What can a 12 ga. do that a 20 ga. can not?

[MCgunner]

I'm not a big fan of the 20, there are plenty of light loads in 12 gauge that duplicate 20 gauge recoil.

It might defy logic, but I find 20 really is lighter on the shoulder even if both shells are packin' 7/8 ounces. I don't really know why, but I will buy no more 12s in light guns. I have a pair of 12s and an old side by side 12 and my gas gun is sweet, the only way to go in a 12 gauge once you get old and tired of getting pounded by 3" heavy waterfowl loads. I might get a Spartan 453 in the future, don't know. I have a Mossberg for goose hunting and general waterfowl and my Winchester 1400. I really don't need another shotgun. I'll be using my light side by side 20 a LOT on doves, though. I like that thing, and it'll be an awesome quick pointing gun on quail or other upland stuff. I've even got some 3" steel for it to take it on some early duck hunts this season just for grins. Yeah, the 12 is a better all around and better waterfowl gun and since I shoot mostly waterfowl, I'm flush with 12 gauge guns. But, I was missing having a 20 in the safe, so I got one. I like it a lot and it fills a niche for me that needed filling. I could have gotten the same gun in 12, but my shoulder appreciates the 20.

Quote:
a 12 gauge can blow a man through a wall in a defence cituation. I've never seen a 20 do that!

Ever seen a 12 do that? I haven't.

Yeah, in the movie "Open Range", Duval blows a guy off his feet with a blast from a 12. ROFLMAO! I hollered BS at the TV on that one and the wife thought me weird, but it is BS. I mean, they had the guy lifted right off his feet and he flew into a wall of a building and this after the blast had blow a hole in the wall Duval was shooting through. ROFL They sorta miffed that one, but that's Hollywood. If you go believing everything you see in a movie, you will be one screwed up individual.

By the way, is that a "defense citation" or is that a "defense situation"? LOL It can be "defence" if you live in Britain I suppose. Hmm, guess I'm going to have to find a couple of volunteers and see if my 20 can "blow him" off his feet. Shoot one with the 12 and one with the 20. I've never actually seen a man shot with either. Well, I did see a kid peppered with number six from about 30 yards with a 12, result of a Dick Cheney style hunting accident, but it didn't blow him off his feet any quicker than Cheney's 28 blew that lawyer off his. I remember a dude who walked into the emergency room of the hospital I worked at as a kid, holding his guts in with his hands. He'd been shot point blank in the stomach with a 12 gauge and drove himself to the hospital where they patched him up. He survived. Don't know what condition the wall was in that was behind him, though.

 

[WinchesterAA]

I love my buddies pistolgrip 20gauge. It ways very very little, holds 6+1, and no recoil whatsoever.

 

[The Deer Hunter]

Make bigger holes

 

[Frog48]

Either one will do you fine.

 

[19-3Ben]

I heard that a 12 ga. once beat up a 20 ga. and stole his lunch money. But that was just a rumor.

 

[CoolPapaCatDJ]

12ga or 20ga?

I think a 20ga is just fine for what you want it for. All a 12ga will do is put more shot on a target at a farther range. Had a Mossberg 500 20ga, was a neat gun. Have a Mossberg Maverick Mdl 88 12 ga now. Both are great guns!

 

[PJR]

It might defy logic, but I find 20 really is lighter on the shoulder even if both shells are packin' 7/8 ounces.

It probably is due to velocity. Most 7/8s ounce 12 gauge loads are a little faster stepping than the 20 gauge.

 

[another okie]

For the uses you describe, an over and under 20 gauge would be hard to beat. Academy Sports sells a nice-looking turkish over and under for about 400, if I recall correctly. A friend of mine has one and it shoots nice. For lighter recoil, a Remington 1100 in 20 gauge is very nice.

Fit is very important in a shotgun. You will not be able to shoot accurately if the gun is too long or too short, so it is worthwhile to buy from a store with a staff that understands fit, or else take the gun to a good gunsmith for modification.

