Advice needed from 20 bore users

[starlight32]

I am in the throes of purchasing a 20 bore for my game shooting, Just wanted some advice from anyone who prefers this calibre for this purpose.

 

What loads to you use?

 

How do rate performance against a 12g when used for walked up/rough shooting?

 

I have no fundemental reason for buying one, such as weight reduction or recoil issues other than I fancied trying one for the season.

 

Any info appreciated.

[garyb]

I can't comment on shooting game with the 20, but I love mine for walking around the farm after pigeons, corvids etc.. It's very light and easy on the arms to carry around.

 

Recoil is no issue & thats with 28g of 6

[Ferret Master]

I use 28g of 6's with a fibre wad and carry some 32g of 3's in the end of my cartridge belt incase Charlie puts in an appearance.

 

FM

[Baldrick]

I'm an avid fan of the 20-bore. If you're a capable Shot, shooting on 'normal' driven days, a twenty is more than sufficient - I only use a 12-bore when I know I'll need more than an ounce of shot, for example when out after high end-of-season pheasant, duck or pigeon.

 

I use Hull or Eley 24g #6 for partridge, and 28g #6 for pheasant. It does the job very conclusively, and with negligible recoil. You can use a sleeker, lighter gun, and you can carry more 20b ammunition in the same cartridge bag.

 

You'll find that the comments like, "a 20-bore is a girl's gun..." will rapidly dry up when you start wiping eyes on the gun line.

 

Are you going for a Beretta Silver Pigeon?

[al4x]

as said you'll find its plenty adequate and a lot of people shoot far better with one than a 12b IMHO but being a lighter gun if you start shooting 28g plus you can get a bit of re-coil

[starlight32]

I'm an avid fan of the 20-bore. If you're a capable Shot, shooting on 'normal' driven days, a twenty is more than sufficient - I only use a 12-bore when I know I'll need more than an ounce of shot, for example when out after high end-of-season pheasant, duck or pigeon.

 

I use Hull or Eley 24g #6 for partridge, and 28g #6 for pheasant. It does the job very conclusively, and with negligible recoil. You can use a sleeker, lighter gun, and you can carry more 20b ammunition in the same cartridge bag.

 

You'll find that the comments like, "a 20-bore is a girl's gun..." will rapidly dry up when you start wiping eyes on the gun line.

 

Are you going for a Beretta Silver Pigeon?

 

I am either going to buy a Beretta o/u, but my local gun shop has a Yildiz sbs brand new, with change out of 500 quid. Lovely looking gun too.

 

20b cartridges are all now in the £40+++++ mark now for 250, they reckon the RC jk6 25g load is the one to use for game, RFD reckons it out performs alot of 12g loads. You can get a 32g load by RC for the 20b- but this runs in at £51.50 for 250.

Would make using a 20 bore for pigeons a bit expensive.

[tulkyuk]

20 bore is more than enough for game - mate of mine regulary uses a 20bore to great effect on driven days and he also uses a 28 bore for walked up.

[Guest stiv24]

The 20 bore is quite popular on shoots in this area. Most positive feedback seems to relate to the shot pattern. You either hit and kill your target or miss completely so next to no pricked birds.

[pin]

No disadvantage to be had at all when using a comparable load to a 12, if you shove 28g of lead in it you still have similar velocities and you will kill the same birds at the same distances.

 

I was smashing the high driven midi off the tower @ braintree with 24g of no6 fibres out of garyb's silver pigeon, and yes after experiencing that I am buying one. Why bother tiring yourself out with a 12g lump when you don't have to?

[beatingisbest]

20b is just as capable of knocking down quarry as a 12b, in the right hands.

 

A gun on a shoot i used to work on about 4 years ago used a .410 for driven pheasant and he knocked them down just aswell as the 12b boys.

[Night shooter]

I've shot a few with a 20-bore's i find the same you either miss em or kill em dead. Nice gun to shot no recoil if you choose you cartridges. But even a 28 bore will kill high pheasents if you put it in the right place. The only problem i've had, was i had a very light AYA S/S 20B triedto put a heavy cartridge through it and it kicked just like a 12bore if not worse.

Jonny

[white fox]

The saying round here is: "Twenty is Plenty"

 

WF

[pin]

Same with even the "lowly" .410. You still have the velocity and therefore the energy to kill as you do with a 12, just less pellets so you need to be a better shot. a .410 will kill the same bird as a 12 as long as the shooter is competent (with more choke perhaps).

 

I've killed clays with a webbly bolt action .410 that people can't hit with an ounce out of a 12

[kiddy1]

i have shot pheasent/partridge a few times with the 20bore, more than capable imo.... I shot a pheasent 3 guns down the line and a far way back with the 20 .

 

Take a look at the 20 that i am selling, very nice gun!

[Macnab]

Don't want to break up the party but my experience of going from 12 to 20 last season wasn't great. It may well be my fault and may be more of a problem of changing from s/s to o/u but for what it's worth here is my experience.

 

I have shot game (driven and walked-up) for 20 years with an old Italian s/s 12 bore, which I inherited. Not a classic English gun by any means but reasonably capable and I could hold my own in the line with it (it doesn't even have an ejector system). I used Three Crowns 30g 6's.

