doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com best all around gauge?

If I could only own one gun...I'd get one like Greg's above too.

Lowell,
I bet you're right about the 12g being the "most produced" gauge of best guns out there, hands down. I wonder if it is still the most popular of those ordered in the last year for the US? Probably still is, but I'll be there are a significant number of smaller gauges being ordered to the US as opposed to any other time.

Chuck;
Now don't get me wrong, I like the 20ga. Have owned several & hunted them with complete satisfaction of the years. it was just the statement;

that drew attention.
So my question here is still what constitutes worthiness.
When I was using a 20ga extensively my favorite load was the old 2½de-1oz field load. The handload I was using in the above mentioned 12ga had an approximate "2½de-1oz". "Why" would one be more "Worthy", just because of the different size of the hole down the bbl??
I even note many proponents of the 28ga extolling it's virtues using a full oz of shot.
The question was not about one's favorite, which I had inserted mine is the 16ga, but about the "Best all-Around". Even for the uplands, even for small birds, especially as he did include pheasants, the 12ga still wins hands down as Best All-Around.
Sticking purely with factory loads it has readily available loads from 1 - 1½oz in the standard 2 3/4" length, A range available in no other gauge.
To say a grouse, quail, woodcock etc is "UnWorthy" of a 12ga simply sounded Elitist to me. There simply is no reason for anyone to ned to apologise for carrying a 12ga loadeds appropriately if they so desire, even if their quarry should be the "HummingBird".
Now, they would likely need to appologise for shooting hummingbirds, but not for their choice of gauge.

Question is if you don't like twelves why add them to the list. If you already know you want a sixteen or twenty just ask whats the best between those two.Like you stated at the start it will be your first good SxS and I believe most good twelves feel better in the hand than the cheaper twenties and even alot twentyeights.

Nooo!!! Why would I walk around all day with the weight of a 12 gauge and the payload of a 28 gauge!!!
If I spring for a smaller gauge I want the frame built for that specific smaller gauge.
One gun for everything, big game included and of course ignoring the intent of the original post, I would take a 12!!

Miller,
I meant that the pheasant (wild), being a larger and tougher bird, could be a reason to use a 12g (larger pattern/more density, able to use a larger shot size for better penetration while maintaining denser pattern, etc). It was stated as my opinion. Nothing more, no apologies needed from either of us.

Just my opinion again, but I think the better questions would be 'whats a large enough gauge for reasonable (or insert 'maximum' in place) success when hunting _________ birds?" Then with an explanation of a person's shooting/hunting skills a better recommendation could be made.

Like someone said, a 10g is a better killer than a 12g. But then not many of us desire to carry one for a day of upland hunting, doubly so if it involves hilly country. But hey, the Govenator could carry an 15 lb eightbore further/longer than I can carry a 6 lb 20g. So, everybody's different.

And I still like to hunt this stuff. So, I've become a bit weight conscious while still having a desire for the American doubles. Often that means small guages just to get down to the continental 12g weights.

Since this choice seems to revolve around the best all around UPLAND gun, and the poster stated a preference for a 16 or 20, and also with pheasants being added to the mix, then the obvious choice is a 16 on a scaled frame, no more than 6.5lbs. It's not called the goldilox of the uplands for nothing. 1 1/8 oz. 5's for phez and 1 oz of 6's or 7.5's for everything else, and you won't want to shoot anything else. The standard 7/8oz. or 1 oz. 20ga. payload with larger shot sizes is too slow and light for pheasants in my opinion.

Whats a Phez? If its like a Pheasant you dont need 1 1/8 oz of shot to kill it.

I've been very happy with a 1 oz handload of #5 shot @ 1150 fps for pheasant in my 12g damascus guns. I've shot a number of wild and pen raised (I know, they often don't hardly make a comparison to a wild bird) pheasants with this load. They seem to work well and I don't want for a faster load.

When I shoot a 20g on wild pheasant, I usually shoot a factory 1 oz #5 shot @ 1300 fps load from Remington. I think this load is plenty fast as well. I have not wanted for a 12g when shooting this load in the early SoDak season. I haven't hunted the SoDak late season, so I can't say I wouldn't want a bigger load for that.

In the past 15 years I have gone from a standard 7 3/4 lb 12X76 chambered O/U, which I used extensively for about 10 years previously -- deadly gun, to a 12X65 7,0 lb hammer double for 3 years, to 16X65 and 16X67s weighing 6,1 to 6,5 lbs for everything. Now and then I have taken the 12X76 O/U instead but my bag did not increase nor did my birds for shells ratio.

Last year I hunted with a 12X65 weighing 6,2 lbs and used 28 gram hunting loads for everything -- performed just like the 16s. This year it is mostly back to 16s.

Everything for me is mostly ducks over decoys, some flyby geese and some desert quail, even a few stray pheasants or some bandtails now and then. 28 grams of bismuth #5 or Kent TM #5 have been excellent for ducks and geese and pheasants to 40+ yards, ditto for 28 or 24 grams of #7 lead for desert quail.

I see no need for 12s in my hunting, although a light weight, long barreled 12 with 28 or 24 gram loads is almost as good as a similar weight and barrel length 16. I much prefer to carry 16s because they are smaller in my hand, making carrying them much easier. All are used with lightweight slings, no matter what the type of hunting.

Niklas