Arkansas Sportsman

Obscure firm introduces 3-inch, 16-gauge shotgun

Only one frontier remains in the shotgun world, and only one manufacturer is poised to cross it.

That frontier is the 16-gauge, which is all but extinct thanks to a couple of factors. One is the lack of a 16-gauge class in competitive skeet shooting. The 3-inch 20-gauge cartridge is the other.

For decades, 16-gauge enthusiasts have had ammunition manufacturers make a 3-inch 16-gauge cartridge. That's a chicken-or-egg proposition because ammo makers are not inclined to develop new cartridges for guns that do not exist, nor are gunmakers inclined to build guns for ammo that doesn't exist.

That dynamic was different when the 3-inch 20 came along because Winchester and Remington also make ammo, and were thus positioned to provide new platforms to shoot it.

Browning is currently the only major gunmaker to offer a new 16-gauge, but its new Sweet 16 has only the traditional 2 3/4-inch chamber. Browning has its own brand of shotgun ammo, but it does not actually make its own ammo.

There is, however, a new 16-gauge is available with a 3-inch chamber. It is the Barrett Sovereign/Rutherford, a fine over/under shotgun on a true 16-gauge frame that costs $2,500. That's about $600 more than a Beretta 686 Silver Pigeon, Browning Citori or Benelli 828, and about the same as a Beretta 690 or a Grade III Weatherby Athena.

It is curious that an obscure gunmaker like Barrett would be the first to chamber a 3-inch 16-gauge. Only one reason makes sense. If a 3-inch 16-gauge cartridge ever comes into being, Barrett's guns will not be obsolete.

Whether a 3-inch 16 is truly a frontier is debatable. The 16-gauge was originally a 2½-inch shell, and that configuration provided the 16-gauge's legendary payload to power balance. You could argue that lengthening the 16 to 2 ¾ inches was its 3-inch equivalent.

That was a long time ago, though. Inertia has made the 16 seem stodgy, stale and unexciting compared to the 20-gauge.

Nowadays it's hard to find a 20-gauge that doesn't have a 3-inch chamber, even though most hunters don't use 3-inch shells. It's like that with 12-gauge enthusiasts, too. Most of us snub 3 1/2-inch, 12-gauge shells because they deal out more punishment to the shooter than to the target but we still want guns with 3 ½-inch chambers because, well, just because.

Critics of the longer shells say they contribute to inconsistent patterns in both the 12 and 20, but look at all the high performance ammo you can get for 3-inch 20-gauges. There's Hypersonic Steel and all kinds of Hevi-Shot loads, as well as some wondrous turkey loads, and 3-inch slug loads for deer hunting.

If you want to hunt waterfowl with 16-gauge, you are generally limited to 15/16 ounce of steel leaving the muzzle at 1,350 feet per second. The speed is good, but the payload is not. And, one box costs about $23.

That is the load I used Thursday during the Purple Hull Duck Hunt at Bayou Meto WMA. The main things you have to remember with such limited firepower is that the lethal range is a lot shorter than it is with a 3-inch 12-gauge, or even a 2 3/4-inch 12-gauge.

Also, you have to lead ducks farther than with faster payloads with muzzle velocities of 1,500 fps or better. Repetition and experience have conditioned me to lead pheasants and doves properly with a 16, but for waterfowl, I am conditioned to the 12 gauge.

Consequently, I shot behind all my ducks Thursday.

If you need to reach out farther and faster, you can get 1 1/4-ounce Hevi-Shot loads with muzzle velocities of around 1,300 fps. At $4 per shell ($40/box), you have to really want it a lot.

On the other hand, 16-gauge enthusiasts pride themselves on being one shot/one kill artists. In no setting does a Sixteener ever fire as many shells as the average 12-gauge waterfowler.

I do not clamor for a 3-inch 16 gauge. I am very happy with 2 3/4-inch shells, and I am very effective with them in upland bird haunts and dove fields.

If a 3-inch 16 ever comes to fruition, I will not be in a hurry to buy one because its only application for me would be duck hunting, and I love the duck guns I already have.

If the 3-inch 16 never comes to fruition, the Barrett Sovereign Rutherford could be a great investment. Such oddities, if they are short-lived, often become very valuable.

Sports on 01/15/2017

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