Dan the 16 gauge has been my gun of choice for the past 25+ years. Great for all upland hunting, light enough to carry all day and with enough killing power for the toughest birds you are likely to encounter. The only draw back is availability of ammunition so to take the fullest advantage of the 16 gauge you may want to consider reloading your own which will give you options to shoot super light 3/4 ounce loads for clay targets up to the occasional 1 1/8th ounce load for wild flushing pheasants on the plains while keeping chamber pressures in a reasonable limit for use in damascus barrels. If you haven't already found it 16GA.com has some valuable information on all aspects of the 16 gauge that my interest you.

You really can't go wrong either way with the barrels type. Buy the gun on it's own merits based on condition & configuration. Personally I love the 16ga & have often said if I had to go down to one shotgun, it would be a 16ga.

I looked along time to find a DH-16 Damascus on an O-frame. I found this one several years ago & had Brad Bachelder restore it. The neat thing is it weighs six pounds even and has full length skeet master 28ga tubes fit to it for a two gauge gun.

Good luck with the hunt for your gun!!

i found some of Steve's listings. I will be contacting him. I am very impressed with Mike's knowledge and professionalism. He seems very honest and sincere about helping me find the right one. Thank you for the referral to Steve. I will let him know you referred him when we speak. We all want to know/trust who we are dealing with. Now its just a matter of picking the right one. Thanks Again C.O.B.

That is very helpful Steve. I DO reload. Do you have a specific load that you use? Powder, grains and shot? I will check out 16GA.com Very helpful Thank You!

Geez GH-16 I'm in awe. That is a beautiful gun. Thanks for the pics because That's the first 16 guage DHE i've seen with them. It looks like they may be hard to find. I may just have to be patient. I really like the looks of the Damascus. What loads do you use ?

This is my DH 16 Damascus on an 0 frame. I bought this from jay at Vintage Firearms while at the Southern a couple of years ago. I only shoot 2 1/2 inch low pressure shells in all of my guns.

Nice Rich. Did you have the barrels redone? They look great. Great wood too!

After reading the excellent article by Sherman Bell on violent proof tests of Damascus a few years back in the Double Gun Journal, I would give Damascus bbls the edge against fluid steel bbls of the same era.
All things being equal, condition wise, I would go with Damascus, every time.
BTW, I go with low pressure loads on any fine SxS, no matter when it a was manufactured.

For my Damascus guns I keep chamber pressure below 9K PSI and have found that Unique works very well in the 16 gauge and is usually available at your local gun store that sells reloading supplies. For hulls I like Federal and Cheddite trimmed to 2 9/16th inches and roll crimped, for wads Gualandi 1621 for 7/8th ounce and 1625 for 1 ounce with Winchester 209 primers. You can find recommended powder weights and many other tested loads by joining the 16 Gauge Reloaders Group, contact information is listed on 16GA.com

I HAVE HAD DEALINGS WITH MIKE SEVERAL TIMES AND HE IS KNOWLEDGEABLE AND FAIR.
WHEN I HAVE A CHOICE IN SHOOTING IN AN EVENT, I ALWAYS TAKE ONE OF MY DAMASCUS GUNS. I WON AN EVENT LAST SUMMER WITH MY 1873 VINTAGE STEPHEN GRANT, JONES LEVER , HAMMERGUN. THE MODERN GUN GUYS WERE AMAZED . I HEARD ONE GUY SAY-- HE WON THIS WITH A GUN THAT LOOKS LIKE IT CAME OVER ON THE "MAYFLOWER"!

FYI IT WAS A 10 GA THAT I HAD CHAMBER LINED TO A 12 GA.