How many 12ga proponets have actually shot a 20ga? Blind Poll

[Will Fennell]

12 ga gets it done

I make my living with a 12 gauge, so I guess that makes is my favorite. While I have fired many thousands of 20 ga rounds, the more I shoot a 20 ga, the more I respect and enjoy my 28 gauge

 

[cchris]

Have my autoloading 12ga, if I get a Saiga it'll probably be a 20.

 

[vicdotcom]

Hey everyone! Thanks for taking part in this. The results seem to be steadying at about 15% no for the past few weeks. Seems pretty accurate. Again no other purpse than to see how many people actually tried both before making their personal choice.

Thanks for all who participated!
Vic

 

[paintballdude902]

i love my 12guage and id take it any where id trust my life with it

but sometimes whne im working at the farm id rather carry the 20 guage its lighter and will take care of snakes all day long

 

[Zach S]

A 12 gauge is like the 9" ford rear end. Its pretty much the standard everything else is compared to for two key reasons: popularity and versatility.

Yes, I've shot several 20s. I just lack the need or desire to own one.

 

[scottishclaymore]

Well, I don't guess I qualify as a 12-gauge proponent... I use a 12-gauge for hunting and other "serious" applications. But for fun? I have killed more little birds and busted more clays with a 20 ga. 870 than anything else.

 

[nody]

yes to 20 ga

shot skeet for years with 20 o/u. now shooting with rented 12 auto and field 1 1/8 loads...my shoulder feels it and I'm breaking about the same # of birds.

Thinking of going 28ga.

 

[btg3]

I have killed more little birds and busted more clays with a 20 ga...

Same here, but with a Sportsman 58.
These days, I go with with a 12ga 870, because, as others have stated, it's more versatile and less expensive than 20ga.
Also have shot (and reloaded) 28ga and 410 over the years which are very enjoyable, but don't shoot as much now and these are no longer in my possession.

 

[usmccpl]

Got both a a 16 and a 10 and a 410 each has its own uses.

 

[1911Tuner]

Back in the day, when I took to the field after quail and such, I much preferred to tote a fast-handling 20 gauge double. You learn to appreciate the weight as the day wears on.

What can I say about the 28...besides sweet?

 

[Savage Shooter]

Well my first gun was a nef 20ga that my dad bought for me it wasn't bad but it lacked knock down power. I then talked my parents into getting me a mossberg 500 bantam 20ga for christmas it shot great but it kicked like a mule. The stock wasn't long enough for me so it kicked me in the face and the shoulder as I found out the hard way after taking it to a FFA trapshoot and turning the right side of my face and shoulder black. I don't think it weighed much over 5lbs. I sold it for my best gun ever that I bought off a buddy a "old" mossberg 500 12ga I haven't looked back since. It has killed 30-40 deer by him and the kids he loaned it to. This spring I plowed over a 24lb tom with 8.5" beard with it and I've taken some nice bucks with it too. I have a old winchester SXS model 24 12ga of my grandpa's that probably hasn't been shot in 50+years and a ithaca 51 featherlight 12ga 3" magnum I bought. After having all these guns i would take the 12ga any day over a 20ga there generally cheaper to buy and shoot and there very versitile.

 

[bad_aim_billy]

I'm the opposite of this poll--never shot a 12.


And frankly, unless I become a hardcore waterfowler, there's no reason I'll ever have to...

 

[Guns and more]

I have shot both, but I wouldn't call myself a 12 ga. proponent.
I have a 12 ga. and it's good for a lot of things.
Lately, I think if a woman would shoot it in H/D situations, I'd recommend a .410.

I find that the 20 ga. recoil is as much as the 12 ga. and ammo is harder to find (buckshot)
So if you're buying a 20 ga. because you want reduced recoil, forget it.

Think a .410 has no power? Buckshot has 5 pellets, each the size of a .38 traveling at 1200'/sec.

 

[handle02]

Have both and love both!

 

[Quickdraw Limpsalot]

I own and use both. Use the 12's most often, but for small game my little old H&R Topper 20 gets first crack at 'em.

 

[JEB]

yep. i just prefer 12ga

 

[McCall911]

I'm not exactly recoil shy, but my shoulder now hurts after shooting heavy-recoiling long guns. I prefer the 12 gauge because it's more versatile, but I wouldn't mind settling on a 20. When I was a kid, my first shotty was a Revelation single-shot 20 gauge and I loved it.

 

[76shuvlinoff]

timely

I'm coming up on 50 years old and shot my first 20ga 3 days ago.

My buddy was showing me the gun his daughter gets at least one deer with every year. I didn't get the make but it's a single shot slug gun with a HEAVY rifled barrel and he had it ported. There is a some kind of "Red dot" optic on it.

