What can you kill with a 16 gauge?

A 16 will hammer a deer or bear. Keep em at 50 yards if you can hit a decent group. 100 if it will group that far. Well a slug for deer would be more effective but a 16 gauge is bigger than a 20 gauge and smaller than a 12 so no its not under-powered by any stretch.

What is a 16ga shotgun used for?

While it’s certainly a capable all-around shotgun gauge suitable for deer, turkey, and duck hunting, the 16 gauge is most often used in the United States for hunting small and upland game like pheasant, quail, dove, grouse, rabbit, and squirrel.

Can you kill a bear with a 16 gauge shotgun?

Short answer is yes. As the gauge goes down the stopping power and effective range go up; 20 gauge adequate, 16 gauge better, 12 gauge even better. Also a minimum of dbl barrel, IMO, Murphy’s Law applies to hunting too.

Can you deer hunt 16 gauge?

16-gauges gauges can get the job done, and 20-gauge shotguns are easier for smaller hunters, but almost every deer hunter during shotgun season is toting a 12-gauge shotgun, while some will go even larger with a 10-gauge.

Is it worth buying a 16-gauge shotgun?

A few shotgun manufacturers offered up 16-gauge guns for the diehard fans, but many of those guns were built on 12-gauge frames. The 16-gauge is an ideal upland gun. It carries like a 20-gauge, but hits like a 12. The 16-gauge might have died if it weren’t such an excellent upland load.

What is the range of a 16-gauge slug?

When used in choked barrels, this is a very effective load for medium-sized game at ranges of up to 35 / 36 metres.

Will a 410 shotgun slug kill a bear?

A 410 slug is very light for caliber and penetration will be poor. Can a 410 slug kill a bear? Yes, but the odds of it happening in an acceptable amount of time are not good.

Is the 16-gauge shotgun obsolete?

First, the (sort-of) good news: the 16 gauge shotgun has been dying the same slow death now for about 50 years and it’s not dead yet. It has just made a strategic withdrawal, becoming more of a cult gun and a favorite of smart upland hunters and those willing to load for it.

Is the 16 gauge shotgun good for deer hunting?

When it comes to deer, I can tell you that my deer hunting 16 gauge has performed flawlessly on whitetails and accounted for several trophies including a nice 10 point buck that dropped in his tracks from a 35 yard shot. Lastly, as far as home defense goes, works well though is not without criticism in this respect.

What kind of shotgun do I need to hunt deer?

The rare ones include the 10 gauge and 410 bore. The recoil from a 12-gauge shotgun is lesser than the 20 gauge. If you can’t handle the 12- gauge recoil, then switch to a higher one. Hunting will include walking around with the gun a lot. If your shotgun is heavy, then you will get tired.

Which is the smallest size shotgun for hunting?

From left: .410, 28-gauge, 20-gauge, 16-gauge, 12-gauge, 10-gauge. Shotguns are sized according to the bore diameter. The smallest shotgun used for hunting purposes is the .410 for rabbits and squirrels, typically, while the largest is the 10 gauge for geese and swans.

How big is a 20 gauge hunting shotgun?

Shotguns that use the term “gauge,” such as 10-gauge, 12-gauge, and 20-gauge, rely on an arcane system that correlates the bore diameter to how many lead spheres of that size it would take to make a pound of weight. A 20-gauge shotgun has a bore diameter of.615 inches, and 20 lead balls of that size would weigh one pound.