Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting 12ga or 20ga?

I'm wondering the difference between a lower brass 12ga load and a 20ga turkey load?
It seems a lot of people are going to 20 gauges for turkey, but a lower brass 12ga would carry the same payload.
What am I missing?

Lighter weight shotguns, I just bought another M2 in 20 gauge, about 5.5 lbs

Oh yes its the much lighter and livelier shotgun, 20 guages are the way to go in my book 👍...Good hunting...Hb

I'm not aware of many or any lightweight 12 gauge loads that are buffered with copper or nickel plated lead..........or HTL shot. That's not to say that there aren't some. But most lightweight 12 gauge loads aren't specialized to pattern tightly.

And gun weight, as already stated.

Yoda409 is right, I went down that hole few years back before the TSS became popular and light weigh 20 ga hit the scene. If you like carrying a 7 lb+ gun to turkey hunt with the 12 is the way to go….can load it to do any thing the 20 will do. I have friends that refuse to change and not knocking the 12, but if I am traveling all day I got a light weigh in my hands and if you don’t think it is sweet to shoulder a 6.7 oz 20 ga Remington Fieldmaster when you sitting there with your cheek looking down that barrel for who knows how long….well you don’t know what you are missing till you try it.

Ha! That is nice Or even better a 5lb 10oz Benelli M2 20ga 24" barrel 👍.... ...Hb

I have an H&R single 12ga. Cut short with screw in chokes. Pallet wood stocks, peep sights I put on it.
I wouldn't mind finding a softer load that carries well and patterns tight.

As stated, lighter guns, purpose built shells, and usually shorter barrel which can be a plus

Remington Buffered Magnums are copper plated with plastic buffers. They're high brass. I used to shoot the 2 3/4 inches before switching to my current load. I would not call them light, but they are lighter than some other shoulderbusters.

In my opinion, a 20 gauge 3" 1-1/2oz of TSS #9's is not a softer load. They make my little 870 20ga jump when the trigger is pulled! The trade off is a light, nimble, well pointing shotgun that gets carried a lot and shot a little.... after patterning is complete.

My 12 year old granddaughter hunts with that very thing and she never felt the kick when she killed her first gobbler last spring.

Lot to be said for adrenalin and excitement!

And congrats to her on her first gobbler!

Congrats to your granddaughter.
My 20's kick with a turkey shell for sure. Sighting in is no fun but (I usually shoot one or 2 shells to check zero before the season starts) just shooting a few shells during the season is not a big deal. Dang sure would not want to shoot a round of skeet with them.

I've used 2 3/4 inch 12 GA and if the gun patterns good with them and you're at 30-40 yds I don't think 3" in necessary. I also picked up an M2 20GA last year and have some TSS shells so I will probably give that one a whirl this year. Depending on the weight of the gun I think the turkey load in the 20 kicks a little more than say a pheasant load 2 3/4" in a 12 which is fine for turks.

I agree... my 6 pound franchi 20 punches above its weight class... but I'm sure its not as much as my 6.8 pound 12 gauage franchi shooting 2 oz loads.

Ouch.

I have no argument with whatever long gun a turkey hunter uses. Twelve, 20 or the lowly .410!
Personally, I dropped the old 12 bore 870 for an antique Rem Sportsman 16 gauge.
All this 3.5" 12 bore,TSS, Heavi shot bull malarkey is good for is to tempt otherwise ethical hunters into trying 60 yard plus shots....not to mention the extravagant costs of the ammo.
I have happily harvested birds with a 1 or 1 1/8 ounce load of plain Jane lead #8's for a long time now.
If you can't get the bird in range of your gun, be ethical, pass on the shot.
If you killed a gobbler everytime you went out, it would be called "killing" instead of "hunting".
....and I'm NOT spending money on that high dollar, "Turkey" specific ammo. Lead works just fine. 😉👍

I'd like to see lower brass, heavy shot loads in 12ga.
No need to buy a new gun, use a lighter load.

I find it strange how many supposedly expert or avid turkey hunters who say getting them in close is their forte think they need loads that will kill at 50-60 yards. I also find it a little strange that so many men find a 6 3/4 - 7.5 pound 12 gauge too heavy to carry all day. It doesn't seem like much of a burden to me but I ain't old and infirm yet so maybe that will change in time. Ain't a snowballs chance in hell I'll ever use TSS loads. No turk is worth 10.00 a shell to me. I bought what's probably a lifetime supply of the regular old 12 gauge Winchester 2 3/4", 1 5/8 oz. copper plated, buffered turkey loads when Wal-Mart had them on clearance for 2.97 a box a few years ago. They kill the shyt out of turkeys out to 40 yards and even a little farther {done it several times} and recoil isn't bad.. Everybody seems to think you need to turn a turkeys head and neck into a screen door to kill it these days and that just ain't neccessary. A few pellets is all it takes. As a general rule I find that if a load will consistently kill squirrels at 40 yards it will also kill turks at that distance. Squirrels are small and tough with tough hides. It takes pellets in the vitals - brain, lungs or heart to kill them, pellets in the legs and guts ain't gonna do it and a squirrels vitals are small.

^^^^This^^^^

It only takes ONE pellet into the brain or interrupt the CNS to put a turkey down. I prefer pattern density over shot size.
It's easier to put a sewing needle into a pin cushion than a knitting needle.