Shotgun guage preference

[CheeseBurger]

Other than 12 guage, what is your preferred guage and why?

[Big Daddy Badger]

Depends on what i'm shooting and where.

I don't really have a preference per se other than for using the one most appropriate to the task...cheaper to shoot etc.

I use 12 or 20 for waterfowl.
Usually the 12 because it is cheap to shoot and an auto loader.

I usually use the 20 or a 410 for grouse... because they are lighter to carry and work well for that.

I think most guys probably use a 12 for everything an they do that not because it is bigger or better but because it fits the bill, ammo is available everywhere, it is cheap to shoot and what they have.

[north american hunter]

I use 20 gauge for grouse, Hungarians and rabbits, nothing better.

[Tracker34]

There's something other than a 12 ga. ?

J.K.
I started out with a cooey, single shot 20 ga of my Dad's. Shot a lot of ruffies and a couple of deer. All I have now are 12's. When my boys get a little older I'll be up for buying them each a 20 ga. I bought a 410 one time. took it hunting ruffies once and sold it a couple of days later.

[CheeseBurger]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy Badger

I think most guys probably use a 12 for everything an they do that not because it is bigger or better but because it fits the bill, ammo is available everywhere, it is cheap to shoot and what they have.

This is why I asked. 12 guage is like 30-06, everyone and their dog has one. It gets the job done but it is not necessarily the best tool for the job.

I have two 12 guages, a pump and a semi. The semi is for waterfowl and the pump will (I just got it) serve as a range gun since I can't shoot steel out of an old full choke barrel.

Thinking a smaller guage would be good to have for grouse, rabbits and to introduce new shooters (read gf) to shotguns.

[aulrich]

Before the dog, I wondered why folks bothered with anything but 12 gauge. But you start humping a big gun following a pointing dog and lighter sounds nicer and since the ranges are much less, 12 starts hitting too hard, so lighter is again better.

410 is sort of useless, but someday I need to try a 28 it's supposed to pattern a bit better than 410, both are expensive.

A 20 o/u will follow me home sometime soon.

[Big Red 250]

I have a 16 guage CIL single-shot that I've owned for about 15 years. I use it for chickens, rabbits, skunks, racoons, magpies, etc. I've owned 12g & 410's in the past but prefer the 16g.

[dgl1948]

I find that my 20 leaves the safe instead of my 12 more and more all the time.

[unclebuck]

12 for pass shooting, 20 for pit shooting geese, ducks, and sharptails, with the .410 for bush chickens.

[elkhunter11]

My favorite for skeet, pheasant, and upland game is the 28 gauge. It kills clean, with little recoil, in a lightweight gun.

[greylynx]

12 gauge

Loaded to the hilt.

If it flies It dies.

[catnthehat]

I have to make a choice of gauge??!!

I have a hard enough time choosing a particular gun to hunt with !!
Cat

[wwbirds]

You should try the 28 prior to buying the 20 gauge if you are more of an upland man than a duck hunter. I find I use my 28 for everything upland and my 20 for waterfowl. Like they say nothing like carrying a 5-6 pound gun all day when following the dogs. Couldn't stand a 12 or even a 20 anymore for 5-8 miles a day.

[catnthehat]

Lightweight guns are a must for upland for me as well
It could be a vintage PURDY in excellent shape but if it ain't light it ain't gonna hunt!
Cat

[reelhooker]

I have a 16 sxs Lefever that was my Grandfathers. Comes up quicker then lightning and shoots great. Love it for pheasant, and most upland. To bad ammo is hard to find and never a good deal. Probably still my favorite gun to shoot though.

[Big Daddy Badger]

Originally Posted by aulrich

Before the dog, I wondered why folks bothered with anything but 12 gauge. But you start humping a big gun following a pointing dog and lighter sounds nicer and since the ranges are much less, 12 starts hitting too hard, so lighter is again better.

410 is sort of useless, but someday I need to try a 28 it's supposed to pattern a bit better than 410, both are expensive.

A 20 o/u will follow me home sometime soon.

The problem that most folks have with 410 is that you almost need sights with them.
They work great on grouse but the shot pattern tends to be pretty tight... the result is that they are pretty much only for treed or grounded birds and even then...quite often people simply miss.

[CheeseBurger]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

I have to make a choice of gauge??!!

I have a hard enough time choosing a particular gun to hunt with !!
Cat

I'm guessing you have more shotguns than there are guages so thought it would be easier for ya, Cat!

[Big Red 250]

Originally Posted by reelhooker

I have a 16 sxs Lefever that was my Grandfathers. Comes up quicker then lightning and shoots great. Love it for pheasant, and most upland. To bad ammo is hard to find and never a good deal. Probably still my favorite gun to shoot though.

