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bamaranger · March 8, 2018, 08:50 PM

My Dad was a 16 ga man, and there were several shotguns so chambered that resided at our place over the years. Dad never was one to spend too much on guns or accessories, the one that remained and is in my possession is a Savave/Stevens 67. I also have several boxes of Dad's old ammo, and among those are 16 ga "short magnums" throwing 1-1/4 oz of shot. Those old loads, if they patterned, would be good turkey loads at reasonable ranges and the equal of a standard 12 ga heavy field load. The two boxes of16 ga short mags
in my collection are Remington #2 shot, and I think Federal #6.

The 1-1/8 and 1-1/4 oz 16 ga loads are often criticized as producing poor patterns, and too much recoil for a 16 ga. There were/are a number of good 16 ga guns made back in the day. I often see 870's and Auto 5's in 16ga in the used gun racks. Likely a pipe dream, but one of the big ammo makers should come up with a line of premium/specialty 16 ga heavy loads to boost the 16 ga. Even the current "heavy" 16 ga load, the 1-1/8 load, with the simple addition of buffered shot would likely improve the 16 as a gobbler gun. With the price point ammo commonly found, its no wonder the 16 ga languishes.

March 8, 2018, 08:50 PM	#10
bamaranger Senior Member Join Date: October 9, 2009 Location: North Alabama Posts: 8,312	back in the day My Dad was a 16 ga man, and there were several shotguns so chambered that resided at our place over the years. Dad never was one to spend too much on guns or accessories, the one that remained and is in my possession is a Savave/Stevens 67. I also have several boxes of Dad's old ammo, and among those are 16 ga "short magnums" throwing 1-1/4 oz of shot. Those old loads, if they patterned, would be good turkey loads at reasonable ranges and the equal of a standard 12 ga heavy field load. The two boxes of16 ga short mags in my collection are Remington #2 shot, and I think Federal #6. The 1-1/8 and 1-1/4 oz 16 ga loads are often criticized as producing poor patterns, and too much recoil for a 16 ga. There were/are a number of good 16 ga guns made back in the day. I often see 870's and Auto 5's in 16ga in the used gun racks. Likely a pipe dream, but one of the big ammo makers should come up with a line of premium/specialty 16 ga heavy loads to boost the 16 ga. Even the current "heavy" 16 ga load, the 1-1/8 load, with the simple addition of buffered shot would likely improve the 16 as a gobbler gun. With the price point ammo commonly found, its no wonder the 16 ga languishes.