12 or 20

[Heym SR20]

My recommendation though is find a good best quality sidelock by one of the provincial makers. Make sure it has plenty of barrel wall thickness, indeed one that has been sleeved well would save a lot of coin. Make sure its quite light - and either a 12 or a 16 and keep the size of cartridge down. Yes an over and under is easier to shoot, but nothing beats a fine sidelock. They are like a beautiful lady - at times difficult and highly strung but when you are in tune they are addictive.

Don’t though ever try a London Best by Purdey, Holland, Grant or Boss etc. they are in another league and once tried nothing will satisfy you.

 

[Donkey Basher]

Switched to a 20g Miroku about 10 years ago & after a short transition getting used to the lighter gun I can honestly say that I can shoot every bit as well with it as I can/did with the 12g. I've shot some cracking pheasants with it & my scores on the clays are just as good.

 

[Tugmanade]

I have a 28g/20g combo, use the 28g barrels at start of the season with 23g No 5’s then switch to the 20g barrels 26g No5’s later on in the season, absolutely love it, we do quite a bit of walked up & it’s ideal.

 

[Manu]

I bought a 12 gauge shotgun, just because the gun called for it.

All my life I have hunted at 16 and seven years ago, I acquired a 24 caliber Darne...it has been my companion ever since.

My shotguns are parallel, double trigger.

Kind regards

 

[Utectok]

I have an old 12 bore for wildfowling which gets muddy and collects rust from the foreshore. All my game and clays shooting is done with a 20bore for about 10 years.

 

[NullMac]

Had a beretta 20b silver pigeon for 20 years. Bomb proof. Just so much more convenient for game. I probably don't shoot as well with it though as the dynamics are too flighty for a typical adult male. So they break that 'rule'. There are full frame 20 bores but that kind of defeats the point?

 

[bullet chucker]

Tried an off the shelf Browning 20 o/u, did not like the feel, then did the same for the Silver pigeon game o/u. That's the one, fixed chokes light to carry fast to swing through and I have learned to use it 'the same as a 12 bore' It does not need any different mind set just point and shoot. My scores on the clay ground are about the same as using the 12g o/u with interchangeable chokes.
Walking/beating days for partridges in the 90s was a nightmare carrying a 12g, hence the purchase of my Beretta. I have developed a medical condition of late, where there are no prizes to win as to the shot gun of choice I can manage on the clay shoot?

BC.

 

[enfieldspares]

I'm looking at doing more game days next season my browning xs Pro is a bit on the heavy side
thinking of a 20 bore either browning or similar

In truth now that most CPSA registered clay grounds have a one ounce (28 gram) limit the 20 bore isn't as "handicapped" as it once was when 1 1/8 ounce was the standard clay load and most 20 bore guns were but 13/16 ounce in a 2 1/2" case.

Today's 70mm (or even 76mm) chambered modern over and under 20 bore guns easily hold their own against any 12 bore gun.

And with that 70mm chamberi g become "universal" what was once an almost exotic loading....Eley's 20 bore Alphamax....of one ounce of shot in a 2 3/4" case with a crimp closure has become the normal off the shelf loading for 20 bore.

And with that universal availability manufacturer's have had to up their game and so cartridge variety and performance has hugely improved in that 2 3/4" and one ounce range with quality shot of uniform roundness and good antimony content.

Therefore I'd have no hesitation at all in recommending a good, modern, 70mm (or 76mm) steel proofed gun for game shooting with an ounce of good quality English #7.

 

[Island]

I'm looking at doing more game days next season my browning xs Pro is a bit on the heavy side
thinking of a 20 bore either browning or similar

I have been toying with that very same idea for probably a couple of seasons now. Two weeks ago I made my mind up and snapped up a beautiful 687EELL in 20b that has been fitted for 10 Teague chokes in measured 2thou increments, at a price that was just impossible to say no to.

My 12's have been consigned to the gunsmith for someone else to cherish (apart from the semi, I need something to give the geese a fright!)

It'll be on to the pattern plate in a couple of weeks when I get home to work out what suits it best and then, once sorted, it will be a summer of practise before using it in anger next season.

 

[6pt-sika]

I shoot all gauges 8 to 28 and the 410 . I like them all . Every duck I’ve killed has been done in with a 20 gauge . I’ve killed pheasants with everything from an 8 down to and including the 28 . At present my number one 20 gauge is a circa 1914 Parker VH with 32” F&F barrels . That gun works great for everything I’ve tried it on .

 

[6pt-sika]

As long as nothing goes wrong I’m headed to Cordoba Argentina in 2/24 for dove and pigeons . Im not taking a gun but it’s my intention to use one of their 20 semi’s or O/U’s .

