20 Gauge

[SDMF]

Saw above about the obtainability of 16ga ammo:

Search out 16ga guns. It is the only true gauge and properly adorned by Federal in Royal Purple. The 20 bore is a light vile tube which digests yellow cartridges and has the potential to exceed a 12ga in felt recoil with less downrange benefit. The 3in 20ga hull is an abomination. I would avoid the 870 and 1100 as IMO they were mistakenly (per usual Remington) built on 12ga frames. Target shooters may appreciate the added weight but sadly the Sweet 16 is no longer viable for official skeet and trap matches (I know that's plagiarized).

Carrying like a 20 and hitting like a 12 is her beauty which has been raped. She needs to be on a true 16 frame for her majesty to be appreciated.

My suggestion is to seek SXS double guns, Browning A-5's and Winchester Mod 97/12's. Others are available for large jack. Chambers may/will likely need be converted from 2 9/16 to 2 3/4. WinSteel Mod 12's are factory 2 3/4 but seem heavier; lacking the handiness of older Nickel Steel versions.

I've twice fucked up by not buying an A-5 Belgian Browning Sweet 16 on site. They point like 1911's or non-bullshit sized Glocks. I was worried about "salt wood" and dark wrists. I've since learned of acetone.

Full discloser: I have a resto-mod M-12 16 Nickel Steel. It carries like a BB gun, will blow the bottom out of a bucket at 40yds and will comprise the bond between molar and jawbone. It's seriously like a .30 mag with 1 1/8oz loads. Sad it won't digest steel. It's all turkey/late season upland.

I'm not sure what this means. Is it about jail? LMAO--holy shit...

https://youtu.be/vib9VMA0v-w

It's readily apparent you've never gunned a gas Beretta 20.

 

[Migrator Man]

Honests questions- Do you have a bunch of components stored up? If not, are you actually able to buy them, and if so how does the cost really compare? Only reason I ask is I just got rid of my old Bair progressive last year. Was worn out but I could still battle through and make some shells. But, I ran a 20 year supply of components out and it simply didn't pencil out to load, even at $6.50 a box. Curious if it is any different now. I actually really enjoyed pulling the handle.....progressive presses are awesome!

Shotgun reloading components have been easy to find around here. I really don’t know anyone who does it anymore. I have my mec jr and components if I ever need to start reloading. At $6 a box nope point in reloading for me. I used to reload heavy pheasant loads so that’s was worth it at the time.

 

[Kurtr]

Shotgun reloading components have been easy to find around here. I really don’t know anyone who does it anymore. I have my mec jr and components if I ever need to start reloading. At $6 a box nope point in reloading for me. I used to reload heavy pheasant loads so that’s was worth it at the time.

for the low quality estate they want 10 dollars this year even at 6 I wouldn’t reload but all I needed was powder so I ain’t in it for much

 

[Mr. Stevenson]

It's readily apparent you've never gunned a gas Beretta 20.

If I were King of Beretta I'd take a cue from Merkel and do a gas gun on a 20 frame. I realize this contradicts above assertion but appreciate pragmatism. A true 16 frame would be cool and I believe would have good sales as a custom item.

 

[Allen]

The ex, oh so many years ago, wanted a 16. I talked her out of it because of ammo availability.


Now I wish I hadn't.

 

[SDMF]

If I were King of Beretta I'd take a cue from Merkel and do a gas gun on a 20 frame. I realize this contradicts above assertion but appreciate pragmatism. A true 16 frame would be cool and I believe would have good sales as a custom item.

I wish the king of Beretta had decided to produce a 28 when the 391 was still in production vs. waiting for the 400.

 

[Mr. Stevenson]

28's are neat. Never shot one.

 

[BrokenBackJack]

We just bought my Son a 20 gauge as he completed his hunter safety class earlier in the spring. I don't own any 20 gauges, so don't have any ammo for it. I had been seeing 12's on the shelf here and there so figured I'd be able to get something that would work, when we needed it. Boy was I wrong. Put a ton of miles on driving to different stores in Fargo and Grand Forks and couldn't find a single box of target loads. I was able to find some heavy loads, but that's not real great for an 11 year old to shoot clays with in just a T-shirt. My Dad asked his hometown hardware store about it and they said they haven't been able to get 20 gauge target loads in a year or so.

Does anyone know of anywhere that might have some 20 gauge trap loads? Or have a couple extra boxes they would be willing to part with?

A guy has some 20 gauge shells for sale in the buy/sell ads on this forum. Don't think they are trap loads though.

 

[LBrandt]

I have a Rem Model 870 in youth size and when you use 3" loads in it, kicks like a mule. I would not want to be of small build and shoot that gun. Have a few boxes of low base that I bought at Fargo Big K when they closed years ago for 2.00 a box that work well for vermin in the yard. LB

 

[Mr. Stevenson]

^^^^Exactly. Folks think the little 20 is a pop gun. There's even an old B/W movie about a boy training some sort of cur and his whole want in life is a 20. It's an "Old Yeller" deal. Vids on Utube etc featuring women and children pranked by recoil piss me the fuck off.

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The only mainstream "pop guns" are the 28 and .410. 12ga loads duplicating 28 payloads perform well on clays and would excel on game with proper restraint due to exceptional patterns.

