20 bore game cartridges- a brief review

[casts_by_fly]

Hi all,

 

i knwo there are are a few of us who shoot a 20 here so I thought some others might be interested in my ‘taste testing’.  Aside from a box of eley VIP given with the gun and a box or two of pheasant extremes, I’ve shot proper cartridges in either 28 6’s or 32 5’s since I bought it a number of years ago.  I am about out of them so I picked up a couple boxes from just cartridges this week. Specifically, Gamebore regal 28 6’s, 25 6’s, and hull three crown 25 6’s. Today shot all of them at pheasants.  These are standard height pheasants up to 40 yards.  All were shot through my beretta silver pigeon which weighs just over 6 lb. 

 

I’ve loved George’s 28 6’s because they are soft shooting in a light gun. They kill well when I do my job. The 32 5’s are sharp. They bark a bit at the muzzle and are sharp on the shounder. In a heavier gun they would be fine, but if I need a heavier gun and want to shoot that load I’ll bring a bigger gun. These are fine for the occasional drive or for the one gun shooter.  The regal were new to me.  The 28’s were surprisingly harsh. I thought the regal was a softer shooting cartridges considering it was in a 65mm case and for older guns. Maybe they are lower pressure or something, but they are loud and sharp, about the same as the 32 5’s from George. Glad I only bought 2 boxes of them.  Surprisingly, the 25g loads aren’t much different. They are just as loud though a little lighter on the shoulder (but not much). I would take George’s 28 6’s over the lighter regals. 

 

However, the three crowns are a sweetheart. I’ve shot them in a 12 and they are the softest shoooting 12 bore 28g load ever.  These 25g in the 20 were no different. They are softer than a 21g 12 ga Comp-x in a heavy gun. No doubt the sweetest load ever. Also, they are miniature death sticks. Every bird I hit with them came down in a heap.  I was incredibly impressed. Any 20 bore shooters would do well to grab a box.

 

thanks

rick

[Ultrastu]

Cheers thats very interesting. And a cart ive never tried .

Will look out for some 

[Whitebridges]

Appreciate the heads up CBF.

Paper cased Three Crowns in 16 bore are nice on the shoulder and kill well. Well done Hull Cartridge !

Here's the blurb on the 20g

https://www.hullcartridge.co.uk/game/cartridges/three-crowns-20 

Edited December 8, 2018 by Whitebridges

[figgy]

I've used and still have some Three Crowns, a true old style cartridge. Not the fastest but smooth to shoot and hit hard. My son shot his first ever pheasant using them.

Have you tried any Lyalvale traditional game or RC carts. Another soft shooting cart I liked in 12 was the Caledonian XL they also make 20 bore carts.

I found in 28 bore, all carts barring the 28g express soft shooting, I think it's due to the powders used in the smaller guages.

Edited December 8, 2018 by figgy

[matone]

Was going to try the Regals in 20 as they`re a crisp 28g load in 12b but sounds like they`re a bit punchy !

Thanks for your thoughts OP,always interesting to hear others views .

Had 3 boxes of Proper 28g 20`s as an order `top up` and thought they were very smooth and effective too!

Figgy,I`ve used a lot of Caledonian XL`s in 20 too,very good cartridge in both 25 & 28g.

Edited December 8, 2018 by matone

[Jason_ox]

I’ve still got a few boxes of the old gamebore traditional game 20s which they don’t do anymore and after using their black gold 20s which I thought were punchy I found the them to be soft shooting. They’ve now rebranded the traditional game to regals so it’s interesting to know. May have to have a try with the three crowns. Nice review 👍🏻

[hawkfanz]

surprised by your comments on gamebore regal,they,re the quietest game cartridge ive tried when fired through my hushy,also i dont find them harsh through my 6lb lanber either.the punchiest i find are fiocchi,but they are the cheapest as well.

[Ultrastu]

Reagals use dimaond shot .

The old traditional carts  didnt .

I lile the reagals they are softer than the black golds 

[figgy]

Aren't the Gamebore Regals just rebranded Pure Gold's. 

Pure Gold were a nice cartridge.

[matone]

56 minutes ago, figgy said:

Aren't the Gamebore Regals just rebranded Pure Gold's. 

Pure Gold were a nice cartridge.

They probably are but it doesn`t stop them messing with the recipe and spoiling a good load,they all seem to do it all the time now,Gamebore especially!

[figgy]

True, just when you think k you found a good load it's gone or changed.

I think with the new reach regs for powders we will find more changes.

[casts_by_fly]

6 hours ago, figgy said:

Aren't the Gamebore Regals just rebranded Pure Gold's. 

Pure Gold were a nice cartridge.

I wouldn’t be surprised. I have some pure gold 12’s and they have a bark to them. Not excessive recoil, just a load bark. 

 

Thanks,

rick

14 hours ago, hawkfanz said:

surprised by your comments on gamebore regal,they,re the quietest game cartridge ive tried when fired through my hushy,also i dont find them harsh through my 6lb lanber either.the punchiest i find are fiocchi,but they are the cheapest as well.

I’ll trade you my regals if you are interested. I’ll shoot the full flat (probably at pigeons) but given the choice I wish I had only bought one box to try them before I got the full flat. 

 

Thanks

rick

[matone]

Using Fiocchi 28g GFL atm and would agree that they`re very punchy ....to the extent that I wouldn`t buy them again ! Work fine tho` and were cheap .

Dunno about the 25g .

Edited December 9, 2018 by matone

[hawkfanz]

i dont mind fiocchi 25g either,but now reloading 20g and i find 24g is ok for what i need,but wont be buying any 20g in future unless someone has them going cheap,which i doubt,cos my supplier must be cheapest in country,

[secret-squirrel]

On 09/12/2018 at 21:54, hawkfanz said:

i dont mind fiocchi 25g either,but now reloading 20g and i find 24g is ok for what i need,but wont be buying any 20g in future unless someone has them going cheap,which i doubt,cos my supplier must be cheapest in country,

Iv just started looking at reloading for the first time .

Mot will be for 20g !  Looking at the lee loadall 2?

any info or any good bits of kit or suppliers much appreciated !

SS

[hawkfanz]

well i bought a lee load all,and never used it,decided i needed something better to load long term,so bought a mec from reggie gun on here,very good machine to load and very quick too,have probably loaded about 700 at the moment,would recomend one of these,clay n game and folkstone supplies are the 2 main suppliers,and very competitive.

[Robertt]

My mate swears by 28g Hull HPE for game shooting but they dont eject cleanly. ( B525 )

Has other makes lined up but have suggested polishing chamber.

Edited December 15, 2018 by Robertt