16 Ga Loads

[GregCSarver]

Looking for some starting ideas on 16 guage shot loads for a Kibler.

Powder amount and type, wads, ounces of shot, etc

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Basic load.
80 grains of 3fg (3 drams). ½ inch dry fiber wad. 1 ounce lead shot. ½ inch fiber wad soaked in olive oil or melted animal fat. Using the same size wads makes for simplicity, but many avid shotgunners will use different combinations of fiber wads, hard thin wads, leather, or cut card wads. Some folks use tow and/or pieces of old hornets' nest

A lot of guys like to use the Skychief load.
Skychief Load

The Skychief Load appears to negate any incidental rotation of the shot column as it moves down the bore, making for more consistent patterns, when using chilled lead shot. Results may vary a great deal if one is using reclaimed shot, shotmaker shot, swan shot, or cut shot.

Also when using a lighter load say 55 grains of powder, a lot of folks test the impact effectiveness by using an empty, steel, tuna can. You tape the bottom of the can to the target and set that at your estimated max range, then shoot at the can attempting to put pellets through the bottom of the can. If the pellets don't penetrate, or only some of the do and some do not. you either must shoot the game at a closer distance, OR increase the powder.

LD

 

[Johnny Too-Tall]

look at the skychief loading method pinned on top of this smoothbore section. I don't own the 16 just the 20 but mine like 1.25 oz of 6 shot with 70 grains 2f using skychief method.

 

[Texcl2]

I found my 20 ga kibler Fowler likes a regular over powder wad, then shot then over shot card. This load destroys clays, it doesn’t just break a piece or two off. I haven’t been able to find any 16 ga over powder wads yet, so have been using regular cards and hornet wadding in my 16ga kibler. So far I haven’t found a load that blows my mind but haven’t spent a lot of time with it either. My 20ga shoots incredibly well.

 

[BoomStick]

In my 16 ga (although not a Kibler) I get good results with 75 gr of 2F, then 1/8" card, a 1/2" lubed fiber wad with 1 1/4 oz or 1 1/2 of #6 and a thin card on top. More shot over the same powder load gives (as might be expected) more density in the pattern but slightly less velocity.

I tried the skychief load but, unless I dialed the powder back quite a bit, the fiber wad on top made something of a donut in the pattern. At 30 yards the wad would hit about 6 inches below point of aim on the target and shot would be in an arc above the point of aim. I could probably work on the load with some more time, but was getting good results with the more traditional method so have stuck with it.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Why do you need some ideas?
Just load it and go from there.
It's so simple.
I don't understand.