Is the 12 really needed?

[Okiecruffler]

Okay, I've been thinking, and for 99% of my hunting the 20 will do just fine with less recoil and use less components. Anything the 20 doesn't do, the 10 will do better than the 12. So really, what's the point of the 12ga?















And yeah, I'm just trying to rile someone up.

 

[PTK]

I use a 12, 16, 28, and have a few .410s as well. Never found a need for a 20, though I think I have a bolt action 20ga somewhere around here....

 

[chas08]

OK,here goes (LOL) Compared to a 16, a 20 is a POS and if ammo manufacturers offered more choices in 16 like they used to, I wouldn't need a 12 either.

 

[Z71]

I've always wondered why we need the 20ga.!

I use a 12 for about everything, started the kids on 12ga. and just what I use.

Of course my brother in law has to be a rebel! he likes the 28ga.

 

[627PCFan]

If I could have things my way, I would have a 10 for geese, and a 16 for everything else. That about covers it from my side-

 

[Fred Fuller]

Seems to me the 12 ga. is the most used bore size by default. It also offers the widest variety of loads, as far as I can see. I'd rather not give mine up, as it's the biggest bore size I can comfortably handle for what I do with a shotgun most of the time.

And that isn't sport hunting... not to cast any aspersions on sport hunting at all, it has been one of my favorite pastimes.

lpl

 

[MCgunner]

12 is THE most useful bore size. If you have a 12, you don't need anything else. 16 is nearly dead. Well, I'd get one again if I could get steel shot for it. 20 is a might small for big ducks, but can suffice, though 12 patterns better than 3" 20. I'm thinkin' about a 10 gauge, but wouldn't give it a thought if I could just go back to using lead 3" 12 on geese or hevi shot weren't 1000 bucks a round. :banghead:

12 gauge is the do it all gauge. Anything else is a compromise except for 10 on geese. However, I like shooting 20 on doves. I don't do skeet. They don't fry up too good, a little grainy, waste of good ammo.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Must resist urges to throttle.....

The 12 is where the lines cross on the graph between portability and effectiveness, using commonly available ammunition.

Sportin' gennulmen of yesteryear oft toted an 8 or 10 gauge for waterfowl, a 16 for upland game. We coalesced both missions into a single tool and that turned out to be the 12 gauge.

Need an oz or so of shot for smaller birds? The 12 will do that.

Need a teacup of 2s for big geese, cranes, pterodactyls? The 12 will do that also.

The 12 may be a little heavy for upland work or kick a bit too hard with the barnburner loads, but ti's a compromise that does work.

The standard 2 3/4 12 gauge case will hold enough lead shot for most missions or a .73 caliber slug suitable for most game stuff under a ton. The longer cases do the same for non toxics.

S'funny, most of the shooting I do these days is at clays, and with 7/8 oz loads. 7/8 oz used to be 20 gauge country....

 

[Wedge]

Turkey, Turkey, Turkey

no one mentioned Turkey

 

[MCgunner]

I hunted turkey...........once.

 

[Guyon]

Yeah, shoot that turkey at 40 yards with a 20 gauge and get back to me.

 

[CYANIDEGENOCIDE]

seems like whatever the 16 does the 12 does better, there isn't a whole lot the 10 does better than a 12 especially when you consider you can get a 12 in 3.5 magnum. plus you can do it all with 1 gun. To be honest I really really like the SP-10 I borrowed last week

 

[Hawk]

Should 12 Ga. shells be color coded to reduce mishaps in 10 Ga. shotguns?

I nominate "blue".

 

[PJR]

The 12 is the most versatile gauge based on the variety of loadings available for it. You'll look a long time to find a 00 buckshot in 20 gauge.

The span of 12 loads is so great that it often replicates the 20. On a preserve hunt some years back a quite snooty hunter chided me for using a 12 gauge when his 20 was more than enough. When he dropped a pheasant I picked up one of his hulls. It was 20 gauge sure enough but 3" magnum, 1-1/4 ounce. In my 12 I had a one ounce load in the right barrel and 1-1/8 in the left.

