A Pair of Westley Richards 16g Hand Detachable Lock Game Guns.

I think we have only made a handful of pairs of 16g hand detachable lock guns during my time here. As I have mentioned in the past the 16g is a fantastic gauge of gun, filling the position of weight and power so well between the 12g and 20g. The wide variety of cartridges available for 12 and 20 doesn't cover the 16g as well, which has perhaps dampened the popularity of the gauge, that said there is an increasing rather than decreasing offering now available and we seem to be making more 16g guns now than ever previously over the last 30 years.

By Simon Clode

This pair of guns were completed in 2008. The guns have 30" barrels, 15" stocks which are currently cast on and can be altered cast off. The 2 3/4" guns are choked 1/4 & 3/8 in both pairs of barrels and they weigh in at 6lbs 1oz. Bore and barrel measurements are as new.

With the £ value against the $ so low now these guns are a rare and excellent opportunity for an as new cased pair of game guns. This pair of 16g guns are on our used gun site with full selection of detailed photographs.

By Simon Clode

3 Comments

Tim Wilkes on October 13, 2016 at 10:31 pm

The French Chapuis firm recently indicated that they haven’t made a 16 bore sxs or u/o in several years. All the French want is 12s!

The 16 seems to be the new 20 in the UK.

Tim

Reply
- Simon Clode on October 13, 2016 at 10:49 pm
  
  I am afraid that I am not that familiar with the products and have never been to Chapuis and seen their production method. Certainly the 16g would not generate the volume of orders needed for efficient manufacture of the gun 'at a price point'. We build ours on a dedicated action not the 20 or the 12.
  
  I am sure 12g is most popular everywhere in the world including UK and also that there are some French who like 20's and also 28's for their woodcock!
  
  Reply
Lajos on October 18, 2016 at 9:55 am

By some historical reasons 16bore is very common in Hungary, especially for the generation which lived most of his life before the 1990 "revolution". Former communist Germany exported huge number of cheap Merkels, like 47E modells and alike, mostly in 16 bore format, and they are still around. They were a kind of leftover, badly regulated barrells, but you learned to live with what you have, so for a crosser, instead of shooting lets say two yards left/right, you learned to shoot spot on the head for the pheasant zero on the left and four yards for the right :)) Anyhow, they were of course nicely regulated Merkel 147 or especially 147S modells. So 16 is very popular here, and also my favourites, despite I have all the usual commercially available gauges in my safe. In fact the very best concept (for my likeing...) I ever seen is also a Merkel, the famous 1620, a 16 bore buildt on a 20 gauge action. Light-framed, superior delivery. I am very happy that 16 gauge is back to the fashion, and as I can see some dealers like ASI doing a push on it, like bringing more and more 16g Aya's (I also have a 16bore Aya No.53) and Rizzinis to the british market.
Cheers, Lajos

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