 

Then I decided it was time to get a proper gun which fitted me, so I bought a 20 bore Silver Pigeon with 30" barrels and multi-choke, with extended stock to fit me (I am 6'4" with arms like a gorilla). It swings beautifully, but turns out not to be appreciably lighter than the 12 bore and with no less recoil, that I can feel at least. I am using Three Crowns 26 g 6's.

 

I wish that I had actually bought a second-hand light old English s/s 20 bore for walked up days as the SP is not noticeably easier to use and just as heavy on a long walk and I am finding it very difficult when raising the gun to switch from s/s to o/u. I am having what i can only describe as a 'double take' to pick up the barrel ends, which puts me off my swing amd loses me a vital split second.

 

We all know people who like to try and make life more challenging for themselves. My father-in-law has bought a pair of 28 bore s/s Arrietta's with 32" barrels and uses them for high pheasants. He was a great shot with a 12 bore but now he has to settle for the odd bird, and I suspect quite a few pricked birds glide on into the bushes.

 

So to get back to the topic

 

Yes it kills just as well as a 12 bore when pointed in the right direction, but the 20 bore Berretta

 

- doesn't feel any lighter

 

- doesn't feel like less recoil

 

- if you are hitting them with what you have got then don't change a winning formula

 

- it might well be that you get less 'pricked' birds but I haven't personally noticed this

 

- 12 bore is still by far and away the most popular size for game and there must be a reason for this

 

I guess it all depends what you will be using the gun for and what type of gun you have been shooting up to now. Funnily enough I am off to the West London tomorrow for a long session to try and figure out whether to persevere with the SP or go back my old gun and put the SP down to experience.

 

And before I get loads of replies saying the the issue is not 12 vs 20 - I know that. It is probably many other things instead. Just putting my personal experience of making the change up here.

[Floating Chamber]

A 20g is sweet from 24g through to 28gram. My cousin can bring down high pheasant all day with one!

32 gram is pushing it IMHO because the shot column is getting too long and can generate high pressure.

[malkiserow]

Since you asked..........

 

I generally use a 12bore .... an old Miroku ..... I find it more effective for overall shooting. If the issue is weight and not gauge.... why not compare the actual gun weight?

 

As an example.... my miroku is about 7 3/4 LB

 

Just occasionally i take out my old (shade over 6LB) Coggi SBS ejector which is worth about £70 and shoots cheaper 12bore carts. Often I will take out lighter gram but still No 6, I keep 25 gram as well. For me this a good compomise for walking all day (rare for me).

 

 

 

food for thought ....

Malk

[Dunkield]

I own a 20bore Lincoln Jubilee, and even though I don't shoot very well with it, there is something about the scale of 20's that just seems right.

12's are fine, but after handling a 20, they just seem a big lump in comparison.

I will get the 20 fitted at some time and try to shoot better with it as it is a good 2lb's + lighter than my Beretta.

[bobby t]

as some one who regularly shoots a 20, i can honestly say the only time id ever swap that gun for a 12 is on clays, i can bing down pheasants pigeons etc, as well as a 12, i went from using a 12 to a 20 mainly due to my size at the time but now feel that i can keep up with the 12s on game and i can hold my own with it on pigeons ( had 140 last week and most weere folded cleanly), it is a very capable drivin pheasant gun killing cleanly at distance, although the only down side is that you have to be spot on with the gun to kill, you either miss or kill clean there is no mid way i find. there also seems to be more of a satisfaction killing a bird others have missed with a gun smaller than theirs. my advice on choosing a gun would be if you have a more agrresive shooting style go for the longer barrels as this tends to make the swing with a liughter gun more smooth. hope this can help you in some way

[stevethevanman]

28g of 6 is a general load for vermin with a 20 bore 28g of 7 1/2 to 8's will kill clays, there are some people who favour the 20 bore over the 12, but personally I like both.

[Mungler]

I have a 20g Beretta 686 and it shoots very well indeed. Nice and light and very pointable.

 

It was going to be my game gun this year but I have since bought a 12g sbs from StuartP which I have just "clicked with" so I don't know what I will be doing with it. I think I keep it in the cabinet waiting for the day that either the wife or the eldest become mildly interested in what I do at the weekends....

[Hewey]

As just about everyone else has said, 20 Bore more than good enough for Game.

 

Just make sure you don't get too light a one else you might find yourself stopping on the birds rather than going through them.

 

As for Shells, someone's already mentioned the RC JK which one of my friends use to great effect although I personally prefer the RC T3 28g in 6's not cheap but very good.

 

Also whatever you get, make sure you get it fitted to you straight away otherwise you could loose your confidence with it.

 

I made the mistake of buying a Beretta Silver Pigeon 3 20 and not getting it fitted, couldn't hit a barn door with it, in the end I sold it and bought a BSA Regent 20 bore Multi Choke at the Game Fair last year, got it fitted while I was there, what a difference, love it to bit's and the best thing was it cost me less than £400 brand new.

 

With the money left over from the Sil Pig 3 I bought a Beretta Tekny's Auto 12G which I was going to use for pigeons but I keep finding myself with the BSA in the hide because I like it so much.

 

Very good on walk-up shoots too as you just seem to be able to carry that few more shells in your pocket.

 

As has also been mentioned you very rarely seem to get pricked birds with the 20 it's mostly either a kill or miss.