20 Gauge Advantage?
- Thread starter Walkabout
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64Springer
75 Cal.
I don't know what you're shooting out of it.
If balls, then you get a flatter trajectory and greater reach over bigger and heavier balls.
If just shot, then it's less effective over bigger bores and more pellets.
Cost of powder and projectile has never entered the equation with me. Use what works the best for what you're trying to achieve. Period.
If balls, then you get a flatter trajectory and greater reach over bigger and heavier balls.
If just shot, then it's less effective over bigger bores and more pellets.
Cost of powder and projectile has never entered the equation with me. Use what works the best for what you're trying to achieve. Period.
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I agree with 64, with shot, I'd give advantage to the larger bores but for PRB, would give the nod to the 20. If recoil or cost is considered, can always short load a larger bore but only so much you should be trying to shoot out with a 20. MHO
Of note, lots of old guns in the 12-10 bore range in the old days, but gentalmen and common folk often had around 20 bores until breechloading days
You sitting still with that gun? Or carrying it all day following dogs?
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Love the 20 ga. I like all shotgun gauges but the 20 is darn good . That 300 gr. ball can drop anything on this continent , easier on the lead supply that say 12 ga. round ball , never cared to run 12 ga. ball either ... You can put just as much shot in it as any other shotgun ... its just a good all around size , gauge . To each their own though . 24 ga.ain't bad either but ibwouldnt go any larger or smaller than those two ....Ju st my opinion . They work out good for my beloved N.W. trade guns too cause thats the most popular gauges they were made it . Nothing like packing around a 5 1/2 pd. trade gun with a 40" barrel all day ...
hanshi
Cannon
My flintlock gun is a 20 ga. That nice gun shoots patched ball with near rifle accuracy at 50 yards and a bit farther. I'm not sensitive to recoil but do appreciate that the recoil of a 20 ga is very mild. Mine has killed deer in the past with prb but I never experimented with shot enough to say I have the best load for the gun. Shooting at turkey targets with shot showed quite nice patterns,
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Trade gun is wonderful. So are the old Green Mountain .61 smooth bore drop-ins.
Comfortably_Numb
The Evil Mike Brooks
I've always considered the 20 bore the ******* caliber
It doesn't shoot shot or ball as well as other bores. If you want great roundball accuracy shoot a 28 bore. If you want an effective shotgun shoot a 10 bore.
It's to big for roundball and too small for shot.
It doesn't shoot shot or ball as well as other bores. If you want great roundball accuracy shoot a 28 bore. If you want an effective shotgun shoot a 10 bore.
It's to big for roundball and too small for shot.
If I had 9 LB 10 GA. at this point in my life, I would need a gun bearer, or only go small game hunting for a max of 2 hrs. a day.
I don't have Mike's experience but 20 gauge is about as big as I would realistically want for patched round ball and as small as I would want for shot. It is the perfect all-around gauge, which I bet is why so many were made back when people depended on them for food and defense. 24-gauge isn't too bad, either. For shot, 12-gauge cartridge dove and quail loads are easy to duplicate in both shot charge and velocity in a 20-gauge, it just has a little more recoil. In cartridge guns, I have no use for a 20-gauge whatsoever as a 12 can be handloaded do anything ever needed from a shoulder-fired arm.... but you can't get 90 grains fo 3Fg and 1.25 ounces of #6 shot into a 20-gauge hull.
These are examples, not absolutes. They exemplify my thinking on gun weights. On safari in Africa, even after the advent of motor cars, bearers carried the guns. On driven bird shoots in Great Britain a shooter had two or more guns. They were carried and loaded for him. Clearly you did not want the same gun for a gazelle and a rhino. But you wanted both along.
In traditional upland hunting here, the shooter carried his gun, his ammunition, and any kills.; The guns tended to be relatively light, and the smaller the gauge the more rounds you carried per pound of weight. In traditional water fowling here the hunter rarely had to carry a gun any great distance. Which was good be he often wanted a heavier, bigger gun due to the ranges and the size of his quarry.
Put another way, in the field, gun weight and gun caliber were in direct relation. The heavier the caliber or gauge the heavier the gun. And the bigger, or more dangerous, or more distant your quarry the larger the bore, caliber or gauge of the gun you choose.
In traditional upland hunting here, the shooter carried his gun, his ammunition, and any kills.; The guns tended to be relatively light, and the smaller the gauge the more rounds you carried per pound of weight. In traditional water fowling here the hunter rarely had to carry a gun any great distance. Which was good be he often wanted a heavier, bigger gun due to the ranges and the size of his quarry.
Put another way, in the field, gun weight and gun caliber were in direct relation. The heavier the caliber or gauge the heavier the gun. And the bigger, or more dangerous, or more distant your quarry the larger the bore, caliber or gauge of the gun you choose.
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What is it they say about opinions and anuses ?
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I shoot line shoots and woods walks, I hunt and attend novelty shoots for fun, mostly always with one of my smoothbores, I've owned three 12ga. muskets, one 15 ga. original 1850's English side x side sporting gun, and a half dozen 20ga. smoothbore fowlers, all custom flintlocks and two 20ga. Center Mark Fusil de Chasse French fusils over the years, also owned over a dozen custom flintlock rifles.
I still own and shoot a handful of custom rifles, and two fowlers, but my favorite muzzle loaders are my two 20ga. Center Mark Fusil de Chasse smoothbores, there's nothing that the 12ga. guns could do that the 20ga. Fusils can't do better, and with allot more class and grace.
I still own and shoot a handful of custom rifles, and two fowlers, but my favorite muzzle loaders are my two 20ga. Center Mark Fusil de Chasse smoothbores, there's nothing that the 12ga. guns could do that the 20ga. Fusils can't do better, and with allot more class and grace.
I think Anny Oakly used a 10 gauge for her hunting and target shooting in the beginning of her career even though it might have been a breach loader it was no lightweight 20 gauge.
I would imagine that she wasn't 79 yrs. old, and have more metal joints then a new car. Oh yeah don't forget arthritis.I think Anny Oakly used a 10 gauge for her hunting and target shooting in the beginning of her career even though it might have been a breach loader it was no lightweight 20 gauge.
She did shoot into her 60s. She died at age 66 <Annie Oakley - Wikipedia>. "She was in a bad train wreck in 1901 but recovered after temporary paralysis and five spinal operations". Have a read on the Wikipedia link above - amazing woman. We ALL get old it's how you handle it that counts - I'm no "spring chicken" either and have my own health / mobility issues. I hope you do better in the futureI would imagine that she wasn't 79 yrs. old, and have more metal joints then a new car. Oh yeah don't forget arthritis.
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She did shoot into her 60s. She died at age 66 <Annie Oakley - Wikipedia>. "She was in a bad train wreck in 1901 but recovered after temporary paralysis and five spinal operations". Have a read on the Wikipedia link above - amazing woman. We ALL get old it's how you handle it that counts - I'm no "spring chicken" either and have my own health / mobility issues. I hope you do better in the future
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Annie may have used a 10 bore because she needed all the help she could get as she advanced in years, Fortunately I can still get it done with a 20ga., BTW, I have both of you beat, I turn 81 in a few months, still shoot my air rifles in the backyard, shoot skeet and trap at my club range, and take an occasional squirrel once in a while, life is good.
I agree entirely with your assessment but, if I wanted good round ball accuracy I want a rifle, not a smoothbore. If I want to hunt Turkey, I would probably get a 12ga double at least. But, if I wanted a single gun that would do a serviceable job at both I would have to pick my 20ga smoothbore trade gun. Just my two cents.
