In my youth (in Southern Illinois) the 16 gauge was dying out a bit, you hardly saw them in the field. My uncle still carried a 16 gauge '97 Winchester for squirrels and I had my ever present Lefever Nitro special but we were the only steady 16 gauge shooters I knew.
My uncle quit carrying his when he went to unload it one day and in jacking out the shells the hammer slipped causing the gun to discharge and he blew the windshield out of his nearly pickup truck. Another uncle was with him and said it was pricelessly funny (to him) once they realized nobody was dead.
The sear was apparently badly worn. He took the gun to a couple gunsmiths and they wouldn't work on it saying the '97 pumps were too dangerous. My guess is that statement was bleed over from the Marlin hammered pump guns that actually were.
DLH
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I was as virtuously given as a gentleman need to be; virtuous enough; swore little; diced not above seven times a week; went to a bawdy-house once in a quarter--of an hour; paid money that I borrowed, three of four times; lived well and in good compass: and now I live out of all order, out of all compass. Falstaff - Henry IV
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