I always find ammo for my 16g at Wholesale Sports, but then again 1 or 2 boxes last a year for me.

[lake side]

Originally Posted by dgl1948

I find that my 20 leaves the safe instead of my 12 more and more all the time.

I hear ya!

last season I used it for pass shooting teals, mallards and I even managed a few geese. Love sitting in the slough and when you call them in they almost land right on you.


LS

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by CheeseBurger

I'm guessing you have more shotguns than there are guages so thought it would be easier for ya, Cat!

Even my vintage ten gauge I'd lighter than a lot of 12 bore guns and about the only modern gun I use these days very much is lightweight 0/U 20
I did use my Pedersoli hammer double a bit big it's a gun for blinds not carrying
Many of the guns I hunt with are less than 6 lbs .
Cat

[nelsonob1]

I love my O/U .410, which i recently learned is a caliber not a gauge.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy Badger

The problem that most folks have with 410 is that you almost need sights with them.
They work great on grouse but the shot pattern tends to be pretty tight... the result is that they are pretty much only for treed or grounded birds and even then...quite often people simply miss.

Why would you assume that the pattern is so tight with a 410? Just like with any other gauge, they do have chokes that can be changed to vary the pattern. I prefer my 28 gauge for upland and pheasant, but I have taken my share of sharptails and huns on the wing with a 410.

[densa44]

12 semi for ducks and geese, 20 o/u for pheasants when I'm alone with the dogs (some times I miss with first shot) and if I have a second shooter I carry my 3.3 lb. folding single 410. I reload my own into 3" brass shells.

As Aulrich will soon see he can soot some birds with my 410 and I'll bet he hits them, if he doesn't his dog will be very disappointed!

[southernman]

16ga and 28ga for me, depending on what I am hunting, I got 12 and twentys but never use them any more,
Once in a while I take the ten gauge out for geese. back up for the 16ga auto or if the specs wont decoy.
A light sub gauge is were its at if walking all day.

[Big Daddy Badger]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

Why would you assume that the pattern is so tight with a 410? Just like with any other gauge, they do have chokes that can be changed to vary the pattern. I prefer my 28 gauge for upland and pheasant, but I have taken my share of sharptails and huns on the wing with a 410.

Its not an assumption.
You read too far into what I was trying to say... albeit poorly I suppose.
Most guys are using full choke singles and many pattern very tightly.

I really like 28...we had one when I was a kid...it was just about perfect for upland.
I almost went that way when buying my 20 but... cost.... availability.... the 20edged it out.

[twofifty]

Decades ago I could walk all day for rabbits & grouse with a pump 12 and wasn't even aware of the weight. Now I notice it.
Think I'll keep an eye out for a nice Cooey single shot in 20.

[Big Daddy Badger]

Originally Posted by twofifty

Decades ago I could walk all day for rabbits & grouse with a pump 12 and wasn't even aware of the weight. Now I notice it.
Think I'll keep an eye out for a nice Cooey single shot in 20.

Had one... loaned it out and the guy wrecked it on me... loved that gun and only paid 50 bucks for it.

They come up at auction quite often...the cooeys or the winnys... usually about 125ish.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy Badger

Its not an assumption.
You read too far into what I was trying to say... albeit poorly I suppose.
Most guys are using full choke singles and many pattern very tightly.

I really like 28...we had one when I was a kid...it was just about perfect for upland.
I almost went that way when buying my 20 but... cost.... availability.... the 20edged it out.

My first 410 was an old Winchester single, and yes it had a full choke, and that was the 410 that I used to shoot sharptails and huns on the wing with. A full choke works fine, you just have to let them get out a bit further. If you have ever seen an experienced shooter shoot skeet with a 410, you might be surprised just how effective it can be on flying targets.

[twofifty]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy Badger

Had one... loaned it out and the guy wrecked it on me... loved that gun and only paid 50 bucks for it.

They come up at auction quite often...the cooeys or the winnys... usually about 125ish.

That's too bad.

I had an 84 in 12g that I gave away years ago - a great gun, my first ever. Many grouse, rabbits & ducks fell to it. The shot column went wherever I looked.

[oldgutpile]

Got them in most every gauge, and some that most people have never heard of! For upland, I gotta give top credit to my 28 ga collection. Started in with them about 5-6 years ago, and never looked back. Lots of gun writers reference the 28 as one of the most efficient, best patterning guns out there (next to the 12 albeit) and I am usually packing about 2-3 lbs less. That weight savings is just in the gun itself mind you. The weight difference between packing a dozen 12 ga shells v.s. a dozen 28 ga, is even more substantial.
As for the cost of the ammunition, just because of general availability, I started reloading early in the game. Great winter past-time, but then I know i am preaching to the choir in this group! I can reload 71/2 lead loads for about $4 a box, and copper plated is about twice that.