Thread: 20/12

your .20ga will do what you ask of it and be easy to carry BUT so will a similar .12ga
the above posts mostly all mention a big heavy semi but what about a nice SxS .12ga using loads of 1oz or 1 1/8th oz you are firing same shot at same velocity when talking upland or clays, and as for ducks well if you spend the time and find out what patterns well in your .12ga steel ISNT the big hoohaah people make it out to be. trying to shoot parries up the gunga at 40 yards with load of steel #4s is like shooting irate stag/boar with the .22 magnum....yip you CAN do it if you are close enough and place shot carefully but something with a bit more weight behind it works so much better. for what its worth I don't have trouble KILLING parries mallards or close geese with steel #2s but I pick loads close to 1550fps.
oh and Im a fan of .410s incase anyone thinks its .12ga or nothing.

[QUOTE]

Don't worry about stringing, its pretty much not a problem, unless you are using a very small gauge and a very heavy charge.

i beg to differ a load that doesn,t string to much is preferable again its trial and error patterning wise.
but if you want to see the 20.s stringing compared to the 12 say let a round or two rip on the water.
it seems the 32 to 36 gram loads are worst for it while the british 28 to 30 gram loads seem to be better.
theres no clear winner but the bigger the birds[ it seem unless really a really shit load] the less of a problem it is especially with the larger shot .
strangly with the 20 the mid size 2s/3s lead shot loads dont seem to string as badly i.l let you know how the 3 inch black cloud steel hangs together.
i was clipping far to many ducks last season with a load i normally kill cleanly no problem,.
i changed up one choke size than normal and problem solved it self back to kill or miss.
but i use mainly the eley hi flyer 6s or 5s if i cant get them and this change up to 5,s for mallards was enough to put me on the backfoot even tho they patterned almost as well .
but in the string test they were a bit more stretched out not much but enough to mean i wasnt getting enough of the front of the pattern on the smaller ducks even tho they were killer on parries.well thats my excuse anyway
the 2 3/4 inch 32 gram fiocchi 2, load is all im ever going to use on geese now with the modified choke in.
it kills them as far and and as well as anything ive shot including the awesome falcon/hf 12 gauge 40 gram lead load of 2,s
tho my long shot days are well gone anyway it still beats the 3 inch loads in the pattern, recoil ,price and stringing stakes [if you wanted to use it in other sizes on ducks]

[QUOTE=gsp follower;445188]

i beg to differ a load that doesn,t string to much is preferable again its trial and error patterning wise.
but if you want to see the 20.s stringing compared to the 12 say let a round or two rip on the water.
it seems the 32 to 36 gram loads are worst for it while the british 28 to 30 gram loads seem to be better.
theres no clear winner but the bigger the birds[ it seem unless really a really shit load] the less of a problem it is especially with the larger shot .
strangly with the 20 the mid size 2s/3s lead shot loads dont seem to string as badly i.l let you know how the 3 inch black cloud steel hangs together.
i was clipping far to many ducks last season with a load i normally kill cleanly no problem,.
i changed up one choke size than normal and problem solved it self back to kill or miss.
but i use mainly the eley hi flyer 6s or 5s if i cant get them and this change up to 5,s for mallards was enough to put me on the backfoot even tho they patterned almost as well .
but in the string test they were a bit more stretched out not much but enough to mean i wasnt getting enough of the front of the pattern on the smaller ducks even tho they were killer on parries.well thats my excuse anyway
the 2 3/4 inch 32 gram fiocchi 2, load is all im ever going to use on geese now with the modified choke in.
it kills them as far and and as well as anything ive shot including the awesome falcon/hf 12 gauge 40 gram lead load of 2,s
tho my long shot days are well gone anyway it still beats the 3 inch loads in the pattern, recoil ,price and stringing stakes [if you wanted to use it in other sizes on ducks]

I don't really agree, the only way you can check a shoot string, is with high speed camera equipment,
Shooting the water, only tells you, You hit the water, too many variables, speed, choke, angle, quality of shot size, distance, and yes shot string length, etc etc, but we both have the same thoughts on std loads over magnum's,
Some times I think, in hunting/fishing, we tend to over think, the technical things a bit, esp when inside, and thinking about the next trip/mission.
shotguning is pretty simple, a gun that feels good in your hands, balances and swings fast and true, an approate sized load, choke and shot, for the game.
The rest, is pretty much up to the eyes, watch the intended target, neither thinking/ planing or aiming,
let the mind, hands and eyes, instinctively do the work.

I found black cloud, cuts up the meat much worse that normal steel, but it does kill well,

I have long since drifted away from the 12ga, into the subgauges, hand loading, bismuth, lead, heavishot, feltcards and cork, yet to make it to paperhulls, and blackpowder, someday.

and go the subgauges,
Someday I hope to own a blackpowder, hammer gun, and take a drake brace, or clean double, on cock pheasant, on a cool winter morning, a good dog for a companion, and the lingering smell of black powder, and smoke drifting off in the mist.

My young fella (10yrs) is moving up in gauge this year & is going to run the 20g briley sidekicks in his skeet gun for up close or in my 12g side by side for the open. He ran the .410 inserts in the side by side a couple of years back & loved it.