12 or 20 bore

[Anthony]

I am considering getting a new pigeon shooting gun but do not know whether a 20 or 12 bore, it will be used for mainly pigeon shooting and rough shooting as well as clays, which gauge do you prefer and why for these shooting diciplines.

If i was to choose a beratta O/U which one is a good buy below 900 second hand

[ollie]

Well pigeon shooting and rough shooting is probably my main forms of shooting and i always use a 12 bore although some people might prefer a 20 bore. I like 12 bore because when you hit something with it, it usually goes down.

[Cranfield]

This question, is a fine example of people having different personal opinions.

 

I would buy the 12 bore.

It is more flexible, as you can lighten or increase, the cartridge loadings to suit your particular shooting.

With a 20 bore, it spoils the "lightness" of the weapon if you put heavy loads through it.

 

The Beretta Silver Pigeon range takes some beating.

[red_stag88]

I use both very often.

 

I havea 20 o/u which I use for most of my game shooting, I also use a 12 s/s. I am forced to use a 12 o/u for clays at school however.

 

I must say I prefer the 20, one of the resons being when you get a L&R in front of someone with a 20, they instantly think you are the DB's at shooting

[highdowns hunter]

I have only ever used a 12 bore but have a fancy for a 16 bore

Has anyone ever used a 16

[kdubya]

good second hand for 900? you can get a brand new 686 for 975!! nice gun

cheers

[neil]

its a 12 bore for me aswell,for ll of the above reasions plus cartridges are cheaper and you have more choice of them in 12 (which suits me as i am a tight *** )

[Anthony]

For a 12bore O/U would you use a 28inch or 30inch barrel and how much more would I expect to have to pay for a gun in multichoke.

[rjimmer]

I have only ever used a 12 bore but have a fancy for a 16 bore

I've never used a 16 bore but people tell me that they throw a very tight pattern and kill well. They also tell me that they seem to have a heavy kick.

There are plenty of light 12 bores around and, like Cranners said, you can always use light loads. I have always suspected that a lighter load in an open-bored 12 bore might throw a more even pattern than the same weight load in a tighter smaller bore.

I use a twenty five and a half inch barrelled Winchester Mod 23 that is proofed for 1 & 7/8 oz of lead, but we're not allowed to use that on ducks any more.

[gamebag]

i have only shot 12 bores .410's & shot a 28 bore on 1 ocassion so i cant really comment on it but i love with 12s erm has any 1 shot with a 10 bore before are they any good for anything my m8 reckons they are ****

[Adamo]

Theres a guy that lives not far from me and he has a 4 bore, 8 bore, 10 bore, 12, 20, 28, you get the picture, he also has punts and thing like that, he reckons they all have specific jobs and says that anything bigger than a 12 bore should be used for wildfowling as they are always big and cumbersome.

Has anyone ever shot from a punt? I hear that guys used to drop flocks with them!!

But I was thinking about either a 12 or 20 bore, so in firepower terms what would your opinions be?

[red_stag88]

Adamo your mate is right, we use an eight bore hammergun for wild fowling, problem is cartrages are so pricey, (£25 for 25) .

 

I was led to belive there were only a few proper old, boat mounted, working punt guns about.

 

You can drop anything with a twenty as well as you can with a twelve ('cept for geese)

[Teal]

Theres really not much difference, I've heard it said that a 20 will pattern tighter, but have not tested this myself. I was on a driven day two days ago and I eye wiped several people, I also notched up 5 left and rights (should it be top and bottom for an o/u ?) In addition there was a duck shot which was hit by the gun in front but mantained the same altitude - and I mean it these were serious driven duck not the ones you get which circle around a pond and many shoots shoot. The ducks were pushed from one pond to the other about 1/2 KM away and there was a huge wood they had to climb over first. Anyway I divulge!! This hit duck at some height I might add -almost the edge of range I would say, one cartridge and said duck crumples and collapses to the ground stone dead. Obviously this is just one case but i have never felt that my 20 has not had the power to shoot to equal a 12 bore. The quarry I have shot includes, duck, pheasant, partridge, two grouse , snipe, woodcock, pigeon, all corvid types, rabbits, foxes.

 

For rabbits I use size 5 as I find size 6 doesn't kill them instantly. My dad uses 6's in his 12gauge and that stops them perfectly. But moving down a cartridge size to shoot some quarry is hardly a serious problem. I use 6's for everything apart from duck and rabbits for which 5's suffice. For the foxes this was twice on a rough shoot that they were pushed and a 6 stopped charlie in his tracks. If I was going out for him exclusively obviously I would go down a few sizes, and perhaps change gun to a 12bore.

 

For interest I once used 8's on snipe and they were absolutely ****, I shot a snipe hitting it with both shots only for it to continue its progress for a good 60 metres fortunately there was soon a dog onto it and it was picked. This was a day driven snipe shooting and the bag was about 40 I think. If I was to do it again I would use size 6's at least when I hit them I know they are dead, which is something I did not have with the 8's.

 

So at both extremes perhaps the 20 has a disadvantage over 12, but I don't shoot snipe or foxes often enough for it to pose a serious problem for myself - maybe for you, I don't know.

 

Wow what an essay I wrote I want an A plus for it

[bill]

i use 6s on caufornian quail and that stops them .useing 6 s on smaller birds is good as they do,nt run and stay where they fall it knocks them down 20 bores i would love one if some one wants to buy me one for xmass other than that 12 gauge 3 1/2 inch drops most things

[deny essex]

the range on a 20 bore is the same as a 12 , the only difference being the shot contained in the cartridge, strikeing power is the same .

I have owned and shot with both droping pigeon, duck, corvids and rabbit, the lighter 20 is great for walk-about shooting, but my own preference is for the 12 bore, correct chokeing for the type and range of shooting you are going to do with a 20 is of a little more importance than a 12 if at long range.