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Member Joined: 25 Jun 2008 Posts: 1863 Location: Wisconsin

You're kidding me; now I have to open the safe and try that because I don't remember having to use the trigger to fully cock the hammer though I don't doubt you a bit because I've pulled that hammer so many years that I don't think about it. I looked down the barrel of that beast today. I'm waiting until tomorrow. If I could get that gun in scaled sub gauge versions I'd be one happy camper. I might even give up owning two pipe shoots.

Reno

Received my "Long Tom" 16 yesterday. With a 32" long xf choked barrel, it really is a long gun, obviously designed with turkeys in mind back in the day. Apparently Meriden made them up until 1915, and Stevens after that. This appears to be the latter. At 7.4lbs however with the long barrel, it balances fine, but there's no weight advantage over my m/f 12ga Lefever of the same weight. Even so, it's a neat old gun that deserves to do battle with a gobbler again. Not much to look at [yet], but it functions fine. Sure would be cool to know how many toms that thing has killed over the last 100 yrs. I'll post before/after pics eventually. I might even paint a gobbler in full strut on one side and in full gobble on the other. That will be fun.

I saw a straight grip lever action Ithaca .410 single the other day at a local shop for about $125. What a neat little gun that would be too, with those tss loads.

I continue to hunt my Lefever 16ga single shot. At 72 I don"t need to kill a lot of birds. My Brittany needs an occasional bird to keep him interested. I don't think there is a better single shot made in that era.. Looking forward to Dove then Woodcock.. Very Happy

Member Joined: 24 May 2010 Posts: 74

Most of the singles that I ever saw that were called long toms had a barrel lenght of thirty six inches or more.Dad had swapped for one that he would take to the local Turkey shoots.They didn't shoot at Turkeys but rather at targets at a defined distance and the person whos target had the most shot nearest the center won.In case of ties they would lenghten the distance until one was the winner.The shells used were supplied by the people running the event, all with the same size shot and powder charge.The old gun that he was using would place so many shot at the center of the target that after using it a few times he was banned from using it anymore.

Joined: 16 Apr 2010 Posts: 38 Location: New Hampshire

Joined: 16 Apr 2010 Posts: 38 Location: New Hampshire

I hunt with an H&R Topper model 88 in 16 gauge every year. I've killed squirrels, turkeys and Canadian geese with it.

My only 16GA at the moment is a Stevens 94M 32" barrel. I sometimes use it with a .410 gauge-mate, which works really well too.
I'm looking for a 16GA Cooey to go with my Cooey .410 but the Stevens is definitely a keeper.

Member Joined: 25 Jun 2008 Posts: 1863 Location: Wisconsin

Thanks for the update on modern hammer singles; I was not aware of that. Reno

So far, I've got two 16 Ga. Single Shots. Both are Harrington & Richardson, one is a 1920's/1930's era No.7 "Bay State" Hardware Store Gun (Newport Model WN). The other is a 1954 Model 48 "Topper" that I got last week. I shoot both, shot the Topper for the first time last night at the Trap Club where I'm having a go at shooting Trap.

The more I see the vintage Single Shots, the more I love them. I hope to find an Iver-Johnson "Champion" sooner or later, in both 16 and 12 Ga. Also love to find a Crescent, either plain Crescent or a "Hardware Store" gun.
Mark

Member Joined: 06 Oct 2007 Posts: 2354 Location: West MI

Not a 16ga, but, at a gun show early spring tripped over a 12ga Long Tom 40" (40" not a typo) choked 0.690". Couldn't pass it up, printed a very nice pattern at 35yrds with a 7/8oz load of #8, can only imagine how this thing would do with the right dialed in load for Turkey, Crows, Yotes or back fence trap.

Keeping with the single barrel thread, have shot (and lived to tell the tale) a 10ga Pardner w/a 2 1/4oz Turkey load, ONCE Shocked

Fun stuff,

Could a fellow just duct-tape two of these singles together to get that second shot? Seriously now, I thought of tack-welding them, but duct tape leaves some choices and does a little bit less harm to the tremendous values of these guns. Am I eligible for the Duluth Double Gun shoot if I do this?

Joined: 04 Jun 2009 Posts: 827 Location: N. Shore, mn

Sure would be fun to see you serious faced walk up to register with a Red Green special at DDG.

Joined: 25 Aug 2014 Posts: 286 Location: Finger Lakes

I picked up a nice older H&R 16 ga. this spring. Made in the 40's I believe. Finish is still real nice. Just need to fix the ugly pad on it. Choked mod. Shoots a nice 30 yard pattern with 1 oz 6's. Might try to shoot a gun turkey with it this fall. Carries nice and light.

Joined: 06 Sep 2007 Posts: 154 Location: Kentucky

My first shotgun was my grandfathers IJ champion with a ribbed barrel. Alas it was a 12 ga. And was in pretty rough shape. When I was about 13 I ran across another one just like it in 16 ga at a little combination gun shop and saddle store near my grandmothers house. It was in good condition but the stock looked like it had been stained with iodine. The fellow said he would sell it to me for $15 but Dad would have to come with me. While I had $15 from my mowing money iDad gave me the old " you don't need that you have one".
I haven't seen a nice one since until a few years ago I ran up on another 12 ga in good shooting condition. I bought it refinished the stock and shoot it quite a bit these days . Of all the missed gun trading opportunities that I have experienced over the past 40 years one of the most remembered is that 16 ga IJ . I do like the 12 however.