This thing kicked like a .410, my 30-30 hits harder. I do not like porting on a handgun because of the blast but even without muffs this 20 was not bad at all.

 

[Hornet 6]

I started with a 12, then moved to a 20, went back to 12 for clays because of ammo costs.
Now I shoot few clays I'm using a 28 it does all I need except for anything needing non toxic shot, mainly because I don't load, and nobody stocks non toxic in 28 over here.

Neil.

 

[WardenWolf]

I had a 20 gauge Winchester 1300, and upgraded to a Saiga 12 gauge. The 20 gauge is nice, and I can shoot skeet with it all day, but I hit a quail with 7 1/2 and it didn't kill it. Just messed it up real bad and I had to finish it with another shot because it was still mobile. The 20 gauge's range and power just leave a bit to be desired when dealing with quail (fat birds) that tend to fly straight away from you and get to range quickly.

So yes, I've shot both, I own both, but I prefer 12 gauge in the appropriate gun. I dislike my father's classic Remington 1100; it recoils hard, is unbelievably loud, and just tends to shatter your nerves, making followup shots difficult. In short, it's just not what I'd consider a good gun by today's standards. I opted for a Saiga 12 instead, for many reasons. There's enough low-recoil 12 gauges on the market nowadays that the reasons for many of the smaller shotguns are quickly vanishing.

 

[farscott]

I own pumps in and use all four of the common gauges, 12, 20, 28, and .410. I have fired 16-gauges. I also have an O/U in 28-gauge.

I think each gauge has its sweet spot, and I try to use the right tool for the task at hand. 16-gauge has been obsoleted by the improvements made with the 20-gauge. 12-gauge is great when I need lots of pellets in the pattern; 20-gauge is nice when I can get by with less pallets in the pattern and want a lighter gun. 28-gauge seems to be the ideal balance of payload and pattern, and .410 is fun when I want no recoil.

 

[ArmedBear]

I hit a quail with 7 1/2 and it didn't kill it

And you think that was because the 7 1/2 shot came from a .615" tube instead of a .729" tube?

Next time, try some #6 shot on tough wild quail. 7 1/2 doesn't kill any better or worse from a 12 or a 20. Pellets hit birds one at a time. Also, #7 1/2 shot at 1200 fps won't have one inch more effective range from a 12 than from a 20.

Of course, you also have to hit the bird with your pattern, not just a few stray pellets. When I wound a bird, it's almost ALWAYS because I didn't hit it with the dense part of the pattern. A light 20 Gauge load, 7/8 oz. of 7.5 has 306 pellets in it. That's plenty. If I wound a bird, I probably didn't hit the bird with anything near the center of that pattern....

All of that said, I think that those who say 7.5 is as big as you ever need for quail haven't hunted the quail down in the desert near the border. I have. And I ended up using #6 shot almost exclusively.

Put #7.5 in a 12, and it won't work any better. #6 is the way to go for those birds IMO and IME.

 

[7.62x54mmR]

I do own a
12 gauge a 20 and a 410 i like them all
but yes my favorite is still My 12 gauge

 

[JimKirk]

I own 12 ga, 16 ga, 20 ga and 410. I've shot 10 ga and 28 ga but do not own either. I've also shot a 9mm and 24 ga shotgun of some sort back when I was a teenager, one of Dads rich old friends had them, wish I could remember what kind of guns they were. I can do with my 20 ga what any of you can do with your 12 ga except geese and maybe steel shot loads.

Jimmy K

 

[50caliber123]

No way that 2 3/4" 20ga Buckshot kicks as much as 2 3/4" 12ga Buckshot. Havng gone from a 20ga to a 12ga ten years ago, I am considering going back to the 20ga. I can shoot the 20ga all day long, and recoil is only an issue if I sit down while shooting slugs. It doesn't seem that there's a lot of love for the 20ga for HD. I'm sure that at close range, the bad guy won't know the difference. The difference for me is less blast, flash, noise, recoil, and faster follow-up shots. I think in HD, rounds on target matter most, and that too many people who can't handle a 12ga end up shooting that gauge, but not enough to be proficient. 20ga shells are about the same as 12ga in price, and the cheap buckshot out performs the cheap 12ga buckshot. For one, its all buffered. Every factory load has that plastic buffer material between the pellets. A lot of people mention the .410, and I have considered it, but I am curious as to what kind of shot deformation you get out of those buckshot loads. Are patterns very consistent? I am in the process of extensively pattern testing factory buckshot and hope to post my results after I finish patterning all seven factory loads in 20ga.