16ga.com ~ View topic

All have dropped thier 16 gauge offering after Remington took them over.
Its sad.

Sad

Guest

I think if you were to take a good look at the gun market you would find that people that buy 16 gauge guns tend to buy guns that are of better quality than single shot NEF and H&R single shot guns or the Bakil. The reason Remington dropped the 870 and 1100 are that they had morphed into just plain pigs from what had been a pretty good gun. But don't be too upset there are plenty of good if not better guns out there on the used market in the same price range.

I agree. I suspect these guns were dropped because of poor sales. If I'm going to own a 16 gauge, I want a good one. All the guns you mentioned were all built on 12 ga frames and offered none of the smooth handling qualities of a light 16 ga. If you are going to buy a gun on a 12 ga frame, it might as well be a 12 gauge.

Member Joined: 09 Jun 2005 Posts: 885 Location: Wisconsin

My son has a Bikal 16 O/U he bought about 5-6 years ago to use as a canoe gun. Probabably has 1000 rds thru it, mostly pasture clays. Just starting to loosen up. Yes it is on a 12 ga. frame, ugly and all that, but they do serve a purpose for some uses. Besides I rather see him shoot steel thru it than some of the older 16s I have given him. Besides all that my youngest grandson (13) shot his first turkey with it, 23 lbs., 10.5" beard. Now that's not to shabby for a so called worthless shotgun.

Joined: 11 Jan 2006 Posts: 311

16 gauge was dropped from the 2008 H&R catalog prior to the announcement of the sale to Remington.

And Remington did catalog the 16 gage Baikals for a year or two IIRC.

I do not have any market data, but I suspect overall sales of 16 gage anything is a very tiny % of the market.

Member Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 3438 Location: Illinois

There is a lot to be said for a affordable,decent quality 16,whether Baikel or H-R Wink

I appreciate a fine shotgun but also know there is a purpose for a less refined shotgun Wink

Bad weather,long trips,etc.I feel no shame shooting my Ruskie 16 at a sporting clays event while owning a much higher priced Browning that stayed home that day due to bad weather--It's the score that counts not the dollar amount of the gun---I have no regrets on my purchase of the Baikel Cool

maybe even looking to by a SxS version if I can find one Wink

I have one those too a pre Remington model.
A little clunky but SxS isn't bad.
I shoot skeet with mine