 boxes in one day. They get $10 a box. That math isn't too hard to figure out. But the expense in getting the shells shipped in and carted across country on the Argentine road system, that in most places looks like a warthog wallow, leaves very little profit per box.

I bow to none of you in my regard for the 16 gauge, but for the sake of recoil, I'm shooting a 20 tubed down to 28 gauge my next trip down; most places will have 28 shells, too. This is all for doves and pigeons. For ducks, you fire relatively few shells and many lodges don't even bother to charge you for them. What they do, rather than restrict the bag, which is liberal, is restrict your shells -- four boxes in the morning, usually two but sometimes three in the afternoon (if you're a good shot, you get fewer), and you have to dispatch cripples quickly on the water. I've had all the duck shooting I want each day I've done it and I've always come back with unopened boxes in the morning and sometimes the afternoon, too. I'm a little fuzzy on the mentality that says 100 dead ducks are more of a thrill than 99 dead ones. Or 50. Or 25.

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