20GA why did I wait

[336A]

I've been a 12 gauge guy ever since I started hunting and really never gave the 20 gauge much thought. That is until I purchased I H&R Pardner in 20 gauge not to long ago. Now I just can't seem to put the 20 gauge down, everytime I go out I reach for that handy little H&R Pardner and leave the 12 gauge behind. Right now I have to make my mind up on what to do. I am set up to reload for the 12 gauge but I also have a nice Nikon Monarch scope mounted on it and all zeroed in for slugs.

I can't make up my mind as to what I want to do with it now that I have this 20 gauge:banghead: I'm not sure why I short changed the 20 gauge in the past, in the short time that I've had it it has already accounted for itself with getting me a deer. The performance certainly wasn't lacking in any way, now I plan on using it for upland game but what should I do with the 12 gauge. Should I just leave it as is? or take the scope off and rotate it out with 20 gauge and re-mount and zero the scope next deer season.

 

[Esoxchaser]

My 12's very seldom get out to play any more. There is nothing in MI I can't effectively hunt with my 20's. Love beating the $3500.00+ target gun 12 ga boys on the sporting clays course with my 26" barreled Beretta 391 with a - gasp- sling on it. LOL

 

[PJSprog]

Bought my wife (she was still my fiance then) an 870 in 20g a few years ago. I have an 870 & a 500 in 12g, but more often than not we grab her 20g for critter control. It's a sadly under-appreciated gauge, in my opinion.

 

[kudu]

Just wait until you ever start shooting a 28 gauge.

I rarely get my 12 gauge guns out unless for trap or some event where money is on the line. I usually shoot skeet with the 28 gauge, but I have been loading my 20 gauge shells with 3/4 oz of shot and using them more, same payload as the 28 gauge. .410 is for playing anymore, I've proven to myself what I can do with any of the gauges pretty much for any bird type hunting. 12 gauge is still king on trap handicap plus targets at 60+ yards though when we play games. A clay target is mighty small at that range.

 

[OptimusPrime]

Lotta good to say about the ol' 20. It was my first shotgun and took plenty of deer, ducks, pigeons, and other stuff. It's still what, a 62 caliber? chunk of lead going down range when you shoot slugs. 12 is nice and does have better performance in most regards (more pellets, more velocity usually, thus better range usually) but a 20 can do almost all the same things in a lighter and cheaper package. Except buckshot; the 20 really lags in the buckshot options.

 

[MagicD]

20 gauge use it on pheasants with # 4steel or #5 lead...terrific , easy to carry,fast to mount, and hard hitting....use Benelli auto. Great combo!

 

[336A]

OptimusPrime, I agree with you about the buckshot issue, I really wish that it was more available. Other than that and waterfowl hunting (which I never been interested in anyway) I really don't think that the 20GA lags to much behind the 12GA.

 

[jaguarxk120]

I'm under the impression that you don't reload.

If you did, you would have been shooting 1 oz. , 7/8 oz. , and 3/4 oz. out of a 12 gauge long ago.

And just like kudu says 3/4 oz. out of a 20 gauge can be shot all day and that loading will break clays just as well as the 1 oz. or 7/8 oz. loading

 

[336A]

I'm under the impression that you don't reload.

If you did, you would have been shooting 1 oz. , 7/8 oz. , and 3/4 oz. out of a 12 gauge long ago.

And just like kudu says 3/4 oz. out of a 20 gauge can be shot all day and that loading will break clays just as well as the 1 oz. or 7/8 oz. loading

I guess you didn't read my entire post, if you had you would have read that I reload for the 12 gauge. As a matter of fact the loader is set up for 1oz loads. However they don't do any better than the commonly found 7/8oz 20 gauge loads on various upland game. I haven't found the 3/4 oz loads to be at uncomfortable after a day of hunting. As far as 3/4 oz in the 20 goes well I don't reload for the 20 gauge nor do I shoot trap, skeet, or sporting clays.

 

[Big JJ]

20ga single shot New England arms with an 18 inch barrel took 2 pheasants today.
It is my go to hiking shotgun.
It was my kids trainer gun when they started shooting.
Boy I am sure glad they moved out on there own.
I still like my 12 for sit and shoot dove season.
There is a gun for every occasion.

 

[jaguarxk120]

What kind of 12 gauge do you shoot or did shoot?

 

[loose noose]

I've still got my newly purchased Iver Johnson Champion 20ga that I bought brand new with paper route money I had saved back in 1958. I've shot deer, rabbit, partridge, pheasant, duck, etc. with that little gun.

