When I have tried 3" 20 gauge loads they did not seem to hit pheasants as hard as regular high-brass 2 3/4" loads did. Although this does not seem like it should be the case, nevertheless that's how I saw it. I thought I was shooting each load as well as the other (although the heavier recoil of the magnum load may have blurred my evaluation), yet the magnums were just not killing cleanly for me. That being said, a 20 works fine for pheasants. Nowadays I usually choose a 16 gauge, but sometimes a 12. Usually hard #6 shot in 1 1/8 ounce loads.
