20 bore cartridges for Duck

[Tom Malone]

Looks like I’ll have to keep my 20bore as it won’t sell. Might as well use it for this upcoming season, last season I didn’t take it out as I didn’t want to get it marked up or drop it in mud in places I was unfamiliar with. Now I’ll be taking it into manageable grounds for the duck I’ve spotted. 
 

what 29 bore cartridges would you guys recommend being heavy enough to take some duck at maximum distance, using HP steel loads?

thanks

[Mr grumpy]

Eley ecowads are a good en.seem to do the business for me. Incidentally what 20 bore is it? ( just nosey,i have two already)

[Fisheruk]

Eley ecowads, steel shot No 4 plastic wads but dissolve in water. Pattern really well. 👍

[Tom Malone]

13 minutes ago, Mr grumpy said:

Eley ecowads are a good en.seem to do the business for me. Incidentally what 20 bore is it? ( just nosey,i have two already)

that’s what I was thinking. I used them last year on pheasant and they seemed a little too light so I wasn’t sure, had a couple of wounded birds, probably due to my choking more than the steel. Thanks for the advice.

What choking would you recommend?

It’s a Luigi Franchi Harrier, 27.5inch barrel.

 

[Lloyd90]

Is it ducks dropping into ponds or fowling / flight line shooting? 
 

Is it a big or small pond? 
How good a shot are you? 

 

I would personally stick in Cyl / 1/4 chokes and only shoot birds within decent range. 

[Tom Malone]

6 minutes ago, Lloyd90 said:

Is it ducks dropping into ponds or fowling / flight line shooting? 
 

Is it a big or small pond? 
How good a shot are you? 

 

I would personally stick in Cyl / 1/4 chokes and only shoot birds within decent range. 

I would be mixture of everything, primarily rough shooting ditches and decoying ponds.

I miss the easy ones and hit the hard ones, I’d say I’m average at best.

Yeah my experience with steel on stronger birds is that 40/45 yards is about max range for a clean kill and I would be using half choke (full choke on steel). Unless your a good shot and been at it for a while you might be getting them a little further in the 50’s (or more)

I’ll give cyl/quarter a go on some closer birds and see how it plays out, thanks Lloyd 

[Lloyd90]

2 hours ago, Tom Malone said:

I would be mixture of everything, primarily rough shooting ditches and decoying ponds.

I miss the easy ones and hit the hard ones, I’d say I’m average at best.

Yeah my experience with steel on stronger birds is that 40/45 yards is about max range for a clean kill and I would be using half choke (full choke on steel). Unless your a good shot and been at it for a while you might be getting them a little further in the 50’s (or more)

I’ll give cyl/quarter a go on some closer birds and see how it plays out, thanks Lloyd 

About the same as me mate 👍🏻
 

I surprised myself with some of the birds I have taken with Cyl / 1/4 in the 20 bore last year. 
 

Plenty of walked up pheasant and partridge and a good few ducks at close range, kills them well. 
 

I would go with Cyl / 1/4 or Cyl / 1/2 depending on what cartridge you get and just limit the shot range 👍🏻. 
 

Let us know how you get on. 

[Tom Malone]

1 hour ago, Lloyd90 said:

About the same as me mate 👍🏻
 

I surprised myself with some of the birds I have taken with Cyl / 1/4 in the 20 bore last year. 
 

Plenty of walked up pheasant and partridge and a good few ducks at close range, kills them well. 
 

I would go with Cyl / 1/4 or Cyl / 1/2 depending on what cartridge you get and just limit the shot range 👍🏻. 
 

Let us know how you get on. 

Will do, thanks mate 

[Mr grumpy]

Improved cylind & quarter. You'll be suprised how effective it is

[Smudger687]

You could always consider getting a few boxes of bismuth? It'll certainly extend your range a bit compared to an equivalent steel load.