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Suddenly, more 16 gauge shells?

2K views 27 replies 11 participants last post by  Drilling Man 
#1 ·
Hey Guys,

There are two large Walmarts within 20 miles of my house. In the past, they stocked no 16 gauge shells.

Suddenly, about 2 months ago, they started to carry lots of 16 gauge shells. They have them in 6, 7.5 and 8, in 1 oz and other loads. They are Winchester and Federal brand.

And, I noticed the same thing at our large Co-op. It has a huge gun and ammo section, and suddenly, there are lots of 16 gauge as well.

So, what is going on here? Dove season is still 3 months away, so it can't be that. Is the 16 making a come-back? Don't think so, since almost no new guns are sold in 16 gauge.

Thoughts? Maybe the sporting goods market is so tight, and each store is so interested in making that one extra dollar, that they have decided to take a gamble and devote two feet of shelf space to 16 gauge? (prices run $9.00 to $12.00 per box).

Maybe they have figured out that their customers are primarily hunters, not clay shooters, and that they don't need to carry twenty different types of 12 gauge and 20 different types of 20 gauge shells.


Mannyrock
 
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#2 ·
jmho- there were always a lot of old perfectly serviceable 16 gauge guns sitting in various homes unused because
of ammo availability. now, paw-paw has died and passed on his guns, or junior decided to sell daddy's old guns
that he inherited and never had any interest in, etc.
basically i think there has been more inquiries for ammo for older guns lately and that drove the market to
supply it. i've seen more "old" ammo here lately myself. when i started hunting, you didn't go pick up a box
of 25-35 off the shelf. you sure could have here last week.
 
#3 ·
Ranger,

Interesting comment. I read yesterday that back in 1952, 25% of all shotguns sold in America were 16 gauge. The one and only shotgun my father ever bought was in 1959, and it was a Remington Wingmaster in 16 gauge.

So, maybe, tens of thousands of guys born in the 1930s, who were in their 20s in the 1950s and bought these guns, are now passing away, and these guns are coming out of the closets and gun cabinets.

Folks can rave about how great the 20 gauge is, but they are not good dove killers out at 40+ yards, because they are a compromise. I routinely bang down dove at 40 to 45 yards with a 12 gauge, but would like to go just a bit lighter cause I'm getting old. A 16 gauge with 1 oz load sounds perfect. Never had one, but they look good on paper.

Mannyrock
 
#4 ·
the only long guns my paternal grandpa and the one of his
brothers that i ever knew had were sweet sixteen auto shotguns.
those were what they used for everything including the few
deer they killed. (there still weren't that many deer in that part
of east Texas while they were growing up- they'd been killed
out for the family table) i never remember them commenting
on being undergunned for anything they shot. i can remember
going into the dry goods store on the square with paw-paw when i was really
young and buying shotshells by the piece. they would still do that
back then
 
#5 ·
I think it might be the loosening of the Obama induced ammo shortage. When people were in full panic mode and buying two lifetime supplies of ammo, manufacturers stopped the seasonal runs of low demand ammo and poured out all the high demand ammo they could produce. I haven't seen .250 Savage ammo, for example, for sale for a few years now. I think maybe 16 gauge ammo was in the same boat.
 
#7 ·
I've noticed lots of 16 gauge ammo at local Walmarts as well which makes me happy since all of my shotgun hunting is done with a 16 gauge. The 1 oz. 16 gauge load is a perfect balance between pattern and recoil. Federal ammo is my favorite in 16 gauge.
 
#9 ·
There should be more popularity to his gauge

Hey Guys,

There are two large Walmarts within 20 miles of my house. In the past, they stocked no 16 gauge shells.

Suddenly, about 2 months ago, they started to carry lots of 16 gauge shells. They have them in 6, 7.5 and 8, in 1 oz and other loads. They are Winchester and Federal brand.

And, I noticed the same thing at our large Co-op. It has a huge gun and ammo section, and suddenly, there are lots of 16 gauge as well.

So, what is going on here? Dove season is still 3 months away, so it can't be that. Is the 16 making a come-back? Don't think so, since almost no new guns are sold in 16 gauge.

Thoughts? Maybe the sporting goods market is so tight, and each store is so interested in making that one extra dollar, that they have decided to take a gamble and devote two feet of shelf space to 16 gauge? (prices run $9.00 to $12.00 per box).

Maybe they have figured out that their customers are primarily hunters, not clay shooters, and that they don't need to carry twenty different types of 12 gauge and 20 different types of 20 gauge shells.


Mannyrock
My only lament is I do not yet have this gauge and should
 
#10 ·
j.f.g. i stopped at one of the local big box "sporting goods"
stores on the way home. they had 50 some-odd assorted
boxes of 16 gauge shotshells. (there were more- i stopped counting at 50)
 
#13 ·
There's lots of good classic O/U and SXS 16 gauges still out there. Lefevers, Fox Sterlingworth, etc. Another good one is Joseph Saive out of Belgium. He was Browning's understudy at FN but also had his own company that made shotguns. I had a Charles Daly branded Saive 16 gauge O/U years ago, it was a thing of beauty. It weighed 6 lbs. even. I had to sell it a few years ago to pay some bills but I'd like to find another one someday. The classics are much nicer than anything made today.

