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Despite hard times, 16 gauge shotgun survives
By DOUG SMITH
September 17, 2005
There was a time not long ago, Grant Fackler says, when some predicted the 16 gauge shotgun would disappear.
But as Mark Twain said: "The report of my death was an exaggeration."
While the 12-gauge shotgun has become ubiquitous for American hunters, the 16 gauge hasn't gone extinct. In fact, it is alive and well, nurtured by a small band of 16 gauge advocates.
Some major U.S. gun manufacturers, including Ithaca, Browning and Remington, have produced 16 gauge shotguns in recent years. And the gauge remains popular in Europe.
"The 12 gauge obviously is the most dominant shotgun in America, but there's a lot of guys out there really clamoring for production of these 16 gauge guns," said Fackler, 40, who, with his brother, Kurt, operates Ballistic Products Inc. of Corcoran, Minn. The firm sells ammunition, reloading equipment and other gun supplies.
"We definitely are selling more 16-gauge ammunition," he said. "It's esoteric, but there's a nationwide cadre of 16 gauge shooters."
What's the allure?
For one, the 16 gauge, which obviously falls between the 12 and the 20 gauge in bore size, generally is lighter than a 12 gauge.
"It's a great upland gun. I like the nimbleness, how it feels, how it mounts," Fackler said. "It can be significantly lighter. And that's important if you're walking after wily ringnecks all day.
"And you're carrying lighter ammunition in your pockets, too."
Yet it has more pop than a 20 gauge, No. 2 in popularity.
Fackler's dad, Dave, 71, who founded the company, also loves the 16 gauge for upland hunting: "The 16 gauge is just sweet; it's the Sweet 16."
Dave Fackler said the 16 gauge's popularity probably peaked right after World War II. Pheasants were booming, and the 16 gauge was ideal. It was No. 2 in popularity, with about 25 percent of the market, compared with 50 percent for the 12 gauge.
In Minnesota, the 16 gauge also was used by duck hunters. At that time, of course, lead shot still was legal for waterfowl.
"Minnesota used to be a big bluebill state," Dave Fackler said. "The 16 gauge and the bluebill is a perfect match, because you have a gun that swings fast. Bluebills go by a duck blind like a Russian rocket.
"A high-speed swing is important with a high-speed bird."
That's why the gun also was popular for ruffed grouse and woodcock.
The 16 gauge fell out of favor for several reasons.
The pheasant population plummeted with the change in agricultural practices, and hunters learned that a 12 gauge could better reach those long-flushing late-season birds. Duck hunting became more mallard-oriented, Fackler said. And, more recently, the Canada goose population exploded, as has interest in hunting those big birds.
"The 12 gauge really gained ground," Dave Fackler said. "It could do more."
Another major blow: the required switch from lead shot to steel or other nontoxic shot for waterfowl hunting. Steel ruined the barrels of 16 gauge shotguns.
"When the lead shot ban came, it hurt, because for a long time there was only steel, and these old 16 gauges were not well equipped to handle steel," Grant Fackler said.
Then there was the development of shotgun shell technology: the 20 gauge benefited more than the 16 gauge from shell improvements, including the 3-inch 20 gauge shell
As 16 gauge use foundered, the availability of 16 gauge ammunition also became an issue. Many stores simply didn't carry it. And even though many ammunition companies make 16 gauge shotgun shells today, hunters who shoot them have to be conscious of the availability.
Run out of 16 gauge ammo while hunting pheasants in the middle of nowhere, and you might have a problem.
But the 16 gauge refuses to go away. Major firearms companies still occasionally crank out some. Sixteen gauge aficionados like the Facklers - and groups like the 16 Gauge Society (www.16ga.com) - continue to try to keep the 16 gauge alive. The 16 Gauge Society, based in California, has about 300 members nationwide, said Doug Oliver of Santa Monica, Calif., who started the organization last year.
There likely will always be a niche for the 16 gauge shooter. But it's doubtful the 16 gauge will ever recover its long-lost glory.
That's because the 12 gauge clearly is entrenched as the gun of choice.
For Federal Cartridge Corp. in Anoka, 16 gauge ammo still comprises a tiny market share, said spokesman Jason Nash. The 16 gauge represents about 4 percent of upland shell sales, he said. In comparison, the 12 gauge is 80 percent of sales, and the 20 gauge is about 15 percent. Consider all Federal shotgun shell sales, and the 16 gauge has even a smaller share.
"Overall, we're talking less than 1 percent," Nash said. "There was a slight blip when a couple new 16 gauges were introduced a few years ago. But you'd have to go back to the 1960s or 1970s before you'd see the 16 gauge holding a larger share of the market."
Major gunmakers echo those comments.
"The demand is very minimal," said Paul Thompson, spokesman for Browning. "We reintroduced the Sweet 16 in the late '80s for a few years and dropped it in 1992."
A couple of years ago, some dealers placed an order large enough to spur limited production of some 16 gauge shotguns, Thompson said.
"Right now, it's not a growing market," he said. "There's a following there, but it's sporadic. I doubt you'll ever see us produce it (16 gauge) as a regular production gun again."
Grant Fackler and others remain undeterred. He shoots a 16 gauge Browning over-and-under.
"I love shooting it and swinging it; it feels like an extension of my arms," he said.
