manwithgreenjeans

what is more versitile. 12 or the 16 or 20 gauges

johnch

IMO the 12 is the most versitile and has the most loads for it
It can go easly from goose hunting to upland game to deer with slugs or buck shot to bunnies. With skeet ,trap and sporting clays to boot.
The other 2 lack good loads and payload capasity for goose , duck and other longer range shooting.
My guss is
The 12 has the 16 beat in loads avability 50-1
The 12 has the 20 beat in loads avabilty 3-1

Rockfish1

now lets just wait minute here... the only thing a 12 ga has over a 16 or 20 ga or any of the others for that matter is a heavier shot load... the velocities are the same or higher with the smaller gauges... the patterns are the same at the various distances with shot just a little denser pattern with the 12 because of the higher pellet count... when lead shot was still legal for ducks and geese I killed as many with my 20 ga and good loads as I ever did with the 12 ga... since steel shot, I went to the 10 ga to compensate for the lighter weight with larger shot, and again pattern density... but all in all when it comes to the majority of hunting I'll stick with my 20's to include deer with slugs... the Encore with slugs in the 20 is hard to beat...

Nomercy

There's no denying the LOAD versatility of the 12ga, go into any gunshop and you'll find two dozen loads for 12ga with ease.

You might get lucky and find 10loads in 16ga, but typically you're only going to find about 5 if you find any at all.

I personally prefer the 16ga, the old addage "the punch of a 12 with the kick of a 20" is VERY true. The ONLY downfall of the 16ga is the lack of exposure, and the low availability of guns and ammo. I'm DYING to find a new 870 16ga, haven't been able to get one in any store yet, so I've got to be satisfied with my current SxS and single shot 16ga shotguns.

I got my first 16ga on my 16th birthday as kind of a joke, it was an OLD Ward's Hercules SxS, my dad had bought it for $45, I cleaned it up, shot it for several years, then sold it for $120 and put the money to a new SxS 16ga Stoeger. I used it for geese, ducks, upland game, and small game, as well as for trap, skeet, and clay games. I REALLY appreciated it for clay games since it's such a light kicker, but still has a pretty good shot count.

DM

I agree with everything you said BUT, you left out one important bit of information.

On pass shots, the smaller guages have a "longer shot strings", so the duck flyes through LESS shot and that means less shot hitting the bird. That can and does make a difference on longer shots, but that doesn't mean i don't like 16's and 20 guages!! I have two drillings in 16 guage, and also other shotguns in 12, 16 and 20 guage.

My father always shot a Rem. 16 guage semiauto, and he killed ducks and phesants like i've never seen anyone else do!!!! I've seen him make so many tripples on game is isn't even funny, and one time we flushed a "bunch" of roosters (pheasants) and before they got out of range he droped 4 of them!!

Anyway, my father will be 92 next month, and although he gave me his 16 auto, he still uses it on pest around the farm to this day!!

Drilling Man

fastfire

Most of you need to reread the above.

He ask a question & you guys start in with balistics & never answer his question.

This is the easiest simplest answer .

IMO the 12 is the most versitile and has the most loads for it
It can go easly from goose hunting to upland game to deer with slugs or buck shot to bunnies. With skeet ,trap and sporting clays to boot.
The other 2 lack good loads and payload capasity for goose , duck and other longer range shooting.
My guess is
The 12 has the 16 beat in loads avability 50-1
The 12 has the 20 beat in loads avabilty 3-1


It is stated so anybody can understand it.

fastfire

I can see that you need to go out & shoot some of the new 12ga.
shotguns.
I have a new mossberg 500 12ga. that kicks 1/2 as much as both of my older 20ga.

Nomercy

Pardon me, as I don't mean to hijack this thread.


I can see that you haven't shot many other shotguns in your life. Yes, there are gun and load combinations available today that weren't some years ago that do indeed place some 20ga combinations over some 12ga combinations in recoil, but this is not a general trend.

I've got to comment on your statement based on the gun involved...you claim your model 500, which I've had 6 model 500 or 590 shotguns ranging from 25yrs old to brand new in 2003, is a "new 12ga". The model 500 hasn't been significantly overhauled since its conception, it's been improved slightly, but not so much to make it recoil considerably less than any previous model, and in typical loads, the extra weight that the 500 carries is the only thing it has going for it in recoil reduction. There's nothing "new" about the model 500.

Try shooting a Mossberg 500 20ga at the range beside your 12ga, then tell me that the 12ga kicks less than 20ga in "New 12ga's"... it's a gun and load combination problem, not just because it's "new".

I can make a 12ga 3.5" mag recoil less than a .410 bore shotgun if I try hard enough, make a gun heavy enough with enough padding and you'll never even feel the shot.

Even if they were able to find a stock design or cushion material that DID considerably reduce the recoil of a given load, why would it ONLY reduce recoil in guns chambered for one cartridge, but then would not give the same results to a different cartridge?