The 12 has some advantages but IMO overall the 20 is better.

I went with the 20 Gauge Pardner Pump in camo. Have not decided what choke to get for it yet though.

Thanks for the opinions.

Nothing wrong with a 20ga.

If i had a 20ga that would out perform my 12... I'd shoot it...

A 20 gauge gets my vote. I can still clearly remember my childhood and i held the shells in my hand and that told me which one to try first.

I almost edited the original post but wanted to add that what I am trying to express is seeing through a youth's eyes can express fear in handling size. I know you can get lighter loads that make a 12 identical to the recoil as a 20 gauge but young people see physical size differences and get timid. Start them out with a 20 gauge and scrape up in the meantime to but them a 12 later on. A 20 will keep them going on anything a 12 will do in the meantime. Enjoy turkey hunting!

Well the thing is that when you use the choices you have for products in the 20 gauge along with the experence of 20 gauge shooters that have spent the money in finding the formula to make a 20 gauge every bit as good as a 12 gauge then you have cut most of the corners and saved along with gaining what you wanted.

A 20 gauge can shoot every bit as good as a 12. After testing 8-9 different chokes and spending hundreds of dollars I found that the Pure Gold .570 seem to be the best for the hevi shot field of ammo. As far as trying to get copper to shoot the dence patterns your looking for , you might as well yell up a tree, its not going to happen. Another thing is keepmin mind the hevi shot formula is a little different then the coppers sisters were used to shooting. Shot size turns out to be about one size larger then the lead/coper counter parts. Not being perfectly round in shape they make the size 6 look more like 5's and the loads also keep in mind are also much smaller as with 12 gauge your getting 2 oz loads rather then 1 3/8 oz loads in a 20 gauge shell.

By also doing work on your gun and putting time into polishing the forcing cone and barrel you can change the way your turkey gun shoots.

before polishing




after polishing





making sure that the combo will shoot close to the same all the time, so taking a number of shots to see what average count your gun will stay at,




All patterns are at 40 yards, so I would say that if a bird is in that range, the 20 gauge should not have any problem cleanly taking the bird...

Great pics and work AJH!!!! What compound did you use to polish the barrel and did you lengthen the forcing cone on the 20 before polishing the barrel? I have several of my trap guns with lengthened forcing cones and it really made a difference in the patterns, especially at the longer distances I shoot in AA class.

The 20 has set multiple world turkey shoot championships. I know that it set the world record with 43 pellets in a 4" circle at 40 yds with factory Hevi-Shot turkey loads, before Hevi-13 came out and with a Wrights Superior Choke tube.

There is nothing wrong with a 20ga I know a few guys who use a 410

Difference is about 10-15 yards