Home Forums Birds & Dogs Upland Game Your ideal pheasant-with-dogs shotgun ???

For those who regularly hunt pheasant over pointing dogs, what is your idea of the perfect shotgun? Perfect choke(s)? Perfect load?

Thanks, RS

16 gauge double gun ic and mod 6 shot

Ounce and and eighth

I usually hunt lands requiring non-toxic shot, and will grab my 3 in. 20ga. choked IC/M with a 7/8 oz. load of #4 steel in the first barrel, #2 in the second.

If I had to do that I'd have an o/u, probably a Citori, in 16 or 20, and skeet chokes. Shooting an ounce of lead 6's in either gauge.

There isn't any perfect of any of them.

Can't choose only one shotgun....and I'm following behind flushers. Even then most of my shots are inside 35 yards.

Ithaca 37..28 gauge pump. Mod.
Parker Repro 28 gauge. IC/Mod.
Parker Repro 20/16 two barrel set. IC/Mod or Quail 1 and Quail 2.
Model 12...16 gauge. Mod.
Model 12...20 Gauge. IC.

Lead or Bismuth 5's.

20 ga SXS Imp & Mod 1oz #6


90% of roosters go down with the first shot which is Imp.

I use what SLDUCK describes.

Browning Superposed 20 with 26" barrels choked Mod/Imp with 2 3/4" 1 oz load of #5's at 1200fps

Gosh, I feel like kind of a clod among all you small bore gentleman. 12ga for me, IC/MOD, usually in 30 inch barrels. Side by side, of course, so that should count for some style points. Give me an ounce and a quarter of 5's or 6's, or 4's in a pinch. Slow them down to 1220fps in a field load please. I have taken a few with my 1911 Fox with an ounce of 6's in 2 1/2 inch shells, so that works too. I haven't made a pheasant trip in a few years now, so maybe this year. My little lab is 16 moths now and looks like she'll pan out after all. I'll bet she'd learn a bunch in a week out west.

First week of season, 28 gauge o/u M/F, 30” bbls. I like 3/4 oz #6.

Or…

16 gauge Model 12 Winchester, 28” mod.

After first week, 16 gauge Model 12 Winchester Super Field with 28” barrel, full choke. 1 1/8 oz. #6

Or…

Browning Superposed “Pintail”, 12 gauge 28” barrels, Teague chokes - probably Mod/Imp Mod. 3 1/4 - 1 1/4 - #5 (1220 fps).

1967 vintage Remington 870, 12 gauge, 28” full choke barrel. Same loads as above.

OMG you gun changers

A Prandelli and Gasaprini 20 gauge SxS with whatever cheap ammo is available. The one on the bottom below.

1987 citori first year 16 gauge. 3 labs and a bunch of birds. 26 inch. Merkel 47e 16 single trigger 28 inch. Both ic and mod.

1 oz. 6's IC & IM same for all gauges (12, 16, 20) and barrel lengths, sxs or o/u but haven't shot an o/u in 15 yrs..

Bernardelli Elos 12ga 5 lb 15 oz B&P High Pheasant 2.5" 1 oz. 6's, Montana wild pheasants

Used to carry a 12 ga O/U, but last 2 years have switched to a stoeger 20 ga semi mostly because it’s lighter. Using #5 shot either way.

My favorite is my Dickinson Estate 16 ga SxS, IC/Mod, though they are a bit tighter than marked. Normal load is handloaded 1 1/8-5s that pattern pretty tight. We hunt behind Cheesy's big running German Shorthairs, but the hard pressed birds we get into don't often offer a close range shot. If it gets cold enough for heavier gloves I switch to Beretta M391 12 ga, mod, with 1 1/4 or 1 3/8-5s.

Something that handles 1 1/8 oz of 5 or 1 1/4 oz of 4 shot when I can use lead shot or 1 1/4 oz of steel 2 when non-toxics are required. I'll use lead 6 shot if I have to but I found long ago I had more cripples with them than larger shot. Cover is also a factor with the large tracts of cattails most often hunted giving greater advantage to cripples than grasslands and fields.

Shotguns used are typically a Citori Lightning or Upland Special in 16 ga when lead is allowed or a 12 ga Browning Gold or Beretta 390 if using steel. I have a number of other guns that get occasional use in the field but the previous ones are the most used.

Chokes are most often Modified when using lead or light Mod for steel. In spite of what is commonly believed shots over pointing dogs aren't always close. Especially, pheasants as they are notorious for running out from under points. IC and even Full have their place but seldom is Mod a poor choice.

This describes most of my wing shooting.

Franchi 48AL 20ga with a mod, shooting 1oz of #4's or 5's (depending on availability)
Browning Citori GTI 12ga with Mod over IC, shooting 1 1/8oz of #6

depends on time of year and terrain

I prefer a good lite auto like the Beretta upland or a lite O/U if Im hiking more open terrain and hills all day


I like an IC and IM earlier in year and a mod full late run year. golden pheasant 5's. 6 in bismuth in WPA's