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offhand35
PostPosted: Fri Aug 25, 2006 6:52 pm  Reply with quote
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Location: Western Connecticut

I just have to join in on this.....yeah me too, with the 41mag, 35 Remington, and 444 Marlin.......

...I have been a Browning Auto-5 fan for quite some time, though I'm not quite sure why.....until the day I shot one in 16ga!!!

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Jeff Mulliken
PostPosted: Sat Aug 26, 2006 4:13 pm  Reply with quote
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Offhand35,

I used to think the A5 Sweet Sixteen was the end all be all, but I have an A5 standard sixteen that is about 4oz heavier and balances a little more weight forward....it seems perfect. It may be the 28" barrel....

oh well I guess I'll just have to spend a couple of days at the range to sort this all out...work, work, work work....
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Highcountry
PostPosted: Sat Aug 26, 2006 4:15 pm  Reply with quote
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I am right there with CitoriFeather16. I also have Benelli Montefeltro 20 ga and I have shot 3" shells in it (Fiocchi Golden Pheasants) and I am here to tell you that it is a very ugly experience. I bought a Merkel 1620 as my "go to" upland/prairie gun as the 16 ga is devastating on prairie birds and a pleasure to carry which I do a lot more of than shooting it at birds. The only issue as mentioned above is the availability and expense of ammo and reloading components. No Win AA hulls available for reloading as well as a paucity of wads. Sad But as far as owning a 16ga, it is always cool to have something different than the average prairie stomper and clays shooter.

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Terry Imai
PostPosted: Sun Aug 27, 2006 8:35 am  Reply with quote
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I believe Romperstomper said in an earlier post that he was brand new to shotgun shooting. IMHO, if you're starting out shotgun shooting, you need to shoot alot to get good. Since 16 gauge ammo is a hassle with finding and purchasing it, most everyone on this board reloads but reloading may not be a good idea for the beginning shooter until he gets a few things down. You may want to pick up either a Beretta 391 (auto gas) in 12 gauge (my #1 choice) or a 20 gauge and use them to shoot a ton of clay targets. You can still have you 16 gauge, but get proficient with the other gun just because getting ammo for a 12 or 20 is just that much easier. A 16 is a gem for hunting where we walk plenty and shoot little or go ahead and use it for clays after you get into reloading. BTW, make sure you start saving you 16 gauge hulls so you can use them when you start reloading. For a 16 gauge shooting;: "you can never have enough 16 gauge hulls laying around"....

Good luck
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0802
PostPosted: Sun Aug 27, 2006 10:46 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 26 Aug 2006
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Don't forget 300 Savage in place of 308 Win!
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16gaugeguy
PostPosted: Sun Aug 27, 2006 7:09 pm  Reply with quote
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Joined: 12 Mar 2005
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Location: massachusetts

I've said a thousand times that the 16 is the most versitile upland tool there is. Most good 16 guns are as light and quick as most 20 guns and with enough ballistic potential to handle the biggest upland birds in the toughest conditions I'd care to face. A 16 will also handle shot loads down to 3/4 ounce as well for the little birds. So a good 16 covers the whole upland shooting spectrum just about perfectly, but not quite. Some days, I like potting stocked quail or any old woodcock with a .410 or a 5/8 ounce 28 ga hand load. It kills them cleanly without tearing them up. And, for some hunting duties, a 16 just isn't enough gun--period. Use the 12 when it's needed. After all, wingshooting is killing, and killing should be clean and quick without wasting the game. We owe as much to the birds we shoot.

So it is with flyrods. A well crafted, lightly built bamboo rod, say, a 3 or 4 weight of no more than 7'9", is a pleasure to play with if the water is not too big, the wind not heavy, the casts not too long, and the fish are not too husky or strong. However, if all the fish are rising on the other side of the stream, and there is no good approach to the lie without putting the fish down, give me a decent 9 foot, 5 or 6 weight graphite rod. I'll reach the seam that way. Forget bamboo when fishing big, strong fish, in tough conditions like bull striper in the surf with a stiff wind in your teeth. Bamboo and tarpon or snook in the mangroves? A good way to break a fine rod and frustrate the hell out of yourselves. Same for big salmon. Regardless of 19th century methods, sometimes only a decent graphite rod will do. Casting a beat with an 8 weight, 9-1/2 foot bamboo salmon stick for more than an hour is nothing more than work, and damned hard work at that. Give me the graphite and I'll fish you into the ground.

Yes, big fish were taken in the past with bamboo rods that handled more like broom handles. But it was not that much fun. Salt water fly casting did not really come into its own until graphite rods came to be. I know. I owned and fished a Fenwick Ferrulite Enforcer 9' 12 weight salter stick that was lighter than any 10 weight bamboo rod ever made. But either was heavy enough to about break your wrist if you cast with it for more than an hour.

Whether with gun or rod, use the right tool for the job. Clinging to the old tools, the old ways, or one gauge in every case regardless of conditions and with disregard for the game being hunted or cast to is both foolish and pigheaded. However, each to his own I guess.
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revdocdrew
PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 9:11 am  Reply with quote
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By Marklart on DoubleGunBBS: Laughing Laughing

The 16ga. pledge of allegiance: "I pledge allegiance, to the 16ga., the greatest gauge in the world. And to the birdies, for which it exists, one purpose, under clear blue skies, unsurpassed, with lively handling and fun for all."

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16gaugeguy
PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 12:06 pm  Reply with quote
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Except for pteradactyl sized waterfowl, 20 gauge owning, wouldacouldashoulda, didn't know about 16 ga. wannabes, those who believe in pureeing small birds with too much shot, and folks who can't hit the ground with their hats regardless of gauge. Laughing
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JesseJames
PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 3:20 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 20 Aug 2006
Posts: 4
Location: Georgia

I don't know about the advantage of the gauge, it's been argued in several threads I've read, but I recently bought my first 16, an 1100, and I know ya'll purists are sayin "on a 12 frame", it fits. I am a big framed guy with short arms and fingers so the Mossberg 835 I borrowed last year while allowing me to hunt, did not fit at all. My "leb'n hunnerd" shoulders like it is apart of me and shoots just as well. I also love it when people look all confused when I say 16 ga. When I talked to the farmer who I'll be hunting with this weekend he said, "I didn't think they still made them things, you got shells?" I assured him that though my gun was made before Remington discontinued the 16, I've heard in the 70's, they are still made and I have a case of game loads ready to go. I did have to get 7.5's instead of 8's but I feel better equiped than ever for doves, quail, squirrel, and rabbits. I even picked up a coupla boxes of federal no 1 buckshot.
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