I've liked the 16 gauge since I was a kid. We had a 16 gauge double around the house, but before I got gun-savvy enough to figure out what it was my soon-to-be-ex-brother-in-law made off with it.

In the 40-something years since I've owned a few shotguns, but never another 16. A few weeks ago I ran across a Stevens 311A at an ABQ gunshop and it was like meeting up with an old friend. I put it on layaway and hinted at what a great idea it would be to have it for Father's Day.

My evil plan worked to perfection:





Its as work-a-day as they come: Hardwood stock, 28" barrels, choked I-don't-know on one side and you-got-me on the other. No serial number, and a date code indicating a DOB in 1965.





We're moving back to Looziana next year, and I plan to make this my bird-shootin' truck gun.









I think its gonna be up to the job. And there's something about those purple shells that makes me happy.

__________________
“What you got, ain’t new.”

Nothing sweeter than a 16 ga side by side. Very nice catch, and photos.

YOU COULDN'T HAVE MADE A BETTER CHOICE.. THE 16 GAUGE WILL DO ANYTHING YOU NEED DONE...,.,YOUR CHOKES ARE PROBABLY FULL AND MODIFIED., JUST MEASURE THE BORES AT THE MUZZLE...THEY MIGHT BE STAMPED UNDER THE FOREARM...TIN...

Nice gun, the 311's are work horses and very rugged for the price. Larry

Great gun! I have a sweet spot for 16s too. My Dad and I won/killed a LOT of turkeys with that gun!

I like that side by side of yours.
Only 16 i ever owned was a Browning A-5.
It had the classic browning shotgun finish on the wood and was as
shiny as a chrome bumper on a 55 Cadillac.
My so called hunting buddies one day talked me into doing a camo
job on the entire gun so i could use it waterfowl hunting.
We got some leaves and brown and green spray paint and went at it.
Completely destroyed any and all collector value but it was a good
duck gun after that with full choke tube installed.
My hunting buddies still razz me about it to this day.
Good times !!

Chuck

__________________
They hold no Quarter

If the barrels are 28" they are most likely choked Modified and Full

Great guns, those Savage 311 series. I grew up shooting them. I think I grew around them like a tree grows around a fence. I shoot them better than one should.

I love the 16ga, too! You a member at 16ga.com?

__________________
War Eagle! '10 BCS & '13 SEC

I have a 311 that my dad gave me for Christmas in 1968. It's a 12ga, with full and modified chokes...I have hunted small game and deer with it the past 40+ years. I refinished the stock about twenty years ago. Its as tight as ever and patterns fine...Yes, its a plain and basic shotgun but it does what it was designed for very well. I have had many more expensive and sophisticated shotguns but I still love the old 311 and it will never go...Congratulations, you are a lucky father!

Sweet lil' gun! I had a 16 gauge Fox B side-by-side...that is until my youngest son decided it would feel more at home at his place. He not only took the gun, but he took every box of 16 gauge shells I had in the house. Oh well...you can never say that he doesn't have good taste when it comes to firearms.

__________________
Pack light and cinch tight.

Excellent! I've used 16s for cowboy action shooting for a long time. Great choice!

***GRJ***

My brother has a 311 in 16 gauge. The wood is darker but otherwise it
looks like the one pictured above.

He used to hunt grouse with me. I carried a 16 gauge Winchester Model 12 and he carried either a Ithaca Super Single in 12 or 20, or the 311 16.

He's living in Hawaii now, after being on Guam for quite a few years.
Last time we hunted was about six years ago. Did some plain and
fancy missing and got no grouse, but it was a good couple of days.
I have gone to an Italian 20 gauge OU for grouse but those trips I
used the Winchester pump 16 again.

16 ga 311 was my first gun. Got it from my favorite uncle when I was 12. He passed the next year. It goes in the box with me!

I've owned and loved 311's in 20 and 12 gauges. I'd very much like to have a 16, even though I'm no longer able to hunt.

Of course, I've lusted for a Browning Sweet Sixteen since I was a pup.

The 311 is a dependable, serviceable blue-collar double that has taken carloads of game for me over the years. My all-time favorite dove gun was a 28" F&M 20 gauge. Wish I could see what a 16 gauge would do!

__________________
Oh well, what the hell.

Very nice!

Love the 16 ga. My main upland gun is a 16ga SxS and my old Model 1912 get a little use very year.

With modern shells there's really nothing a 20 won't do that a 16 will, and you can get a better variety of shells for the 20--but you know what, a 20 ain't a 16 and it just ain't as cool.