• Mossberg Owners is in the process of upgrading the software. Please bear with us while we transition to the new look and new upgraded software.

A brutally honest discussion about 16 gauge

John A.

Unconstitutional laws are not laws.
Staff member
Administrator
Global Moderator
In typical fashion, I'm going to be blunt and straight to the point. I like 16 gauge shotguns. A lot. And with good reason.

But sadly, there is hardly any industry support for them. There are only a few shotguns being made today that are chambered in 16 gauge, and unfortunately, they are foreign manufacturers that have price tags well beyond the means of anyone that wasn't born with a silver spoon in their mouth.

I'm just going to tell anyone that has never shot or hunted hard with a 16 gauge, you really don't know what you're missing. Weighing in at around 6 pounds, they are fast to bring to point, easy to carry and with the right payload they are one of the most accurate shotguns that I have ever used and have plenty of what it takes to bring down anything from as small as a ground squirrel and as large as at least big turkey with shotshells and if you can get your hands on some slugs, just about anything on the continent, and quite frankly is near the epitome of what every shotgun wants to be.

It may sound like I don't have anything good to say about anything other than 16 gauge but that's not true. I have a lot of good to say about other guns. But the 16 gauge is one of the best out there and unfortunately, hasn't gotten the press or proper credit that it deserves and I just had to go on record to say as much.

I don't think it's bias either. While it is true that my first shotgun was an old Stevens single shot 16 gauge, it wasn't the first or only gun that I had access to. Some would say that I learned to hunt with a shotgun the hard way. (It was with a .410 gauge that I had to borrow from my neighbor Charlie when I wanted to go hunting).

I have heard many say to leave the hunting with a .410 to the experts, but nevertheless, it was how I learned. I was young and simply couldn't handle the "big" (12 gauge) shotguns that everyone was using, and while true that I had to sneak in a lot closer to whatever I was hunting using the tiny shell, in the long run, I am glad that I did start out with the .410 because it sure puts things into perspective and taught me many of lifes' lessons well.

While I was 13, my Dad bought my old 16 gauge off of one of my uncles' wifes relatives and man, did it ever change the way that I looked at hunting. And made hunting a lot easier and more enjoyable to. It quickly became my most faithful hunting companion.

I dare say that old shotgun has taken more game than everything else in my cabinet COMBINED.

In seeing the writing on the wall and that no domestic shotgun maker has produced a 16 gauge since probably the mid 90's, I realize that it's on its' way out. I have noticed that even getting shells for them in the last several years is difficult at best, and expensive when you do. So, I am going to be taking up reloading them just so I can keep mine going because I don't know if my heart could bear it to have to hang it up on some rusty nails over the mantle.

I recently purchased a Western Field/Montgomery Wards 16 gauge pump just to have in my collection. Yes it's old. Made sometime before I was.

The action is still tight and in serviceable condition. The wood has some dings and scratches from being used so often. The bluing is all but gone in some places. The paint is chipped and it looks like hell, but that's alright. I can refinish the wood if I want to, and I can re-blue it if I take the notion. But as Han Solo once said, she may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts kids.
 
Great post, John. The ol' sixteens have a soul. I used to hunt Ohio squirrels in the hardwood forests with a single shot sixteen with purple-hulled #6s that was wore the hell out by looking at it. It sure did bust 'em though.
 
My youngest son and I were recently hiking in some of my old stomping grounds a while back and he found one of my old purple federal hulls that I must have dropped when I was growing up. It's probably a mid to late 80's vintage if I were guessing. For as long as it had laid there, it's in surprisingly good shape.

He found it somewhat rolled under an old log, probably where I had sat down waiting for enough light to start seeing the silhouttes of the squirrels running through the trees through the fog and it fell out of my pocket.

Nostalgia took over for sure.

ole purple 011.JPG
 
I have an old 16G side-by-side that was my grandmothers gun. I love to hunt with it but ammo is getting harder and harder to find and the prices keep going up and up.

This was actually the first shotgun I hunted with. When my dad went to buy me my first shotgun he wanted to buy a .410 but the guy at Williams Gun site advised against it saying that a 20G would be less frustrating for me as it offered a better pattern than the 410 with less recoil than the 12G. I don't know but I killed a LOT of grouse with the 20G and it still sits in my safe.

I've been wanting a .410 for years but just never seem to act on that impulse. I think given the state of things I find it harder and harder to add new calibers/gauges/bores to the mix. It's too hard to feed the few that I have. LOL
 
I owned a Sears & Roebuck J.C. Higgins Model 10 bolt action shotgun in my youth...2 3/4" chamber...modified choke...4 round capacity...a very handy squirrel / rabbit gun.

Thanks for the memories John...
 
My Girlfriend's Western Auto Revelation/Mossberg 500 16 ga.View attachment 8903
I'd like to get a shorter barrel for it just in case... I'll be glad when my month is up so I can put an ad on the site LOL...

ORRRRRR, you can just sell that old gun to me and go buy the Mizz a nice, new, more modern 20ga.... AND, different barrels are everywhere for a 20.I'm jus sayin';)
 
ORRRRRR, you can just sell that old gun to me and go buy the Mizz a nice, new, more modern 20ga.... AND, different barrels are everywhere for a 20.I'm jus sayin';)
Lol, I'd have to talk to her about that .. I'm thinking she's liking this old gun...lol
 
Last edited:
I received the old Western Field shotgun this evening. I was able to shoot it about 6 times and it doesn't kick a lick compared to my old single shot. I think the single shot has a little tighter pattern at the same distance, but I think either way, dead is dead.

squirrel western field 001.jpg

turkey western field 001.jpg

I like it.

I am going to give it some TLC next week cleaning it and maybe touch up the blue and cleaning the wood with some murphy's oil soap.

I can see myself using it often ;)

western field xnh 16 gauge pump 001.JPG
 
Last edited:
I have a single shot Winchester that my Grandpa worked all summer to by when he was 15 in 1932. He paid 18 bucks brand new . I slayed many a small mammal and birds with it since I was able to hold it up. I have around 500 rounds for it and its one of my go to shotguns for hunting.
 
I received the old Western Field shotgun this evening. I was able to shoot it about 6 times and it doesn't kick a lick compared to my old single shot. I think the single shot has a little tighter pattern at the same distance, but I think either way, dead is dead.

View attachment 8907

View attachment 8908


I like it.

I am going to give it some TLC next week cleaning it and maybe touch up the blue and cleaning the wood with some murphy's oil soap.

I can see myself using it often ;)

View attachment 8909
Cool, that's a nice lookin gun !
 
Thank you Carnie. But I blame you for getting me looking around for a pump 16 after seeing your GF's. But I'm glad I did because otherwise I wouldn't have even known about it. :D

It's in better shape for its' age than I am.

Doesn't look like it's never been taken all the way down for a detailed cleaning, and there is the typical surface pitting on the receiver from being carried while sweating, but nothing that I don't think I can't polish up and then put some 44/40 blue on and remedy.

Par for the course for some of these older guns. Nothing I can't handle.
 
I'm with you. I've taken more game with my ole reliable Springfield 16ga side by side than any other gun. It's great for pheasants and rabbits, and I've taken turkeys with it as well. And with a couple of #1 bucks, it makes a nice home defense weapon.
 
My wife's step mom, in her 60s now, still uses an old single shot 16. And regularly. It's the gun she grabs at night when the chickens start making noise. She keeps shells all over the place and grabs a couple on her way to where she's going, she loads one and drops the other(s) in her pocket.
 
Back
Top