doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com lowest recoil 20ga shell for grouse?

I have never used anything but 28's or grouse and I have never felt "under-gunned" plus I don't end up the day worn out from lugging a heavy gun all through the woods. My occasional misses (seldom more than 8 out of 10)are usually by so far that even my old 10-bore with skeet chokes would have left them flying.

I’m not too sure if you have subsonic 20 bore cartridges in the US. Gamebore load them here in the UK and I use them a great deal on the shooting ground to teach young ladies and small lads. They are called ‘low noise’ and the recoil is unbelievably low. They are 28g (1oz) but you would think they were half that. They have considerably less recoil than a 21g (3/4 oz) at standard velocity. I have to say I have never tried them on live quarry but they will break clays very satisfactorily out to a good range. I am not too sure of the velocity – but it feels slow – but they seem to produce very even patterns by the consistency of the breaks. I think you can get Gamebore cartridges in the US and they would be worth a try. A light 20 bore can be a brute with recoil unless you get just the right cartridges combination.

I suggest you consider the Winchester xtra-lite or Fiocchi Trainer loads in 20 Gauge.

When I ordered aload of cartridges from Gamebore this morning I mentioned your delema. The very helpful young lady say's that Gamebore operate in the US under the Kent Gamebore brand. She say's they load a 20 bore low recoil game cartridge specialy for the US game market. It is a 30g (1 1/16 oz I think) No 5 shot load and it is called The Hushpower. 30g does seem a heavy load for a low recoil 20 bore load but Gamebore produce some excellent cartridges and as I said before their 28g subsonic has far less recoil than the equivalent 21 g load. It does rather seem to defeat Newtons laws of motion!
Obviosly I have never tried these as they are a US product but if they are soft enough they should certainly kill well - possibly worth a try.

If you don't find any, the next time I start loading shot shells, I will dig out the 3/4 oz load I worked up for my son many years ago and load you a couple of boxes. Getting old is a [censored]!

I don't believe those barrels can be backbored.
They are pretty thin to begin with and they are chrome lined.
Adding a long tang trigger guard will add another ounce or two to the gun as well. The biggest problem with these guns is when a recoil pad is added, it makes them very muzzle light.
You could hollow out the butt some more to partially neutralize that change in balance but since you are using the Limb Saver pad in addition to the decelerator, you will have a very muzzle light gun and there isn't much you can do about it. Not always a bad thing in a grouse gun.

The RST 3/4 oz 20's are extremely light recoiling. I have not used them on grouse, but have shot several rounds of skeet with them. Just used some of their 7/8 oz 20ga 7's--which are also quite light in the recoil department--on sharptails with excellent results. Of the shells I've used, if you're looking for something both light recoiling and up to the task, I'd probably try the 3/4 oz RST 20's.

Marc,
I'm sure you'll find a load that will work for you. I'm partial to .410s, but that's just me. But what about those pix? Let's see some.

You can backbore chrome bores with a carbide reamer, so the chrome alone would not rule it out. I have never measured the wall thickness and don't know how much is there right now. As stated eralier, backboring would allow me to take an equal amount of weight from the butt, doubling the weight savings. So far i have not been able to justify the cost of the barrel work vs. total weight saved. And likely never will. Plus I think the barrels would not work for steel shot without the chrome lining, and the MN DNR started a 10 year plan to make all state land no-tox. basically i just don't think the gun is worth it. If I am going to spend more on a gun to get it to 5.5# or below i would want it to be an be on a nicer gun, keeping the Bernardelli as-is for rainy days or a loaner gun.

As i stated in my earlier post, I have worked on the gun and after the weight reduction have it perfectly balanced to my liking. Currently it balanced right on the hinge pin with th ebulk of the weight between my hands. I thought about moving the balance point to the rear, since as you say a muzzle-lite grouse gun can be a good thing. (using the slip-pad would make it muzzle-lite, but would only be needed while my spine was healing) When I make the long guard I will keep the weight and balance point right where it is by taking more wood out of the butt. the factory stocks are pretty clunky and I declunkified mine before i bent it, making it much more svelt looking and feeling.

I could not find the Hushpowers on the gambore site http://www.kentgamebore.com/contact_us.asp . Yes, 30g sounds like a lot for a low recoil 20 ga load! I will call Gambore this week and check on it, as it has definitely piqued my curiosity.

Thanks to eveyrone for the suggestions. I go back to see the neurosurgeon on October 19 and hope to be released to shoot soemthing more than a .22. My dog is pointing and I am seeing a lot of birds. It has been a blast getting pics of him on point as i walk forward to flush the birds, but i am ready shoot with a shotgun instead of a camera

I have killed many quail and some chukar's (when i can find them) here in Alabama with the RST 3/4 oz. 20's in my old "Elsie". It's all i shoot.

Tommy


P.S. I have missed many also. Just me i think.