Left silent for a long time, the 16 gauge has been rediscovering a second life in recent years. Forgotten on the shelves of the armories as it is considered a hybrid between the 12 and 20, today its importance is growing thanks to the many enthusiasts who are promoting it.
Many enthusiasts, in fact, have convinced many gun manufacturers to focus on this object again, so much so that companies like Rizzini and Fair have created over-and-unders ad hoc or Beretta and Franchi have produced weapons in our opinion beautiful.
THE BALISTIC RANGE OF THE 16 GAUGE
Perfect combination of balance and ballistic value, the 16 is an excellent gauge with undisputed ballistic skills.
The lightweight cartridges with 26/27 grams are perfect for the minor migratory of sky larks, turtle doves, northern lapwings or thrushes. The 28 grams, on the other hand, are very effective for medium-sized game. Moving on to 29/32/36 grams, therefore the heaviest charges, ballistics will be effective even in the most insidious conditions, despite the severe recoil that they cause if associated with not too light weapons.
The grammages shown above thus make the 16 gauge very similar to the 12.
GO HUNTING WITH THE 16 GAUGE
The 16 gauge has always been appreciated by hunters, as it is used in almost all its forms and on most of the wild sedentary and migratory.
In practice, in the shorter cartridges are loaded the average grammages with round edge and the denser powders with the star. Here you can load the entire central area of the weights up to the medium heavy doses of the pellets. 67 mm cartridge cases can be used in older shotguns with a short chamber. The 70 ones, on the other hand, are for us the best choice for modern weapons.
As suggested in our guide, combined with the 16 gauge we recommend our Ported +20 mm chokes in both short and long distance shooting, for better yield and reduction of recoil.
THE 16 GAUGE IN SPORT
At the competitive level, the 16 gauge is not particularly adopted. Some clubs organise tournaments open exclusively with shotguns of this gauge. The objective of these competitions, which also involve shooters using Gemini chokes, is to recover and maintain the importance of a gauge now historic able to showcase the capabilities of European gunsmiths.
Whoever says the 16-gauge is a hybrid, let's face it, is wrong. The results speak for themselves, both for handling and practicality. Passionate, as long as you can use it, it's worth it!