"I've heard of duck and turkey hunting with a 20, but it can't be what the manufacturer had in mind."
That's on of the things that the manufacturers had in mind. Light weight US guns manufactured 12's and 16's were not common. A way to reduce weight was to use a 20 frame and barrel(s). These guns were used from shooting pheseants to ducks to anything that had hair or feathers. Remember also, that the shell construction of the day gave wider patterns. I have a FULL choke 870 that I used for pheseant,ducks and whatever. With the advent of non-toxic loads, my son even shot Canada Geese with steel 2's in a 3" load. -Dick