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[SDMF]

1Oz #5's @ 1300ish from a 20 while no slouch, are certainly no 12Ga 1.25Oz "Duck and Pheasant" type recoil. Reliable gas 20's are soft and stay on target really well.

My Franchi AL48 28Ga out-recoils all my 20Ga SxS's and the significantly heavier M12 20. The Gas 20 Berettas are exponentially less.

 

[Allen]

If'n you buy your child a 20 gage for less recoil, they will be disappointed.

A 20 can kick the shit out of a person in the right configuration.

 

[Mr. Stevenson]

I have a Rem Model 870 in youth size and when you use 3" loads in it, kicks like a mule. I would not want to be of small build and shoot that gun. Have a few boxes of low base that I bought at Fargo Big K when they closed years ago for 2.00 a box that work well for vermin in the yard. LB

That's what I'm talking about Man. Those rds are viable for much more. They have very comparable energy per pellet as a 3 1/2 12ga etc @ 40yds. The difference is the "swarm" and length of "shot string". Usually the tighter the choke the more range is viable with comparable loads. It's like a garden hose and your kid's soccer ball(plagiarized). I maintain; realizing multiple variables: The max effective range of a sporting shotgun is approximately 45 yds. Shall we quibble about another 15, felt recoil and etc?

A duck club in AR(?) will/would only allow a 28. Turkey, ducks and geese are not made of iron.


I once killed a dove with a 16 single bbl at 150+yds with a Rem 7 1/2 shotshell. I held 10ft high and led 50. I swear on the Bible this is true.

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Couldn't tell if it was a pigeon or dove before shot. Didn't matter/won bet. Stepped off from bird to me.

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Incident happened quick. Won can of Copenhagen. 1984.

 

[Dirty]

I just now peeked at this thread a little more closely.

I can’t believe that, because I saw the writing on the wall years ago and started building up a cache of bullets for my kids and I ( got enough 12, 20, .410 shells of every shape and size to last all of our lifetimes), I’m now a “hoarder”??? I bought shells when there were sweet deals because it was obvious they weren’t getting cheaper. I also bought a little more frequently when I saw that with every new president and every new “mass shooting” things got a little wilder. That’s just playing it smart. Some people keep 100 cases of beer or bottled water on hand. I keep 100 cases of bullets (and beer and bottled water).

Last year a buddy of mine wanted to go pheasant hunting and was amazed that he absolutely could not find a box of shells. If his buddy (me) wasn’t so prepared ahead of time, he’d have missed out on a great hunt.

If you like hunting as much as I do, don’t wait for prices to go down or supplies to stabilize. Buy a couple boxes throughout the year every time you see something you might shoot. It isn’t hoarding, it’s being smart. I check the selection every time I go to buy clothes, groceries, dog supplies, etc. If something is there that My kids or I may shoot one day I grab a box or two. I don’t plan on stopping that any time soon. I also don’t blame someone who does buy 10 boxes every time they get a chance. Why not? If they are on the shelf and you anticipate needing them, buy them. Same as always, they aren’t getting any cheaper and the next perceived catastrophe is going to cause a shortage again. No need rendering yourself short on ammo out of sympathy for others who have done so.



If anyone is absolutely in dire straights for a box or two of shells, please let me know. I can spare some because I can always slowly replenish at today’s ungodly prices.

 

[guywhofishes]

Benelli M2 20g for the win this weekend

I missed maybe 25% of the first shot at doves this weekend but stayed on target easily due to the light recoil and probably bagged 90% of what doves I shot at by following up with round 2. Never once made it to round 3.

The spot we found had an awesome mix of pass shooting and flushing shots. It had weeds/grass that was about 1 foot tall so you could walk the field and flush them like grouse/partridge because they couldn't see you coming.

Shot a limit each of the two days we hunted. Royce couldn't walk the next day - and he barely made it back to the truck at end of the day.

 

[remm]

Just ordered a case of 20g 2 3/4'' steel shot from rogerssportinggoods they had 4,5,7 shot I believe. Just a heads up for anyone who may want to get some for kids to shoot ducks in a couple weeks. I have plenty of 3'' but was scrambling to get the shorter ones for the smaller kids.

 

[BP338]

I was lucky and found three cases of 20ga target loads at Cabela's in Billings. One for my boy and two for whoever on the trap team needs them. Hopefully we can find enough for all the kids on the team this year. What a mess...

 

[SDMF]

Royce couldn't walk the next day - and he barely made it back to the truck at end of the day.

Sore feet or sore muscles/joints?

 

[guywhofishes]

I had stocked up enough 20g to shoot many years of skeet but a couple loser skeet team members who shall not be named had to quit, because of time with their kids, or some other lame excuse like that.

So the disbandment of Skeet Team Fargo was a hidden blessing for dove hunting ammo. I miss the comradery though. Not a worthwhile trade.

The few years of skeet league really seems to have helped my dove shooting, so that was another blessing of "the skeet years".

 

[johnr]

I had stocked up enough 20g to shoot many years of skeet but a couple loser skeet team members who shall not be named had to quit, because of time with their kids, or some other lame excuse like that.

So the disbandment of Skeet Team Fargo was a hidden blessing for dove hunting ammo. I miss the comradery though. Not a worthwhile trade.

The few years of skeet league really seems to have helped my dove shooting, so that was another blessing of "the skeet years".

I will have to tell you about my days at elephant park sometime.