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/outdoors/article/0,1406,KNS_326_4083460,00.html
By DOUG SMITH
September 17, 2005
There was a time not long ago, Grant Fackler says, when some predicted the 16 gauge shotgun would disappear.
But as Mark Twain said: "The report of my death was an exaggeration."
While the 12-gauge shotgun has become ubiquitous for American hunters, the 16 gauge hasn't gone extinct. In fact, it is alive and well, nurtured by a small band of 16 gauge advocates.
Some major U.S. gun manufacturers, including Ithaca, Browning and Remington, have produced 16 gauge shotguns in recent years. And the gauge remains popular in Europe.
"The 12 gauge obviously is the most dominant shotgun in America, but there's a lot of guys out there really clamoring for production of these 16 gauge guns," said Fackler, 40, who, with his brother, Kurt, operates Ballistic Products Inc. of Corcoran, Minn. The firm sells ammunition, reloading equipment and other gun supplies.
"We definitely are selling more 16-gauge ammunition," he said. "It's esoteric, but there's a nationwide cadre of 16 gauge shooters."
What's the allure?
For one, the 16 gauge, which obviously falls between the 12 and the 20 gauge in bore size, generally is lighter than a 12 gauge.
"It's a great upland gun. I like the nimbleness, how it feels, how it mounts," Fackler said. "It can be significantly lighter. And that's important if you're walking after wily ringnecks all day.
"And you're carrying lighter ammunition in your pockets, too."
Yet it has more pop than a 20 gauge, No. 2 in popularity.
Fackler's dad, Dave, 71, who founded the company, also loves the 16 gauge for upland hunting: "The 16 gauge is just sweet; it's the Sweet 16."
Dave Fackler said the 16 gauge's popularity probably peaked right after World War II. Pheasants were booming, and the 16 gauge was ideal. It was No. 2 in popularity, with about 25 percent of the market, compared with 50 percent for the 12 gauge.
In Minnesota, the 16 gauge also was used by duck hunters. At that time, of course, lead shot still was legal for waterfowl.
"Minnesota used to be a big bluebill state," Dave Fackler said. "The 16 gauge and the bluebill is a perfect match, because you have a gun that swings fast. Bluebills go by a duck blind like a Russian rocket.
"A high-speed swing is important with a high-speed bird."
That's why the gun also was popular for ruffed grouse and woodcock.
The 16 gauge fell out of favor for several reasons.
The pheasant population plummeted with the change in agricultural practices, and hunters learned that a 12 gauge could better reach those long-flushing late-season birds. Duck hunting became more mallard-oriented, Fackler said. And, more recently, the Canada goose population exploded, as has interest in hunting those big birds.
"The 12 gauge really gained ground," Dave Fackler said. "It could do more."
Another major blow: the required switch from lead shot to steel or other nontoxic shot for waterfowl hunting. Steel ruined the barrels of 16 gauge shotguns.
"When the lead shot ban came, it hurt, because for a long time there was only steel, and these old 16 gauges were not well equipped to handle steel," Grant Fackler said.
Then there was the development of shotgun shell technology: the 20 gauge benefited more than the 16 gauge from shell improvements, including the 3-inch 20 gauge shell
As 16 gauge use foundered, the availability of 16 gauge ammunition also became an issue. Many stores simply didn't carry it. And even though many ammunition companies make 16 gauge shotgun shells today, hunters who shoot them have to be conscious of the availability.
Run out of 16 gauge ammo while hunting pheasants in the middle of nowhere, and you might have a problem.
But the 16 gauge refuses to go away. Major firearms companies still occasionally crank out some. Sixteen gauge aficionados like the Facklers - and groups like the 16 Gauge Society (www.16ga.com) - continue to try to keep the 16 gauge alive. The 16 Gauge Society, based in California, has about 300 members nationwide, said Doug Oliver of Santa Monica, Calif., who started the organization last year.
There likely will always be a niche for the 16 gauge shooter. But it's doubtful the 16 gauge will ever recover its long-lost glory.
That's because the 12 gauge clearly is entrenched as the gun of choice.
For Federal Cartridge Corp. in Anoka, 16 gauge ammo still comprises a tiny market share, said spokesman Jason Nash. The 16 gauge represents about 4 percent of upland shell sales, he said. In comparison, the 12 gauge is 80 percent of sales, and the 20 gauge is about 15 percent. Consider all Federal shotgun shell sales, and the 16 gauge has even a smaller share.
"Overall, we're talking less than 1 percent," Nash said. "There was a slight blip when a couple new 16 gauges were introduced a few years ago. But you'd have to go back to the 1960s or 1970s before you'd see the 16 gauge holding a larger share of the market."
Major gunmakers echo those comments.
"The demand is very minimal," said Paul Thompson, spokesman for Browning. "We reintroduced the Sweet 16 in the late '80s for a few years and dropped it in 1992."
A couple of years ago, some dealers placed an order large enough to spur limited production of some 16 gauge shotguns, Thompson said.
"Right now, it's not a growing market," he said. "There's a following there, but it's sporadic. I doubt you'll ever see us produce it (16 gauge) as a regular production gun again."
Grant Fackler and others remain undeterred. He shoots a 16 gauge Browning over-and-under.
"I love shooting it and swinging it; it feels like an extension of my arms," he said.
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/outdoors/article/0,1406,KNS_326_4083460,00.html
