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20 bore or 12 bore


Simuk
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Depends on what you mean by competitive. If you want to compete at DTL on a national level then a 12G gives you a bigger choice of specialist cartridges. If you just want to shoot a round at your club then a 28g load in a 20G will give you the same amount of lead at the target.

 

Why not just have both guns?

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I would agree with the above, I normally use a 12 bore sporter for all my clay shooting, but I have a 20 bore O/U for game, where ducks are to be encountered. (steel shot) I used my latest toy last weekend, a Beretta 20 bore auto. I really bought it for the Grandkids to use, but as I equalled my usual score on a 50 bird sporter layout,...........well ? They are just a bit more expensive to feed, but I used a mixture of 28, 24, and 21 gram cartridges without any problems. So, get a 20 for an occasional play !

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I'm curious as to 'why' -- Weightwise, you can find 12g guns that are as light as the 20g ones (honestly!) and they will kick less because of the bigger bores. We went thru that with my wife who started on 20g, and then switched to 12g and wouldn't even look back.

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I'm curious as to 'why' -- Weightwise, you can find 12g guns that are as light as the 20g ones (honestly!) and they will kick less because of the bigger bores. We went thru that with my wife who started on 20g, and then switched to 12g and wouldn't even look back.

Agree 100% I have a 20 bore and the recoil is noticeably heavier using 28G carts than using 28G carts in my 12 Bores. If it's lighter recoil the OP is after then a 21G cartridge in a 12G sporter is the way to go.

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12 bores pattern better on average and where every miss counts, having a poorer pattern can matter over 100's of clays.

 

Lower pressures are the primary benefit of the 12 bore giving less deformation of the pellets as a result giving on average better pattern.

 

Not saying you can't get a 20b to pattern as well as a 12b, but needs more things to be perfect to get the same result as a standard 12b and a matched 12b/cartridge combo is always going to be the best.

Edited by Stonepark
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  • 4 weeks later...

As above, there's no real advantage to a 20 with clays.

You're going to get more recoil with a 28g cartridge in a 20 unless you buy a heavier gun, so what's the point?

If you need a light gun for health/comfort then you're going to get hammered more anyway.

Pattern is probably worse due to smaller bore with all that lead so you'd be better using lighter loads.

Lighter loads means less lead in the air and less chance of hitting stuff.

So at the end of the day there's not much point and it will cost you far more in cartridges to find out.

It's nice to use a 20 for a change and for game shooting with a light gun on a long walk but I wouldn't swap one for the other for use on clays.

Edited by ChrisPCarter
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