If you're going to have one gun and do a lot with it get a 12. If you're going to hunt in the uplands and do a little fun clay shooting a 20 is just fine.

But after owning and shooting a variety of 20s my ardor for the gauge died the first day I shot a 28 gauge. Now 12 and 28 are the only gauges I own.

 

[Hornet 6]

Where the fallacy that a 20 kicks less then a 12 came from is beyond me.
One ounce of shot from a 6 1/2lb 12 gauge kicks just the same as one ounce of shot from a 6 1/2lb 20g, It's called physics.
Personally I prefer a 28g, but that is just me, to be honest most of the time I would be better off with a 12g.
My 28g at 6lb 2oz weights the same as an old English 12g that I borrow from time to time, with the same 1oz load they kick just the same, but as I usually use 3/4 & 7/8 ounce loads my 28g kicks a little less, although I could get those loads in 12g I suppose.
And both perform to the same range as well, and that can be duplicated by many combinations of gauge and shot load.
Personal choice is what usually determines the gauge of gun we like to use, but all gauges have their uses, and sadly the 12g will be the last to die out.

Neil.

 

[huntsman]

who shoots a 10 ?

the 12 is all you need.

One gauge and one gun.
Kinda takes all the fun out of life but it will work with the 12 gauge.

This comes from a reformed rabid 16gauge fan.

 

[only1asterisk]

One ounce of shot from a 6 1/2lb 12 gauge kicks just the same as one ounce of shot from a 6 1/2lb 20g, It's called physics

You can drive a equal weight of shot to the same velocity with less powder from the smaller shell. The less powder means less recoil. It's called physics.

David

 

[Virginian]

Availability of diverse designs, action types, finishes, mnaufacturers, and oh yeah, the recognized skeet and trap associations do not have a class for 10's, either.

 

[CYANIDEGENOCIDE]

WAIT WAIT
explain how you can go the same speed with less powder in a smaller shell. I don't understand.
I would think that would be true for the bigger shell. Say 20,000 PSI in each shell the 12 ga would have more area for the pressure to act on therefore it would be more force and thus faster than a 20 ga

 

[PTK]

CYANIDEGENOCIDE

Frankly it's a lot more complicated than that. Modern DBSPs burn at a progressive rate depending on what the weight of the payload is, bore size, ignition force, etc.

Basically, you can push something the same velocity with less recoil over a slightly longer time by changing variables.

 

[Bud Tugly]

Never had the patience to sit in one place and wait for game to come to me. I've always had to be on the move.

There are lots of grouse around here and the cover is mostly very thick with few shots longer than 15-20 yards. For that type of hunting I found a 20 gauge SxS to be my favorite gun, alhough I've also shot an awful lot of grouse with a .410 single shot.

 

[MCgunner]

Where the fallacy that a 20 kicks less then a 12 came from is beyond me.

My calibrated shoulder tells me there's a LOT of difference in a 7/8 ounce load from a 12 and a 20 even if the 20 is a lighter gun. It just don't kick as much. Probably less powder explains it as that's part of any recoil calculation. But, it's real. The only way I can tell equal recoil from a 12 is if I'm shooting 3" in the 20 or if I'm shooting my heavier gas operated 12 gauge auto against my 20 gauge coach gun.

There's a spot in my cabinet for the 20 and the 3 12s and one old 16 gauge, though I don't shoot the 16 anymore, sort of a worthless gauge IMHO. Hardly any load variety. Now, 16 used to be useful, but it's seen its day. The 12 is THE gauge to have if you're not some eccentric type, you know, the kind who shoot .410 and 28 just to be different.

 

[Goblin]

Peter Capstick wrote a chapter on this in one of his books. After all the numbers and analysis, he summed it up thusly..."Anything a 20 can do, a 12 can do it better!"

 

[younganddumb]

the only reason paople use a 12 is becasue it sounds cool

 

[MCgunner]

10 gauge, to me, sounds a LOT "cooler". Nothin' any cooler than the words "Ithaca Mag 10". Wooooah, talkin' friggin' anti-aircraft here. Even "bofors" doesn't sound as cool.