16ga

[Victor Wasylyna]

My love for the 16ga is fading. I now feel that 10ga guns are for waterfowl, 12ga guns are for clays (if desperate, waterfowl), and upland birds deserve a 20ga or, even better, a 28ga. 410s rock, and should be used whenever reasonable.

-Victor

[6pt-Sika]

Originally Posted by Victor Wasylyna

My love for the 16ga is fading. I now feel that 10ga guns are for waterfowl, 12ga guns are for clays (if desperate, waterfowl), and upland birds deserve a 20ga or, even better, a 28ga. 410s rock, and should be used whenever reasonable.

-Victor

I’m kinda of the 10 for everything school but I’ve pared a bunch of stuff off and my smallest gauge is a 12

[6pt-Sika]

I had a very nice VHE 0 frame 26” double trigger 16 that was a lovely quail gun , I had a quite nice VHE 1 frame 26” straight grip single trigger BT skeet gun that was a joy to shoot . But the best clays 16 I ever had was a DH 16 2 frame 32” gun that was if memory serves 39/1000’s in both barrels . Had a nice VH 1 frame 30” tightly choked that I killed a fair amount of December dove with . And last but not least I had a Grade 0 TL one frame 30” that did very well on the clays course .

[SXS OHIO]

I started hunting roosters out in Kansas in 2008. I had added a set of Merkel 16gauge barrels to my DT-PG-SF Parker reproduction 20 gauge. Galazan had them made and I sent my gun to them, and they fitted up a set and numbered them to my gun. These are great barrels be the way! Choke is very important for my rooster set up. I had them open the right barrel from mod to IC .009 and left the full barrel as it came. The full barrel is actually .031 or X-full in 16 gauge. I like them over the Kreghoff barrels because the full is only .024 of choke and that is .002 under spec for full choke in 16 gauge. This gun comes in at 6lbs-4oz with the 28" 16-s in place, SWEET. This gun fits me and swats down roosters.....(-: I shoot Fiocchi 5# HV and don't bother switching shells when we find Quail as the 5-s do a great job, have never shot up a bird with 5-s in the IC barrel and by the time I shoot the x-full barrel the birds are out there anyway. I have shot 2 true doubles on wild Quail in Kansas and a true combo of a rooster and a Quail. I do not think a lesser gauge would perform like my 16 does in Kansas on them tuff to kill roosters. Great news after several years of drought in Kansas the birds are back!!! I love those Kansas combo hunts with the wild quail. If Kansas has a good hatch and the weather cooperates, I will be out there tromping the fields with my two young setters this Nov/Dec 2026...(be the Lord willing). SXS Ohio