I've also got a Browning BSS SXS in the 20ga, that I've taken my share of dove, pheasant, quail, and chukar, with, just using reloads of 7/8oz 7.5 shot. It is one of the most complete shotguns I've ever had the pleasure of shooting, as it points so naturally.

Incidentally, I have quite few other shotguns in various gauges, .410-12ga and they all have their purpose, but as far as I'm concerned the 20ga. for hunting upland game is extremely hard to beat.

 

[336A]

Jaguar it is a Mossberg 500, right now I have a 20" field barrel on it which I really like. It shoots Win Super X slugs, Brenneke K.O. slugs, and my reloads of 1oz #5 shot very well.

 

[rondog]

Man, you're tempting me to dig out my old J.C. Higgins bolt 20 that I used as a kid! I really need to bring it back to life.

 

[cfullgraf]

When I was shooting competitive skeet, my 20 gauge averages were better than my 12 gauge averages.

So, I shot 20 gauge in the 12 gauge event.

The fact that my competition O/U swung better with sub-gauge tubes installed than without did not hurt.

 

[336A]

Might as well rondog I plan on doing the same with my late fathers Mossberg 185K-A In retrospect I think that I should have used it in honor of my father, hopefully next year. I would really like to find a new magazine for it as the one i have now is in pretty bad shape. I also have some old paper 20GA ammo that my father gave me when he passed the gun along to me. That and some ollld Winchester slugs that have a star on the front of the slug.

 

[Phaedrus/69]

My first shottie was a break-barrel single shot (maybe a Stevens?). I bagged a lot of birds that with old gun. I never did transition to a 12ga...in fact, I bought the first and only 12ga I've ever owned last year! It's an 870 Tactical set up to repel boarders.

 

[d2wing]

I like my 20's. Hunt with a 20 o/u usually. But late season pheasants have to go 12 for better range and denser patterns. I wish I'd kept my first 20, a Mossberg 500. Also a Remington 1100 LT20. What was I thinking? Oh and. 20 sxs, I meant to replace. Can't find one I like now.

 

[WALKERs210]

As others have said, I too only looked at 20ga for grand kids or small framed women. Two or three yrs ago I did a trade and picked up a Mossberg 500C with a pistol grip. The shotgun was in terrible shape, looked like it had never been cleaned in it entire life, bluing was almost gone. Took a few days to make it look decent and had every intention of just selling or trading it off until I shot it. My wife took ownership of it and kept it by her side of the bed but now it hangs right behind the front door ready to go. Long story short I now own three more 20ga and wonder why I didn't look at them years ago.

 

[Esoxchaser]

Lots of people think that 20ga. is for women and children. For 30 years I have preferred a 20 for all upland and small game, where a 12ga is just plain overkill and a lot more gun than you need to lug. Especially on our 10 mile as the crow flies days through national forests where we have to change braces of tired dogs at lunch....

 

[barnetmill]

20 gauge is a good small game and bird load. Not as good for big game with slugs or the large buckshot sizes as the 10, 12, and 16. I do not own a 20 since I am very afraid of mixing the shells and blowing up a 12.

 

[336A]

I'm having a hard time understanding what you mean by the "20 gauge isn't as good as the 12 for large game". The 20 gauge did a splendid job on the doe that I shot with it, I know for a fact that a 12GA wouldn't have killed it any deader. As for buckshot well it's a matter of physics, of course it's not going to launch 0, 00, and 000 like the 12 ga as it don't have the internal space. But it can shoot up to #1 buck and smaller, http://www.custombuckshot.com/index.html
Now if only a major company would pick up the ball and run with it so we wouldn't have to rely on a small family run shop

 

[jaguarxk120]

If you check, barntmill you will find that Browning and Savage both offer a 20 gauge bolt gun. Also Ithaca offers the Deerslayer III in 20 gauge.

For general hunting a Franchi AL48 or a Ithaca Model 37, both come in at just under 6 pounds are great to carry all day.

 

[Deltaboy1984]

The 20 is the most under used gauged shotgun next to my old favorite 16 gauge.

 

[RMc]

Lotta good to say about the ol' 20. It was my first shotgun and took plenty of deer, ducks, pigeons, and other stuff. It's still what, a 62 caliber? chunk of lead going down range when you shoot slugs. 12 is nice and does have better performance in most regards (more pellets, more velocity usually, thus better range usually) but a 20 can do almost all the same things in a lighter and cheaper package. Except buckshot; the 20 really lags in the buckshot options.

When the handloader steps away from traditional Western #9 buckshot and moves up to 33 gauge buckshot pellets, the "little 20" takes on a different "persona" in the hunting field.