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#12 ·
I looked in my safe after reading this thread and I counted 3 16 ga doubles, one single shot, and I've been looking at another sweet 16. The 16 ga is alive & well in the Deep South. Always has been and always will be. I can walk into most hardware stores and buy 16 ga shells by the case, all I want. It just took Walmart a little time to figure that out.
 
#14 ·
It's the same way here in old fashioned New England. Every gun shop you walk into has 16 gauge shells.

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#21 ·
Fox Model B is a good, affordable option. I've seen good deals on A.H. Fox SXS 16 gauges but those are definitely more than a model B. The Lefever Nitro that was mentioned is another good one.

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#17 · (Edited)
Model 24 winchesters can still be found for under $600 too I believe. I hunted with a Winchester model 24, 16ga the first few years after I got married. It was a nice shotgun. Bird shot in the left barrel and buckshot in the right worked pretty good for these Florida woods. It was a double trigger gun so you just picked the trigger according to the game that got up in front of you.
 
#19 ·
16 gauge

I was raised on the 16 gauge. All dad and I had. My first was a H&R single barrel, dad had a Model 11 Remmy. In those days we had about a dozen covey of Bobwhite quail around our and surrounding farms. Then I got a Winchester M12 in 16ga. and later a M37 Ithaca. We put 'em to good use on 'ol Bob. Later years, after the Quail disappeared, used the lightweight Ithaca to hunt grouse up in the mountains until my wheels gave out. Still have the Ithaca and single barrel.
Walt
 
#22 ·
Thanks for the info guys. I'm gonna go forth here and hi-jack my own thread.

I've never looked at a Lefever Nitro, until online today. To me, they look exactly like the Stevens 311s and 5100s. My problem with those is, that when you open the action, the action springs back and closes up a bit, and you can't slide the shells in unless you physically flex the action back open all of the way.

So, as to the Lefevers,

1. Do these have the same problems as the Stevens guns as far as opening?

2. And, what other problems to do they have?

3. How can they go for so cheap. I see apparently VG and VG+ 16 gauges online, no cracks, with buy-now prices of only $450 to $550. You can barely buy a junker Fox sxs made in the terrible quality years of the late 1970s for that. So, what gives as to the Lefevers?

Thanks for all info.

Mannyrock
 
#24 ·
When I read this manny I happened to have 2 410 double shotguns sitting by my chair. One a Stevens 311 and the other a lefever nitro. So I broke open the Stevens. It was as you said needing to be pushed a little more open to get the shells in. The lefever broke open and remained open far enough to load without any pressure to open it further.
 
#23 ·
It's been many years since I had a Nitro Special, but to the best of my recollection the action does NOT spring back partially when opened.

The reason they're reasonably priced is because, as of yet, there is no collector interest in them. And there is no "snob appeal" like with the Parkers, L.C. Smith, etc.

They were plain-Jane working guns. The action is the predecessor to the Ithaca NID (New Ithaca Double) and in no way is like the Savage/Stevens economy guns.
 
#26 ·
Thanks for the info guys. I would really like to get a 16 gauge sxs, but I would want one with absolutely zero problems. I am sick and tired of buying "projects" when I thought I was getting something problem free.

There is a great article online, called "How to Buy a SXS Shotgun Right." The guy gives a list of 21 separate things he inspects on used sxs, and how to physically do all of this at a gunshow. Given that most of the mid to lower grade classic doubles were used hard by hunters and are now approaching 70 years old, I get the impression that not 1 in a hundred guns I would examine at a show would pass the 21 point inspection.

This kind of pushes me into the 1960s to 1970s Matadors and Ugartecheas. The Ugartecheas imported by American Firearms Co. in California are often listed online in 12 gauge, in very very good shape, in the $600 range, and every thing I read about them says they are excellent. They were made in 16 gauge, but the only 16 I ever saw was something like a grade 3 for nearly $1,800.

The Matadors seem to be highly regarded as well, but their stocks look someone cheaper.

Of course, I would love to have a high grade Fox Model B made in 1949 or 50 instead, but finding one that isn't broken in one of the 21 ways seems doubtful.

I see a new in box 16 gauge Ringneck for sale for around $1,200 but given the hit or miss quality of some of these, I just can't see spending that kind of money. Many are nice guns, but some get reported as shooting a foot right or left of high, or having firing pin problems. If you are not the original buyer, CZ won't fix them for free, and sometimes just won't fix them at all.

Mannyrock
 
#28 ·
The Ugartecheas imported by American Firearms Co. in California are often listed online in 12 gauge, in very very good shape, in the $600 range, and every thing I read about them says they are excellent.
Last I heard, lower grade Ugartecheas are no longer brought in, AND the prices on them instantly climbed!

Good doubles, but you may now have to LOOK for any kind of a deal on one.

DM
 
#27 ·
From my reading I think a lot of the problemdoubles are the single trigger ones. Stick with double triggers and just make shire the gunlocks up tight and the barrels are joined solid and your good to go.

21 points indeed.....
 
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