doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com 3 1/2 inch 20 gauge?

One of the guys hunting with me today had a NEF Ultra Slug Hunter Deluxe and it was chambered for 20 gauge 3 1/2 inch shells. I hadn't heard of this before. His Dad won it in a raffle. Hastings makes the shells. Joe went to Dicks and Gander looking for ammo and both told him there was no such thing as a 20ga 3 1/2. I got one sitting on my desk as proof there is.

http://www.hastingsammunition.com/id2.html

You should have asked for ammo for the "TWENTY GAUGE FROM HELL"!

Yes,it's new. Hastings developed it for a single shot, NEF/H&R slug gun, as you said. It's too new to be stocked in the gun shops yet. It's not likely they will stock them until they stock the guns that shoot them.

Or, in other words Jagermeister, "If you miss, don't waste your time with more practice we'll just add another 1/2 inch to the shell"

A 3" 16ga. makes more sense than a 3 1/2" 20. I assume this is for a dedicated slug gun, to try to get it up to mach 2? Otherwise, that makes absolutely zero sense, and would be useless on birds.

Mark a 3" 16ga has been tried before. It wasn't popular.

The 16ga makes little sense in the first place, but Browning does mike a cute pump gun on unusual frame size in this gauge. I compared 20ga, 16ga, 12ga at Gander Mountain and the 16ga reciver has 12ga 3" mag length but is visibly more svelte in profile.

I'm pretty sure the 3 1/2" twenty was only developed to overcome a ballistic challenge in a slug that size, and birdshot has never been loaded in the hulls of that length. It is a wonderful deer gun, according to some things I have read.
Not everyone likes fat women, but, some do. God gave us both, and, we get to choose between 12 and 16, also. My 16s make sense, to me. The receiver on my 1957 Ithaca 16 is about the same as the one on my 1933 model 17 20 gauge.
Browning hasn't built anything I would spend my after tax dollars on in about fifty years.
Best,
Ted

It is all part of "marketing"...make something new and people will buy it..excite the marketplace...the .17 is a big hit, but useless if even a slight breeze is blowing....short mags are a big hit, but barrel life is 1/3 of the standard mag.....people just like trendy, new stuff.....who would have thought 30 years ago, that folks would be running around with stainless-plastic stocked guns...better known as "ugly sticks"..??

"there is a sucker born every minute"...Barnum & Bailey

Hey people, read a book. More room in a hull is always good.

The very best 20 gauge loads are built in a 3" hull, not necessarily going for 1 1/4oz payload, but to provide cushioning and lower acceleration so the pellets are launched as undeformed as possible.

The 3 1/2" 20 promises more of the same. More room for wads and buffers. It might even be possible to make some adequate steel shot loads.

It does present some possible benefits for clever handloaders.

If you don't like it, you don't have to buy it.