 

[Hook'N'Bullet]

Don’t look at the guage look at the gun. Does it fit, does it feel good and can you shoot with it.

For most normal ranges you don’t need massive loads of large shot, 21, 24 or 28grams is more than enough provided you can shoot straight. Even 9grams out of a 410 will kill just as well, but you have a much smaller pattern.

You need to think steel. There are lots of options in 12, a good number in 20 but 16 and 28 there are one or two options but this will grow.

Which is better - one trigger or two, and barrels stacked vertically or horizontally.

The only real option is to have one of each type in each guage and do lots of testing- but I doubt you will come up with an answer.

I don't own a 410 but shot one in my club a couple of times. Surely there's a scale there with powder to weight in the cartridge?

 

[Heym SR20]

I don't own a 410 but shot one in my club a couple of times. Surely there's a scale there with powder to weight in the cartridge?

I have an old William Jeffery 410 side by side. I love shooting it. It’s a challenge, but pellets from a 410 travel and the same velocity as from a bigger cartridge. Pattern density is key - drop down a shot size and avoid long shots.

 

[mchughcb]

I've got both. But the 20 gauge is fine for hunting. Infact I've used one for 5+ years using the NSI 31 gram loads.

Shot more than the rest of the hunt club last year with it.

 

[Bowland blades]

There are those that can shoot and use a 20g and those that can’t and use a 12g with the excuse that you need a cartridge heavier than a 20g can handle to shoot sporting birds,look at it this way, ask your self how many pellets it take to brake a clay then count how many are in 20g cartridge?

find me any top shot that will compete with their like with a twenty , patterns dictate range before velocity and clays dont take much more than a few pellets where a bird needs far more to get hits to the vitals . Same size shot / velocities just a less shot in the 20 it to fill those pattens up .
Like any shotgun or indeed rifle , more is down the the Nut behind the butt

 

[Tugmanade]

As long as nothing goes wrong I’m headed to Cordoba Argentina in 2/24 for dove and pigeons . Im not taking a gun but it’s my intention to use one of their 20 semi’s or O/U’s .

You’ll love it, we used their 20g semi’s with no problems whatsoever. Enjoy

Ade

 

[Triggermortis]

find me any top shot that will compete with their like with a twenty , patterns dictate range before velocity and clays dont take much more than a few pellets where a bird needs far more to get hits to the vitals . Same size shot / velocities just a less shot in the 20 it to fill those pattens up .
Like any shotgun or indeed rifle , more is down the the Nut behind the butt

Top clay shots are sponsored and shoot what they are given, it’s the sponsors PR team that decides not the shooter?

 

[Bowland blades]

Top clay shots are sponsored and shoot what they are given, it’s the sponsors PR team that decides not the shooter?

and when that's the case how many choose the 20 ? how many none funded comp shooter use one ? Hardly any ! Not knocking the 20 on game and rough shooting but is only an advantage over a 12 is its less to carry when it comes to killing . My daughter has shot hers a good while now , shot goes same speed as any larger bore but there is less of it and within reason the more shot load you send the more effective the kill through the randomness of a few finding a DRT placement .
its lighter and faster , that's it

 

[Island]

and when that's the case how many choose the 20 ? how many none funded comp shooter use one ? Hardly any ! Not knocking the 20 on game and rough shooting but is only an advantage over a 12 is its less to carry when it comes to killing . My daughter has shot hers a good while now , shot goes same speed as any larger bore but there is less of it and within reason the more shot load you send the more effective the kill through the randomness of a few finding a DRT placement .
its lighter and faster , that's it

The "effective lethality" of any shotgun is a product of pattern density and shot-size much more than load weight.

Choked appropriately you will notice no difference in killing ability between 12b and 20b.

It seems nowadays that the go-to loading for 20b game cartridges is 26-28g (and a few even heavier), the upper end of which (28g) is exactly what I have been shooting through my 12's for as many years as I can remember and I have NEVER struggled through "lack of cartridge" on high birds. The vast majority of game shooters nowadays would rather up their payload than properly pattern their guns, hence the old "oooh, you'll need at least 36g of #4's on this one mate"...invariably you do not....

All talk of how many competition clay-shooters use 20's is largely irrelevant as the OP was quite specific about wanting it for game days.

 

[Stalker-of-the-deer]

I've got a 20, it's nice and pointable but not to heavy.

Mines a browning 725 with 32" barrels.

Used gamebore black golds 28 gram 6 for pretty much everything and I can happily shoot out to 40 yards if needed.

My outright favourite gun however is my 28 bore which is even lighter and shoots 21 gram 6 happily