!6 Gauge, sidw by side shotgun

[Pitchman1968]

I was just thinking ....... if Henry manufactured a 16 gauge S X S shotgun with exposed hammers, and an overall weight of 7 lbs. or less, I would quickly draw some money from my retirement nest egg, drive up Riley's in Hookset, N.H. and order one. I'll bet HRA could make a fine piece with an MSRP in the $1,400. range

[JEBar]

that would be an interesting shotgun .... can't help but wonder how large the market would be for a 16 ga .... shells can be hard to find and expensive when you do

[bandit1250]

that would be an interesting shotgun .... can't help but wonder how large the market would be for a 16 ga .... shells can be hard to find and expensive when you do

I was at Harbor Freight and ran into an old friend of mine. He asked if I still hunted and I told him I do still hunt. He asked if I had a 16 ga and I said no but I am keeping a eye out for a 16ga Rem. 870. He said I have a full box of shells for one if you are interested. I asked how much for them. He said 5 bucks. While I was paying for my stuff I saw him looking around in his old SUV. I went out to his vehicle and he said the box had come open and he found all but two. I said that is OK I still want them. He said just give me $3 since two are missing. I told him I would still give him 5 and he said no give me 3 because I told you I had a full box of 16ga shells and with two missing the box is not full. They are Remington high brass #5 shot. Still sitting in my gun cabinet waiting for that elusive 870 I have been wanting for quite a few years.

[JEBar]

4 years of so ago I sold a 16 ga FOX double barrel .... it was a fine shotgun and if it had of been a 410, 12, or 20 I'd of kept it .... I believe I still had 3 boxes of shells which I've since given away

[The Wiz]

I have a box of 25 in my closet. Probably about 10 yrs old.

[Pitchman1968]

Well, it is time for full disclosure..... I have an I.H. Fox 16 ga double made in Philadephia in 1923. My Dad bought it at an estate sale just prior to WW 2. We lived in the foot hills of the southern Adirondacks. From the time I was 12 my Dad allowed me to take the piece into the field by myself. With it during the 1950's, I took countless rabbits (including snowshoe hares) pheasent, partridge, and woodcock. Unfortynately in the early '60's, I slipped on a snowy ridge and fell to one knee and severely cracked stock at the pistol grip. Fast foreward 25 years, and in the mid 1980's my wife had it restocked and it was the best CHristmas present she has ever given me.

As noted above, 16 ga shotshells have been difficult to find, so, a few years ago I bought a Lee Loadall II press and began "rollin my own". With the Fox, over the last 10 years, I have harvested 2-3 cock pheasents per year. I am looking for an addional 16 ga SXS because my gun club has gone to sreel shot for trap shoting. I do not want to reload steel shot for the Fox because steel is tough on shotgun barrels. But, I woudn't mind scarring the barrel(s) on a new or used, moderately priced sweet 16.

[JEBar]

that makes complete sense to me .... if the FOX 16 ga had that type of family history, I'd keep it as well .... I've never gotten into loading shotgun shells .... just wondering, are new cases for reloading readily available ..

[Grunt67]

I love a 16 ga. Just the right balance between 20 & 12. I currently own a H&R 16 ga. single shot, 30" bbl, full choke. Squirrel getter.
I'm also fond of a SXS. I have a Crescent Arms 12 ga. my Grandpa bought decades ago. Probably older that me ( 77 ). I think it had maybe 32" bbls when he got it ( used when he got it ). He had my other Grandpa cut a couple inches off the bbls. It's now 28 1/2 ",
both wide open. He wanted it to bird hunt. I used it for rabbits & squirrels. It has the rabbit ear hammers.
It's now a safe queen, heirloom.
True, 16 ga, shells are hard to come by, but not impossible. I have several boxes of Rem. hi brass #5 shot, I got at Wally World. A box or two at a time.
How much interest Henry would get, no idea. But, I think it would do as well as some other guns he has made.
JMHO

[Rifletom]

that would be an interesting shotgun .... can't help but wonder how large the market would be for a 16 ga .... shells can be hard to find and expensive when you do

I was at Harbor Freight and ran into an old friend of mine. He asked if I still hunted and I told him I do still hunt. He asked if I had a 16 ga and I said no but I am keeping a eye out for a 16ga Rem. 870. He said I have a full box of shells for one if you are interested. I asked how much for them. He said 5 bucks. While I was paying for my stuff I saw him looking around in his old SUV. I went out to his vehicle and he said the box had come open and he found all but two. I said that is OK I still want them. He said just give me $3 since two are missing. I told him I would still give him 5 and he said no give me 3 because I told you I had a full box of 16ga shells and with two missing the box is not full. They are Remington high brass #5 shot. Still sitting in my gun cabinet waiting for that elusive 870 I have been wanting for quite a few years.

I didn't know that a 870 WM was ever made in 16ga. That would be a keeper.

[Oldbrass]

I've never fired a 16 ga in my 58 years. The 12 and 20 are extremely popular, wonder why the 16 isn't so. Seems like best of both worlds

[Travlin]

Look at the variety of loads and shot sizes for sale in twelve and twenty gauge and then see what you can find for the sixteen. The three inch twenty has made the sixteen rather redundant.

[The Wiz]

I have been told the 16 is quite popular in Europe. That is a question for our European members.

[Pitchman1968]

This replies to JE Bar's question regardinng the availability of shotshells for reloading: Up until the current shortgage of reloading components, brand new and once-fired shotshells for loading with lead pellets, were stocked by the the major on-line companies, i.e., Midway, Graf's, Ballistic Products, Precision Reloading, etc. 12 and 20 guage were the most plentiful, but 16 gauge hulls were spotty. Now, I'd say that least 90% of wads, powders, and primers required in shotshell reloading are of out of stock at those warehouses. Interestly, lead and steel shot are both available.

I have decided not to pursue reloading steel shot because my reloading coach has cautioned my about the dangers inherent in steel shotshell reloading. He uses this (1 to 10 ) scale in rating the danger of various types of reloading for a experienced handloader: Bottleneck center fire rifle cartridges he rates at a (1), lead shotshells at (5), and steel shotshells at (10).
When components again become available, I will continue to reload lead, and I will buy factory loaded 12 ga steel shotshells.

[JEBar]

many thanks for taking the time to post your response .... I've never reloaded shotgun shells so I know very little about it

[White Squirrel]

I have my dad's Mossberg bolt action shotgun that is a 16 gauge. Probably made sometime in the late 1940s/early 1950s. He got it in a trade for a 12 gauge side by side around 1955. It has a two-round box magazine and an adjustable choke. That gun has taken a lot of rabbits, squirrels, and a few deer since it came to our family 65 years ago. Not worth a lot of money in the open market, but it is priceless to me. And it is tough to find shells for it.