how many here shoot 20ga clay targets...

S

Slugo

Moderator
I find the 20 bore an absolute blast to shoot. Both sporting and skeet, especially sporting. My 20 is a Weatherby/SKB 28" Orion Classic Field III. Reduced size frame and about 7 pounds or so. So easy to carry. No, I can't score quite as well as with my 12ga Brownings, but the gun is a delight and the small lighter loads are wonderful.

I need to start shooting the 20 a little more!!
 
My dad uses his 20ga. for about everything now. It holds a sweet pattern, and usually will roll a rabbit harder than my 12ga.
 
The lighter recoil ammo, that is now available for the 12 gauge, duplicate the 20 loads so closely, that there's probably not as much motivation to use the 20 as previously.
I was thinking about switching to the 20, too, but the 7/8 oz loads for the 12 gauge feels exactly the same, without having to buy a new gun, (not that having to buy another one is a bad thing).
Since the 12 is a little heavier, there's actually less recoil than with the 20, too.
 
When I started off, I shot a Rem1100 20ga skeet and a Benelli Nova for trap and sporting clays. I actually had higher average sporting clay scores with that Nova than I did when I transitioned to a 12ga semi auto. What made me switch was; One fateful day, there was a 60+ yard target, my 20 couldn't even lick em. I went back on the same target with a 12ga 391 and broke 7/8. I do down load the 12ga for skeet and close up SC shots, 7/8oz at 1200fps is close to 20ga. Now I'm happily shooting in the high 70s low 80s with a Benelli Montefeltro.
 
my current 20ga...

Mike Irwin, nothing to worry about. You're SxS is tucked away!!

my 20 bore Weatherby/SKB...
DSC_0017.JPG
 
>>No, I can't score quite as well as with my 12ga Brownings, but the gun is a delight and the small lighter loads are wonderful.<<

I do on occasion, and this pretty much sums it up.
 
A lot of shooters shoot 7/8 oz loads in a 12ga - especially since many of us reload ....but I like shooting a 20ga ( but only in 20g events ) ....in 12 ga events, I still stick to a 12ga.....

I know its mental ...

I'd be hard pressed to give up my 20ga ... but I'd give it up before I gave up my 28ga...!!
 
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Browning Ultra XS in 20 for targets - 30" barrels

Slugo - load yourself some 3/4oz loads - pattern well and low recoil - I REALLY like them in my 6#+ 20 SxS - they don't beat you up so much and the sporting targets die just as easily and nicely
 
I bouhgt an Ithaca/SKB 20 last year. It was similar to the last shotgun my father had.

While it's primarily a dove gun, the only 50 straight I can recall at Wobble was taken with it. I do shoot it a bit at sporting,too.

There's also a 20 gauge 870 here. A former "Yute" model, I restocked it with a grownup, straight grip stock. It acts like a quail gun when i point it right.

Not as good as the SKB for wobble but a fine, fun, firearm....
 
Dave, I would never turn down a 20 bore Wingmaster. Not a slider fan, but the 870 would be a different story...
 
Oneounce, my friend, I'd not sure I understand your propensity to download your guns. Next, I suppose you'll be suggesting 3/8 or 7/16-oz loads in the .410-bore. There is an optimum load per gauge (shot column diameter to length ratio). That's why there are so many different gauges. Our forefathers learned that pouring various loads down the muzzle of their big bore wasn't as effective as having guns with different bores. It's my experience, with 1,200fps loads, a 20-ga shooting 7/8-oz hits targets a lot harder than a 12-ga downloaded to 7/8-oz. The 20-ga is more efficient at 7/8-oz. As the officials keep reducing the loads used in international competition, I'm surprised that there hasn't been a change to 20-ga int'l comp guns.

Just the other day, Slugo was asking about the .410 vs. the 28. If he's really interested in shooting 3/4-oz loads, then a 28-ga gun may loom large in his future. Around here, many experienced shooters prefer 28s over 20s for doves.

I've known several shooters who do better with a 20-ga than a 12-ga, and it usually has to do with recoil/flinching. It doesn't happen so much with trap shooters because they shot only 12-ga, it happens a lot more with those who compete with the smaller guns. The typical Skeet competitor will practice with his .410 -- it's cheaper and if you can hit 'em with the .410, then other guns will take care of themselves (supposedly). For those of you with little experience shooting the .410, rest assured, it's very different than the 12-ga. After becoming acclimated to the little gun, going back to the 12-ga can be a rude awakening. For some shooters the difference between the guns is just too much. And, as my friend BigJimP mentioned, the 12-ga becomes a mental thing. My solution was to get a recoil reducing stock. It has an air unit so I can adjust the pressure so each gauge kicks the same. One of my teammates got 12-ga-psycho so bad that he chose to shoot his 20-ga in the 12-ga events. Eventually he decided to get a 12-ga Beretta gas gun. Like many others, I prefer the same gun in all gauges.
 
Winchester 101 26" Barrels Skeet/Skeet
Remington 870 Wingmaster 20 gauge Light Contour
Browning BSS 20 Gauge 26" IC/Mod

Yup I hate 20 gauges... Still wanting a 20 gauge Benelli Montefeltro, 20 gauge Beretta 391 Urika 2, and Beretta 686 Silver Pigeon Three....
 
Although I prefer the 12 and 28 gauges I do get my 20 gauge Beretta 391 Sporting out every so often. I like the gun but would like it better if Beretta made this model in 28 guage.
 
Uhm...

Not rethinking your decision to sell me that 20 gauge 311, are you?
Click to expand...

Mike, if he does, I have a Savage/Fox BSE we can talk about

Zippy - it comes down to saving money and bodily abuse. Since I do not shoot 410, I don't know about those loads, but I do know folks loading 5/8 in 28 gauge

After shooting 7/8 in a heavy 12, it smarts a touch in the 20 ga.Browning, and you really begin to feel it in the wooden-butt stocked 6.4# SxS 20.

Besides, one other benefit - the patterns tend to be better out of my guns with lower payloads.

Lots of folks whined when the International folks said 24 gms, yet scores went UP with the lighter loads.

The 3/4oz 20 is gaining in such great popularity, one of the major wad makers developed a 3/4 oz wad to fit perfectly.

While box pigeons may need 1-1/4 oz of 6 or 7's to be successful, clay pigeons don't need more than 3/4 to 7/8

As long as I know you have been shooting, I know you are aware of cumulative recoil effects; with some rotator issues in my main shoulder, I'd like to keep shooting as long as I can.

If I was going for the big money and top competition stuff, that would be a different story - I'd have Kim show me her strength workout... ;)
 
Slugo, I certainly hope not....

This one is a creampuff and at 6 lbs, 2 oz, easy to tote. With little weight forward, I have to push the swing a bit more than with my 12s or even that SKB.

Re reduced loads like 7/8 oz 12 gauge, I like them and give up little to the bigger stuff. I would shoot 3/4 oz in my SKB if the inertia triggers would reset.

Those 3/4 oz loads are with 8.5 shot, so pellet count is fairly high.
 
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