If later you want to hunt ducks or geese or use buckshot for deer or home invaders, a 12 would be nice to have, too.

 

[wolf_from_wv]

A 12 gauge can shoot all kinds of weird and impractical loads that they don't even make for the 20 gauge.

There seems to be more 12 gauge boxes of ammunition setting on store shelves than any other gauge.

There have been reports with the 12 gauge 3.5" mag-numb with hot loads involving detached retinas...

A 12 gauge can put more shot in the air than a 20 gauge.

 

[Frog48]

There have been reports with the 12 gauge 3.5" mag-numb with hot loads involving detached retinas...

I cant comment on that... But I do know that I use 3.5" shells when duck hunting, and after a couple mornings I have a nasty bruised shoulder.

 

[wolf_from_wv]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=magnum+shotguns+detached+retinas&btnG=Google+Search

(they don't have the market cornered on detached retinas...)

 

[byf43]

seancass wrote:
A 12 will make it easier to hit the target, yes, theortically. more shot= more chances. but i bet everybody here learned on something OTHER than a 12. you can learn to be a better shot shooting a smaller load. many here started on 410's and are good shots because of that.

I think you just lost the bet.

I learned on an OLD Stevens 12 ga. single shot that my Dad acquired on a trade.
(For the record, Dad got the worse end of the deal. He traded off an Arisaka 7.7mm, and the guy gave Dad the scattergun and $20.00. The Arisaka had the 'Mum' and the rear sight wings. It was in good shape.)
Dad still has that old Stevens. It was and still is a piece of junk, IMO.

It kicked like a Tennessee Mule!!!!

Oh, and what will a 12 ga do that a 20 ga can't?
Throw a 2 oz load of shot downrange from one shell and kick while doin' it!

 

[wolf_from_wv]

My first three shots from a shotgun were on a 12 gauge Charles Daly Special Field semi-auto. If I had used those 3 shots as a guide, I'd probably have never picked up a 12 gauge again. 870 recoil felt better.

 

[MCgunner]

For the uses you describe, an over and under 20 gauge would be hard to beat. Academy Sports sells a nice-looking Turkish over and under for about 400, if I recall correctly. A friend of mine has one and it shoots nice. For lighter recoil, a Remington 1100 in 20 gauge is very nice.

Can never remember the name of that thing, but yeah, I had the hots for that Turkish built gun at Academy for a while. I found a gun that fits some of my needs better, though, in 20 gauge, a Remington Spartan side-by-side. It has 20 inch barrels and I can take it down and store it in my GoldWing's saddle bags, which is not necessarily a requirement to hunting, but it was for me. It shoots a nice, tight pattern at 40 yards with Winchester super X ammo for birds and I've even bought some 3" steel for it to try during teal/duck season, though my 12s are my waterfowl guns. I mainly wanted the gun to dove hunt with and if I get a chance to do some upland game and perhaps to do our country doubles shoots with. I really wanted a 20 in my collection, too, and now I have it. I wouldn't want a 12 gauge in a gun that light, OUCH! A bonus to the gun, too, with the open chokes in it (cyl/IC), it does bedside duty with Remington #3 buck loads. Actually, this gun is reasonably accurate at 50 yards with slugs and they don't hurt out of a 20. My old light weight 12 gauge side-by-side Spanish built Sarasqueta HURTS with slugs. I'm talkin' 12 O'Clock high after the shot! That's the hardest kickin' load in a shotgun I've ever fired and it isn't pleasant and doesn't make for quick follow ups either. That Sarasqueta don't weigh, but about 6 and a half pounds. My 20 is under 6.

I got the Spartan for $300+tax, 100 less than the Turkish gun, which was a bonus, too, but I really wanted a stack barrel. But, the need for the short barrels really sealed the deal. That Turkish gun has one thing I'd like, selective ejectors. The Spartan just has extractors. BUT, I much prefer the double triggers on the Spartan to the single selective trigger on that Turkish gun. I think I'd rather have the double triggers than the selective ejectors if I have to make the choice between the two.