doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Has the 16 ga become obsolete?

Bob, did you get your picture in the paper ?

Actually, the worst upland hunting from Canada to Mexico I have experienced in 4 decades.

Here is a good article on the 16 gauge and the 10 gauge which is another underrated gauge

http://www.firearmsnews.com/ammo/decline-10-16-gauge-shotguns/

Well Jagermeister, since you don't own even one lousy double gun, and haven't claimed to own any break-open single shots, it's safe to assume you have no use for home-made hinge pin lube. And nobody here really cares what you and your friends Bob and ed do with "skin friendly jojoba oil and Vaseline." You also misspelled bismuth subsalicylate. No matter though. What you really need is a good laxative since you are so full of bullshit.

I have many tools and good grease can be used to make certain ones easier to use. What I would do is petition Dave Weber limit access only to those that have hight quality classic break-open guns. Will that work. NO. Are you smart enough to figure out why?

Petroleum jelly (Vaseline) has absolutely zero film strength and shear resistance and is a terrible hinge pin lubricant. Mixing any kind of plant oil with it would only make it worse, if that's possible. Anyone who has used break-open shotguns enough to matter would know better than to put such a concoction on the hinge area of these firearms.You continue to reveal yourself as a poseur here, Jager.

I still have some of Pro-Gold grease I bought years ago at Gaylans in Northern Va (sadly replaced by Dick's). The valseline plus gun oil mixture came from some English gun book name of which I do not remember. If say say it's not suitable I will take your word for it, but please note classic gun case nickel plated jars are often referred to as vaseline jars.

I'll stir the pot. If the title of the thread was asking if broccoli is still considered a go-to vegetable, there would no doubt be a minority-based groundswell of vociferous support for that sad little plant.

The 16 ga.? Sadly, yes. There was a time, several generations ago, when a 16 was an intriguing solution to the 12-or-20 question. With the improved choices of 12 and 20 ga. ammunition, it's easier to use either of those gauges to replicate 16 ga. performance, or even leap over the 16 to the other side. It is easy to see why the 16 got pushed to the back.

As to weight advantages, another poster pointed out that pre-war 16s can easily weigh less than a post-war 20. But similarly, 20's can be found to weigh less than a post--war 28. That goes nowhere, really, because it all goes to underscore the question, what do you really want your gun to weigh? There is probably a gun out there in an task-effective, non-16 gauge just waiting to be picked up.

As much as I hold 16s at arm's length, if someone wants to jump in and say that 16s have a certain visual elegance, there's little argument from my corner.

Bottom line. Most everyone here on this thread is a throwback. We can't really argue that a SxS is best design out there, but we embrace its svelte lines, and the things warm our hearts. How close are they to obsolete? Pretty, but out on the fringe of the settlement, some of the people still demand them. And of all the stuff they clamor for, the little broccoli of the group is there by it fingertips. Much the same can be said for the big ten.

I've quit bashing the 16 ga., but have to agree with all your points, Ithaca5E.
JR

Your last para, that we're all throwbacks. Right on! Nearly all my doubles wouldn't get a look on the used-gun racks around here, while we entertain ourselves discussing obsoletes. Nothing wrong with it, of course, as long as we keep grounded in reality. Thanks.

I do not agree with the point made by Ithaca 5E about 12-20 gauge overlap removing the usefulness of the 16 gauge.

In a nation of gun owners who are not satisfied with having no less than two dozen .30 caliber rifle cartridges, and who perpetually see some magic in also moving up or down a few thousandths of an inch in caliber, I'd say there is much more to the decline in popularity of the 16 gauge than cartridge or performance overlap.

I just bought a .32 rimfire falling block Hopkins & Allen rifle. No one is producing ammo for it and ammo that is available is both expensive and collectible. I'm trying to decide whether to keep it all original, or to open the chamber a bit and make a new link to convert it to a centerfire .32 S&W.

We don't have that sort of dilemma with our 16 gauge guns. And the only thing that will ever render them really obsolete is the efforts of anti-gun Democrats.