16 gauge
| Gauge | |
|---|---|
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| Type | Shotgun |
| Place of origin | Various |
The gauge of a firearm is a unit of measurement used to express the inner diameter (bore diameter) of the barrel. Gauge is determined from the weight of a solid sphere of lead that will fit the bore of the firearm, and is expressed as the multiplicative inverse of the sphere's weight as a fraction of a pound, e.g., a one-twelfth pound ball fits a 12-gauge bore. Thus there are twelve 12-gauge balls per pound, etc. The term is related to the measurement of cannon, which were also measured by the weight of their iron round shot; an 8 pounder would fire an 8 lb (3.6 kg) ball.
Gauge is commonly used today in reference to shotguns, though historically it was also used in large double rifles, which were made in sizes up to 2 bore during their heyday in the 1880s, being originally loaded with black powder cartridges. These very large rifles, sometimes called elephant guns, were intended for use in India and Africa for hunting dangerous game.
Gauge is abbreviated "ga.", "ga", or "G". The space between the number and the abbreviation is often left out, as in "12ga".
An n-gauge diameter means that a ball of lead (density 11.352 g/cm3 or 6.562 oz/in3) with that diameter has a mass equal to 1/n part of the mass of the international avoirdupois pound (453.59237 grams), that is, that n such lead balls could be cast from a pound weight of lead. Therefore, an n-gauge shotgun or n-bore rifle has a bore diameter (in inches) of approximately
Explanation:
This simplifies to
to find the internal diameter in inches of the barrel of an n-gauge shotgun.
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