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Author Topic: Practical Hunting: 20 ga. vrs. 12 ga.?  (Read 1331 times)

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Offline flmason

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Practical Hunting: 20 ga. vrs. 12 ga.?
« on: December 18, 2011, 09:19:49 PM »
Never been much of a wingshot nor shotgun guy. Recently acquired a 20 ga. figuring I was heading for a spell of living in the car. The same model in 12 wasn't on the shelf.

Been wondering, in practical hunting terms, how much does the 20 give up to the 12?

Would you say it's 10 yards, or fewer kills in same range, something else?

Seems there's about 25-30% less lead in the pattern, kind of curious how big of a mistake I made going with 20?
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Offline PowPow

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Re: Practical Hunting: 20 ga. vrs. 12 ga.?
« Reply #1 on: December 18, 2011, 11:35:05 PM »
I was doing a fair amount of wingshooting and clays when my 12 ga o/u got stolen.
It beat on me pretty good, so I replaced it with an identical 20 ga.
Shot slightly better with the 20.
Can't say if it was because it was a softer kick or I just got a little better, but definitely did not give up anything, at least for upland wing shooting.
I've killed doves with it that I had to walk 70 yards to pick up.
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Offline flintlock

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Re: Practical Hunting: 20 ga. vrs. 12 ga.?
« Reply #2 on: December 18, 2011, 11:57:29 PM »
It would be real nice to know what hunting you plan to do...
 
If you are talking about turkeys, deer, geese, ducks or squirrels, rabbits, doves, quail, grouse...
 
It makes a difference...
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Offline Bugflipper

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Re: Practical Hunting: 20 ga. vrs. 12 ga.?
« Reply #3 on: December 19, 2011, 01:44:49 AM »
Unless a specialty shell, the ranges should be the same. Just a denser pattern with the bigger payload of a 12 ga, shell for shell. I hunt more upland with a 20, where I don't want to tear them up as bad. 12ga for me is just turkey,ducks and coyote. Bigger pellets so not an issue of having a bunch of shot tear things up. Heck with rabbits I use a 410 because they don't require very much trauma to put them down. Less pellets means less to worry about missing and chomping on one.
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Offline Ron 1

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Re: Practical Hunting: 20 ga. vrs. 12 ga.?
« Reply #4 on: December 19, 2011, 03:20:53 AM »
flmason
 
If you are talking about turkeys, deer, geese, ducks or squirrels, rabbits, doves, quail, grouse...
 plus theres more.  less weight  less kick less noise i like the 20 better then a 12 anyday.
any of the above can all be had with a 20 ga. you gave up a sore shoulder  and a little weight with the heavier shells in my opinion. good luck with the 20 ga.
 rw
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Offline flmason

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Re: Practical Hunting: 20 ga. vrs. 12 ga.?
« Reply #5 on: December 19, 2011, 05:54:01 PM »
Quote from: flintlock on December 18, 2011, 11:57:29 PM
It would be real nice to know what hunting you plan to do...
 
If you are talking about turkeys, deer, geese, ducks or squirrels, rabbits, doves, quail, grouse...
 
It makes a difference...

Understood. I'm more grappling with what capabilities I've given up with 20 ga.... what shots I shouldn't be considering than any particular game at present. The attraction to a shotgun is more about flexibility than anything else.

My thinking was that it's easier to light load a 12 that to dry to bring a 3" 20 ga. up to 12 specs.

But not having done much shotgun hunting, I was wondering if, from a practical standpoint, it's just not an issue.
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Offline LunaticFringeInc

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Re: Practical Hunting: 20 ga. vrs. 12 ga.?
« Reply #6 on: December 19, 2011, 07:04:17 PM »
Dont think your going to give up much performance wise.  You will give up pay load (more pellets = denser pattern) and as such a little less recoil.  You will have to be a little more on target wing shooting though, at least thats what I found to be the case when shooting clays.  It seems too that 12 gauge ammo selection has a little more available than 20 gauge does.  Thats not to imply that 20 gauge versions of the same type loads arent available, they just might not be carried by the store as often and you might have to special order them or stock up when they are available.


I use a 28 gauge on most upland game, but very much prefer the 12 for everything else!!!
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Offline spikehorn

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Re: Practical Hunting: 20 ga. vrs. 12 ga.?
« Reply #7 on: December 23, 2011, 10:39:02 AM »
90% of my shot gunning I do with a 20ga. When the starlings start invading my house in the spring my 28ga gets a good workout. I've killed turkeys with both 20's and 12's and I don't even own a 12ga slug gun anymore.
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Offline onegreatshot

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Re: Practical Hunting: 20 ga. vrs. 12 ga.?
« Reply #8 on: January 09, 2012, 02:13:33 PM »
With today's powders and wads a 20 ga. is no giving up much to a 12 ga. in the way of upland gamebirds. 20's now have choke tubes that are interchangeable. If you can hit them with a 12 ga. you can it them with a 20 ga. Myself I use 20 ga. 3" and do quite well.
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Offline tranders

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Re: Practical Hunting: 20 ga. vrs. 12 ga.?
« Reply #9 on: January 14, 2012, 05:12:29 AM »
Quote from: PowPow on December 18, 2011, 11:35:05 PM
I was doing a fair amount of wingshooting and clays when my 12 ga o/u got stolen.
It beat on me pretty good, so I replaced it with an identical 20 ga.
Shot slightly better with the 20.
Can't say if it was because it was a softer kick or I just got a little better, but definitely did not give up anything, at least for upland wing shooting.
I've killed doves with it that I had to walk 70 yards to pick up.

I saw my Dad shoot a dove at 60 yards with a Browning A5 20gauge.  They will reach out there.
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