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20 bore; yes or no


ollie
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I had a delightful Alex Martin Caladonia boxlock 20 which l loved and mistakenly sold it. Had everything from snipe to greylags. Last 2 shots l had with was a right ans left at greylag with 7/8 of no 7 in Hull High Pheasants.

This was before lead ban in case anyone asks

 

 

Edited by grahamch
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Thanks for all the replies. I think before next season I will be purchasing one. I was also considering going into reloading so I suppose this may cut the cost of the shells and mean I can make something to suit walked up or driven game.

A lot of you mentioned 30" barrels; is that not very long in such a small gun? Or do the you need the longer barrels with the lighter loads? I have always shot with 28" barrels.

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7 hours ago, ollie said:

Thanks for all the replies. I think before next season I will be purchasing one. I was also considering going into reloading so I suppose this may cut the cost of the shells and mean I can make something to suit walked up or driven game.

A lot of you mentioned 30" barrels; is that not very long in such a small gun? Or do the you need the longer barrels with the lighter loads? I have always shot with 28" barrels.

Down to personal choice really. Mine has 26" SXS barrels and there is no noticeable difference in performance when compared to a friends 30" O/U.

On reloading, you won't save a lot unless you're loading heavy or loads that are unavailable commercially.  Henry Krank sells a 20g conversion kit for the Lee loadall.

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Barrel length doesn't make any difference to cartridge performance. I always got on well with a 30" fixed choke Browning B425, however ive used a 32" CG and Miroku in the last few days and they were a joy to use. I'd use one instead of a 12b for most things unless your shooting high pheasants most of the time or wildfowl.  

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i have a side by side. nice little gun but just dont seem to be able to get on with it like i do with my 12g ou silver pigeon. it is ideal for the walked up days i have been doing this season as its so light. i personally prefer the heavier 12g which is why it will be in the sales section when i get round to listing it lol

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15 hours ago, FatFreddysCat said:

Down to personal choice really. Mine has 26" SXS barrels and there is no noticeable difference in performance when compared to a friends 30" O/U.

On reloading, you won't save a lot unless you're loading heavy or loads that are unavailable commercially.  Henry Krank sells a 20g conversion kit for the Lee loadall.

Yeah I know I won't save loads but there isn't a lot of firearms dealers in Northern Ireland and some of them probably don't even stock 20 bore cartridges. Also be a nice hobby for me. How much is the conversion kit? 

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19 hours ago, ollie said:

Yeah I know I won't save loads but there isn't a lot of firearms dealers in Northern Ireland and some of them probably don't even stock 20 bore cartridges. Also be a nice hobby for me. How much is the conversion kit? 

20g conversion kit is £22.20. Link below.

http://www.henrykrank.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=164_181_475&products_id=1560

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9 minutes ago, ollie said:

Cheers mate. Is it easy to convert it from 12 bore to 20 bore? It is just a matter of screwing it in?

Dead easy. 2 bolts to remove the powder/shot reservoirs, then pop the locating pins out of the side struts and lift off the the existing sizer/wad guide/crimp unit. Assembly is the reverse. Comes with fitting instructions anyway.

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23 hours ago, FatFreddysCat said:

Dead easy. 2 bolts to remove the powder/shot reservoirs, then pop the locating pins out of the side struts and lift off the the existing sizer/wad guide/crimp unit. Assembly is the reverse. Comes with fitting instructions anyway.

Cheers fella 

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On 11/01/2018 at 20:28, sishyplops said:

I've got a 687 sporter in 20g multi sporter great little gun, although I do have a 686 and an A303 in 20g also so the 687 only rarely comes out. Might be persuaded to part with it ?

I might be interested in the 687 if you are serious. Any info, stock & barrel length etc

steve

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  • 1 year later...

20 bore has really impressed me, my son uses one for clays and the odd rough shooting outing.  Its a Webley and Scott 920K lovely little gun and in the 2 years we've had it not missed a beat.  As an example he was consistently hitting fast high tower birds at AGL on Saturday with 21G cartridges and skeet & 1/4 chokes.  I would have no doubt that with the right cartridge a 20 can do anything that a 12 bore can do.  Thinking about getting one myself got my eye on a 20 bore Miroku MK70 lovely gun!

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20 bore kills just as well as 12. Honestly cylinder and improved cylinder kill everything out to 40 yards +

if you put 28grams through a 20, and 28g through a twelve, the 20 will have a smaller, but denser pattern due to the longer shot column. 

Edited by Gungoesbang
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5 hours ago, Gungoesbang said:

20 bore kills just as well as 12. Honestly cylinder and improved cylinder kill everything out to 40 yards +

if you put 28grams through a 20, and 28g through a twelve, the 20 will have a smaller, but denser pattern due to the longer shot column. 

As Scully rightly said above, I think you'll find that a 20 with say half choke will (or should) throw the same size pattern as a 12 with the same choke, but it will be less dense. This is what I was always led to believe but stand to be corrected.

OB

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14 hours ago, Scully said:

Apparently not. 

hello scully, i have always lead to believe from many years ago reading info on shotgun patterns,  , shooting a 12/16/20 with eley grand prix 6 shot and improved cylinder at 30 yards they pattern same ? i stand corrected if this is not the case, i am sure Jack H did some thing on this with a show called HOW ? he also showed how the original size shotgun bore 410/ 20/16/12 came into being  with a certain size piece of lead, not sure on that as years ago and brain getting fuzzy ha ha

Edited by oldypigeonpopper
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19 hours ago, Old Boggy said:

As Scully rightly said above, I think you'll find that a 20 with say half choke will (or should) throw the same size pattern as a 12 with the same choke, but it will be less dense. This is what I was always led to believe but stand to be corrected.

OB

Yes, this is true generally, but I was using the example of the same load through both gauges. 

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