What about ammo for a 16? Hard to find? more money?
Only 16 I ever shot was a old Winchester model 97.
Pump gun with a outside action and a exposed hammer.
I thought it was kind of dangerous!
Ammo certainly isn’t as common as 12 gauge, but I don’t find it particularly hard to find. The selection is more limited generally, but I’ve never had trouble finding it when I wanted it.
Browning is coming out with its own line of 16 gauge ammo to support the gauge, so if anything, selection and availability will improve.
There isn’t the VAST range of loads and configurations available compared to 12 gauge, but in the bounds of reality, very few of us are going to hunt ducks or turkey with a 16. In all reality, this is an upland gauge and that’s where the bulk of the load selections are focused.
16 gauge is a little more expensive, but in this day and age, for hunting the cost of ammo is a laughably small part of expense ledger. I’m sure I spend more on egg McMuffins every year while driving to various hunting endeavors than I spend on ammo.
Your Winchester 1897 is a classic of design from the Golden Age of American hunting arms designs. If you don’t already know, it will interest you that your 1897 has the same father as the Sweet 16. They are both John Moses Browning designs.
A 16 gauge 1897 in good condition is relatively rare, and certainly an incredible piece of firearms history that should be cherished and held on to. It is hard to convey what a marvel these firearms were in their time. If you look at the prices that Winchester charged back when these guns were new, it gives a sense of just how these guns were positioned at the time–on the top shelf with what today we consider much “higher end” firearms.
I have my great grandfather’s 1897, he bought it new in 1903 or 04. It cost him a significant sum for the time. My grandfather recalled years later that in Edvard’s hands, the 1897 inspired awe and envy. It’s choked a very tight full and it stones birds with tremendous authority. Obviously, the fact that it had 5 shots on tap would not have escaped anyone’s notice at the time, either.
The exposed hammer is what it is, and I think it’s good for all hunters to experience where we came from to understand where we are. At the time, no one thought twice about this because in all of mechanical-ignition history guns had never NOT had a hammer.
Grouse
