Home Forums Birds & Dogs Upland Game Anyone use a 20ga. for Phesant?

I'm primarilly a grouse hunter, but ocassionally travel for phesant. I'm looking for a o/u 20 which will be used mostly for grouse, but the light weight will be great for all day phesants too. Is the 20 with 3" 4's of 5's enough for the tougher bigger birds?

tzone

I used a 20 ga. for many years and found it worked OK. Early season birds generally hold tighter and I prefer 6 shot. Late season I switched to premium copper plated 3 inch magnums with 4 shot for wild birds. Using 5 shot for the entire season would be a good idea.

No doubt a 12 ga. is a better choice and it's what I now always carry when hunting wild pheasant. My ole 20 has been relegated to quail or chukar. I carry a 20 O/U with 6's when shooting the wildlife management area where they release stocked birds.

Make sure you buy hard shot - avoid the bargin shells with their softer shot. If you can afford copper plated pellets you'll get better penetration.

I always used to. Now that we have no phesants I use nothing. That works well also.

I'll echo what Boise said and take it just a half step further. I think a 20 is dandy but copper plated shot loaded in premium shells is a must. Nothing worse than winging a bird that turns into a runner.

Both my girls have used the 20 ga with success, with #4's. I do think though that the 12ga is more effective.

More than enough; #5's have worked best for me. Well over 1000 wild roosters out of Illinois ditches agree.


Fiocchi 1-1/4 oz. Golden Pheasant #5's pattern well, as do Federal 1-5/16 oz. loads.

Thanks guys, I guess I already knew the answer but it was nice to hear it from someone else. If I used the 20 on phesants I would definetly use the best load I could afford (copper plated)


Maybe I will buy the 20 and look for a good deal on a used 12 pump for the 1 time a year I would use it on phesants. The 12ga I have now is strictly for turkeys and way too heavy to carry all day.

tzone

1 5/16th out of a lightweight 20ga?

OUCH!

1 oz of 5's does it for my girl on sage grouse and pheasant inside 30 yards or so. Outside of 30 yards, use a 12 ga. JMO, Dutch.

I've killed geese with a 20, why wouldn't it work on pheasant?

No one is arguing that a twenty won't work on pheasant and as you mention geese. The 20 ga. does fall short of 12 ga performance even when loaded with an equal amount of shot - the shot string is very different. This is covered exceptionally well in the text, The art and science of shotgunning by Bob Brister.

FWIW ... my dad has used 1 oz of 5's or 6's out of a 2 3/4" Franchi 48 and a mod choke for years ... man alive can that geezer stack the ditch parrots.

A good 20 is all one needs for pheasant. I shoot a 24" 12ga Montefeltro myself, but that is what I use for all my wingshooting. Wouldn't mind getting one of the same in 20 ga for upland but why change a good thing ...

Tzone,

This is the ".30-30 vs. Elk" discussion in a different wrapper. A .30-30 will work just fine within its limitations, but most guys choose something less limiting. Defining what those limits are is largely based on the skill of shooter, but the ballistics play are part.

Personally, I figure a 20-gauge takes about 10-yards off my range. That might not seem like much, but that can put a lot of nervous birds out of range.

+1, amen

If you want ONE upland gun, which is a good idea IMO, you might like a 6.5 lb. 12 ga. Mine is an old LC Smith Featherweight, but several new ones are made. Beretta and Browning make light O/Us, and the Franchi AL-48 12 weighs 6.5 lbs also.

I have a short-barreled 6 lb 20 ga O/U, and it is chambered for 3" shells, but I just use it for quick shooting like woods quail and woodcock. I prefer a longer, heavier gun for long shots, and a more powerful gun for bigger birds. When you have to launch a second shot at a wounded bird, some reach in the second barrel is appreciated.

I had one shotgun in my youth and, as I grew up in a quail hunter's paradise and was a traditionalist, it was a 16 ga. I used it with some success on pheasant when I moved to Nebraska, but I also had some experiences that made me see the wisdom of having a 12 ga in the locker.

That's just my opinion. I'm not an expert.

I haven't used a 20ga much on anything. But I do use 1 1/16th oz loads out of a 16ga and never use more than 1 1/8th oz 12 ga loads. I like 5's best but have used a lot of 6's. Also tried 7 1/2's but to many cripples with them. And I do hunt over pointing dogs, probally helps not to have wild flushers. I wouldn't hesitate to use 1 1/8th os of 5's in a 20ga if a 20 was all I had. An 1 1/8th oz of 5's is an 1 1/8oz no matter what ga. you shoot it out of.

Out of gas guns (A303, B-80, Browning Gold) and a few A-5 20 mags. I've never so much as felt the gun when a rooster hollers, and none have recoil pads.

Ruger red label. 3in shells equal 2 3/4 in a 12 gauge. I got in the habit of using the 20 when I had a really pretty 12 gauge that I never took out in inclement weather and I would haul the old 20 ga mossberg instead. Seemed to work pretty well so I ditched the pretty 12 and got the pretty 20. 16 would be a good compromise...

"3in shells equal 2 3/4 in a 12 gauge."

Not so much. Generally a 20-gauge has to give up something - a lighter charge of shot for a 12's velocity or the same charge of shot at lower velocity. In any case, the best 20-gauge load will be a mediocre 12-gauge load - and the 12-gauge can always move up.

This is from the Federal website comparing the two. Premium wing shock Magnum Ammo. I will concede the shot weight...

P258load 20ga 3 in 1300fps 1 1/4shot weight 4 ,5 ,6 shot size


P156load 12ga 2 3/4in 1315fps 1 1/2shot weight 4 ,6 ,BB shot size

Also he was asking if anyone shoots 20 ga and I do. I have not had any problems with it and I do not shoot when they are flushing out past 30 yards or so. In mixed bag hunts I may shoot pheasant load over quail so I have something to launch should the quail get up.

What it gives up, and the reason I use them more and more the older I get, is weight and bulk and sluggishness. A comparative joy to carry all day in the field, payload is payload. There is no significant range or lethality difference between 1-1/4 oz. of #5's out of a 20 ga. or a 1-1/4 oz. out of a 12 ga.

For years, I carried an A-5 "Light Twelve." There is nothing light about it at all, particularly after walking ditches all day. When I'm tired (read exhausted) a A303 or even the new Gold Superlight flies to my shoulder by comparison.

When I was a young boy, my Dad would have two roosters on the way down before I even got my gun to my shoulder. The tables turned, eventually.

My Dad (78 years old and a very active hunter today) finally made the switch from his 12 ga. standardweight A-5 to a 26" barreled Gold 20 ga. when they came out.

It instantly shaved 20 years off his speed, and he's been hunting with that gun ever since.