doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Getting older, the 20 gauge option.

Now that I am facing the begining of last shooting years (57),I have been thinking of the 20 gauge more and more.
I was going to put together a Model 21 12 gauge for clay and some dove shooting but the thought has been coming to me latly that the older I get will the heavy 12's bog me down? To much recoil?
So I have been kicking around getting more 20's. So I might would stock me up a Model 21 20 gauge instead.
What do most of you guys think of the 20 gauge? I will say that all my clay shooting is not in tournaments and just fun shoots with the guys? So would you feel bad about competing against 12's on a weekliy basis? Would you feel under guned in the dove field with a 20 rather than a 12?

I love the 20g. I have quite a few of them. A 30" M21, at about 7 lbs would be a really nice clays gun. For the field, I like a 20g around 6 1/4 lbs.

20g is just as cheap, if not cheaper to shoot as 12g. It'll knock any upland bird out of the sky with authority, given the right load. For dove, it's more than enough, IMO. I started shooting a 20g with my buddies in weekly rounds of clays and fun shoots about 6-8 yrs ago. At first I thought I was handicapped. Not for long though. After a little while, I didn't even think of the guage difference. When I shoot clays now, I use mostly a 20 with some periodic 410 shooting. Some of my best clays scores were with a 20g. Try it for a while, you'll probably never go back to a 12g.

I am now 62 and use the 12 or 20 for duck hunting (in a blind, sitting).
the 20 or 28 for pheasants
the 28 or 410 for quail with dogs.
The 20 gauge is usually equal to 12 gauge in registered skeet.
So for fun shooting and other than crane and goose hunting, you should be in a fine position
Mike

I have 10 years on you, and find myself more and more going to light guns. I have some nice, but heavy doubles, and had a Sporting gun built on a 20 ga BSS chassis. Heavy enough to soak up recoil, but not too heavy to shoot a lot. Sweet gun for an older shooter. For hunting, I decided carrying was more important than firing and went to a 5 pound, 10 oz. SKB Model 100. Had my best year in a long time on Grouse and woodcock with it. (Yes, I still miss some, but that is one of the reasons I love Grouse hunting, they are tough to harvest.)

Basically, I think not enough people are hip to the fact that the 12 gauge(double)is THE most versatile shotgun in the world.

Add to that the fact that everybody who shoots likes more than one gun and the more differences the better. Chances are their main shotgun(s) been a 12 bore. They get a little dough and/or see something they tell themselves they can't live without and the chase is on! The smaller gauges can be seen as cooler, sexier and on and on.

Hey, I love them ALL. But my main bird hunters are classic, light (6 1/2 lb) vintage 12 bore doubles.

i now use my 28 ga. sxs for quail and doves. ive pretty much retired my 12s. then again im 76.

Mike, as to your other post, it seems it is up and down on the 12 ga.

As for smaller bored guns, I always had a liking for them. I only owned one 12 ga gun that I still have and I got when I was 15 years old. I started collecting L.C. Smiths, I like the pre-1913 ones, and naturally the 16 ga and 20 ga are hard to come by, but I do have a few.

I shoot sporting clays with some of the "elsies" but I shoot light loads through them. The load I was using called for 1 oz. of shot, but my Mec bars throw light and it is actually closer to 15/16 oz. of shot, so it is a little heavier than the 7/8 oz load of a 20 ga. As for the weight of the guns, some weight a little over 7 lbs. which isn't bad, and one Grade 2E grade with 32" barrels is 9 lbs.
A few of my non "elsies" 20 ga. weigh a little over 6 lbs. and I do have a 12 ga. Greener c.1892 with 27 1/8" barrels that weighs 6 lbs even. I also like shooting a FN 16 ga. with 30" barrels that weighs 6 lbs. 2 ozs. The difference is about a pound and I don't mind carrying it hunting and I will be 65 in May, good Lord willing.

I think I'd rather shoot a lighter (Say about 6 1/4lb) & perhaps 2" shorter barreled (28") 12 bore...with lighter loads(7/8oz) & a tad fewer fps in my feeble years
franc

For years now, I've been looking for 20 ga. Nitro Specs. They are hard to find, and the last one I bought was $275 and marked M&W Western Field. Am completely happy with my CZ Bobwhite 28 Ga. If I make it to warmer weather I'll be 75, and have so far cheated the Grim Reaper 5 times. I love you guys. Chops

If I live long enough to become crotchety ole' man I will pick up "Babeee" Bretton and roll 7/8 and 1oz lower velocity loads for it. Yes, I will buy weird French shotgun before I give up on my beloved 12br.