20 vs. 12 gauge for hunting

[Britsmoothy]

So the notion that a 12 will throw a better pattern than a 20 is hog wash

 

[shaman]

I have been truly enjoying this thread. I just wanted to comment on historical turkey hunting. What we know of as the modern sport of turkey hunting is not what folks back in the day did. The most popular and productive way to get turkeys was to slip underneath the roost at first light and shoot upwards either with ball or shot. I have also read accounts of folks just shooting them out the window of their cabins as the turkeys were fond of coming up into the curtilage to feed on leavings.

The idea of calling them in the way we do now was not nearly as popular. What we have now is a highly restrictive game, and for good reason. Turkeys are rather easy to kill if you don't follow any particular rules. That is why they were nearly extirpated from their original range.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

So the notion that a 12 will throw a better pattern than a 20 is hog wash

Well what happens is we get "slop-over" from modern shotgunning that confuses folks shooting BP smoothbores. Modern smokeless powders, modern shotshells, with modern cups, modern choke tubes, modern made shot, are a much different animal, than what we use, and a lot of folks have to unlearn what they thought was "universal", which really only applied to their specific modern gun and shot combination...., when they step back in time and use the old tech, the shooter needs to learn that tech.

I mean if Canadians were taking Moose with a 20 gauge flintlock fusil and a ball, then 20 gauge will get birds in a pot as well.....

LD

 

[tenngun]

Everything about traditional ml hunting is at odds with modern hunting, rules of one are not applicable to the other.
Of old guns were popular in certain sizes. Bigger and more powerful was available, yet smaller less powerful more popular.
If we want to hunt with a traditional gun we need hunt in the way it was used
If we try to compensate for a ml lack to make it act more like a modern gun we end up with a too low powered modern or something that’s not traditional at all

 

[bud in pa]

Everybody talks about 25 to 30 yard shots. I remember when I started hunting back in the late 50's in Jersey, mostly rabbits and some pheasants. Shots were more like 25 feet at rabbits and maybe 25 yards at pheasants. long range shots were at squirrels in trees about 70 ft. tall and standing back about 10 to 15 feet from the base of the tree. This was with 12 gauge cartridge guns. It seems like people have to remember that hunting is the ability to get up close to the game.

 

[Lorne Johnson]

You have two good choices there, and they both work. Assuming that the kits are from Pedersoli, I have to say that I like how the 20 gauge swings for me, and have taken pheasants, chukar, and woodcock with it; one pheasant at over 50 yards--read, "Pure dumb luck!"). However, my favorites are the old 6 lb 12's, which have produced at least as well for me on all those birds.

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

I don't have time to read all this. If you're wing shooting you want a dedicated gun. 16 to 10 bore. If you want a combo gun go with a 20.

 

[shaman]

When I look at what's out there in the way of muzzleloading smoothbores, kits, parts, and whole firearms, I see 20 GA and 12 GA, but nothing in between.

Does 16 GA really exist in the real world of modern-built muzzleloaders? Did it really exist before the age of breech loading shotguns? I mean, theoretically, if I'd walked into a gun maker's shop in the Colonial Period, and asked what the guy could make me in 16 GA, would the smith have looked at me sideways and then tried to steer me to a 20GA or 12 GA fowler? This is an uneducated guess, but I would think that 16 GA only started making sense when folks stopped loading their own and started buying pre-made cartridges.

I don't know. I'm just asking.

 

[tenngun]

When I look at what's out there in the way of muzzleloading smoothbores, kits, parts, and whole firearms, I see 20 GA and 12 GA, but nothing in between.

Does 16 GA really exist in the real world of modern-built muzzleloaders? Did it really exist before the age of breech loading shotguns? I mean, theoretically, if I'd walked into a gun maker's shop in the Colonial Period, and asked what the guy could make me in 16 GA, would the smith have looked at me sideways and then tried to steer me to a 20GA or 12 GA fowler? This is an uneducated guess, but I would think that 16 GA only started making sense when folks stopped loading their own and started buying pre-made cartridges.

I don't know. I'm just asking.

Six teen bore was popular. Our sizes are a matter of convenience. 10 handy, no pun intended, 12 a proper number with religious and philosophical implications. 16 one ounce ball, 20 double ten and 24 two dozen.
The French pound was about 1.1 English. The charley was a 20 ball to the French pound gun, book keeping easier tgat way. And 20 bore two dozen to a French pound

 

[Stumpkiller]

My smoothbore flintlock fowling gun is a 16 bore. I decided on that because it was lighter than either the 12 of 20 bores. The modern barrel makers take a 20 bore and open it up to 16 for the barrel. That makes the barrel lighter than either the 12 or 20. 42" swamped barrel with walnut stock comes it at exactly seven pounds.

 

[Eterry]

I have a double 20 bore gun, but I usually use a 12 bore gun for most of my hunting, including doves.

My dad always said a 12 can do anything a 20 can do, but the reverse isn't true.

If you check out "Game Guns and Rifles" you'll see pictures of 11 bore, 15 & 16 bore, and most every other number from 4 to 20.

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

I have owned , shot or made 32 gauge,28 , 24, 20, 22, 18, 16, 14, 12, 11, 10, and 4 guage. None of them are hard to find. My favorite has been the 18 bore.

 

[shaman]

Thanks all. I stand edumacated.

 

[centershot]

What factors to consider when choosing between 20 and 12 gauge for hunting squirrel, rabbit, pheasant, and turkey? And is one gauge or caliber more PC for the first half of the 18th century?

I've come to believe that for upland hunting, such as you've indicated, a shot charge of 1 oz. to 1-1/8 oz. is entirely adequate. If you're hunting pheasant over dogs you might want 1-1/4 oz. but it depends how close the birds will hold before flushing. That said, a muzzle loading 20 gauge would do the job nicely, methinks!