Anyone out there have any experience with ducks with a 20 gauge? I am curious about the effectiveness of a 20 gauge in both 2 3/4” and 3” shells. I’m not sure if I have even seen 20 gauge waterfowl loads in 2 3/4”.

I've shot a few. Mostly 3" #4's. I like the Kent Fasteel, but others work too. Kent makes some 2 3/4" steel loads in their Upland Fasteel line that would likely do ok. I also shoot 2 3/4" Federal steel #6 for pheasant, but those are planted birds and shots tend to be short. For wild pheasant I like the same load as I use on duck. Get the birds close and hit them, you'll kill ducks.

"...Get the birds close and hit them..."

Yes, remember this little east coast ditty.

As long as they're coming, let them come in.
Shoot where they're going, not where they've been.

Gauge matters not... the choke and shot size are the key issues. Been duck hunting with a 20 for a long time...

I'm not a real fan of steel in the 20 ga but it does work. Back when I was a serious duck hunter, I had the best success using the 3", 1 oz load os #2 steel at 1300 fps with the same load os #3 being a distant second and #4 steel did not even place except for shooting cripples on the water and even then I preferred #6 or #7 shot. This was over water, if hunting field spreads pretty much anything works at some point as the birds come in much closer. Had a dog catch a pintail once to give an idea how close the shooting can be.

The 20 ga is where I firmly believe the added cost of the other non-toxics are justified. I've used and still have/keep on hand bismuth, Hevi-shot, tungsten/poly, tungsten/iron, and probably a couple other shot types. The only one I didn't care for was Federal's tungsten/iron due to its small shot load but it has not been available for many years. My favorite is tungsten/polymer like Kent Matrix with bismuth not too far behind.

I tend to use #2, #3, or #4 shot in these types in part due to shooting mainly mallard or pintail sized birds but more due to the greater likelihood of having geese show rather than ducks. It is part of my bias against steel in the smaller bores though I have shot more than my share of steel at ducks. For small ducks and where shots will be close #3 or #4 steel can be effective but I don't hunt those places/birds very often. I use 3" shells as they offer more pellets in the pattern and was the same reason I used for load choice back when lead was legal. I used some 2 3/4" shells back then but had better results with the larger payloads.

The vast majority of our hunting is in flooded timber. We do occasionally hunt over small ponds, too. Anything decoying in should be well covered by a 20 gauge. I’m just not sure about woodies and mallards that are a bit higher and passing through, versus coming into the hole.

I’ve been shooting a 20 ga for 20+ years. I shoot one because I like the way they feel and handle not because i think they are the best tool.
For big ducks they are best suited for decoying birds at short to moderate range 35 yards and in using 2-4 shot steel w/appropriate choke.
For longer range shooting 40+ yards with steel I like bigger shot than #2 and don’t think a 20 ga throws enough of the bigger shot for a very effective pattern.
With that said if one wants to pony up some more money and shoot some of the heavier than steel shells the 20ga becomes a more lethal tool at longer ranges. Like woodmaster81 says the tungsten matrix is great. Shoots like lead and
#5’s work like a champ but I can’t bring myself to pay the high price for them. Bismuth is getting more affordable and worth trying.

Kills them just as dead. I've had some great hunts with my m1. My go to choke is a briley LM. I accidentally picked up some 2 3/4in drylocks #4s in a rush and they've been great.

I've had good success with Hevi-Shot Hevi-Metal 3" #3s. They layer steel shot and Hevi-Shot in the same shotshell. Seems to be a good compromise between $ and performance, at least in my experience.

I've used a 20ga 870 Remington for ducks for at least 22 years. I hunt both timber and fields, probably 45 days per year. My favorite load is #2 shot in the black cloud 3" load. IC choke for timber usually, but sometimes I use MOD. In fields i always use MOD. 20 will kill just as well as a 12 imo. I bought a new benelli m2 camo for ducks last year but i don't particularly like it so gave it to my son and back to the 870. If you can keep your shots inside 40 yards you'll be fine. Sky-busting with a 20 is just a waste of good ammo. As always, ymmv.

This BPS 20 worked with some #5 steel three days ago for my oldest boy. 2 3/4". Don't over complicate it. That said, I use a 12 shooting 3" #3 shot...

I handload a 1oz load of Hevishot #6 for my 20's for ducks. Works great.

If geese are in the picture, I use #4 Hevishot.

Hevishot is the reason I do not own anything but 20ga guns at the moment.

I typically use IC in both barrels, though I will also use CYL in the right and IC in the left on occasion.

Yes, it is not cheap, but how many shots are you going to take in a day?

My 11 year old grandson is deadly with his 20 gauge using 2 3/4" #6 on decoying ducks.

He sat on the waters edge while I sat back against the tree the benelli is leaning on. I never shot, just watched him. I was pleasantly surprised at his wing shooting skill.

I killed a Canadian goose with 3" #4 shot at 35+ yards last year. Found some 3" #1 steel at Midway USA, but haven't had a chance to try it yet.

When I hunt specifically for wood ducks I use an old 2.75" 870 in 20. Woodies are pretty easy to kill

A couple people I used to hunt with used 20s, they killed their share of ducks. Like with rifles, today's shotgun loads have improved the effectiveness of smaller guns.

P.S. Same for turkey hunting, lots of people use 20s for them effectively.

I started duck hunting with a 20ga as a young boy in the 80’s. I used 2 3/4” #4’s steel shot. I killed a bunch of ducks and had a ball. The 20ga works great.

I’m not a big duck hunter mostly just jump shooting but I’ve found the faster 7/8 ounce loads in 3’s and 4’s to kill better than the internet says a 20 gauge with steel should. Not just in ducks but geese,pheasants,and turkeys too.

The prairie storm steel pheasant load in numbers 3’s kills way beyond what it should in my beretta a400’s.

They exist



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Shot a few this year with my SxS 20ga. I’m using 3” Hevi-Steel #3s. Furthest one was 35-40yd and dropped him stone dead. I haven’t noticed any difference in effectiveness between that 20ga and my 12s, but I’m using Mod and IM chokes. If you were to go more open I could see potentially wounding more.

Shot 4 mallards with my CZ Woodcock last weekend. First time I have shot any ducks with it. As long as the range was reasonable, it piled them up as good as anything. I was shooting 3" 7/8"oz #4's.

#4 typically better in factory load than #2 or #1 in my limited experience.

Have killed quite a few ducks (and wild pheasants) with 20-gauge 3" loads using #4 or #3 steel out to 35-40 yards--mostly jump-shooting smaller streams where was likely to run into either mallards or roosters. They worked fine within that range, in fact pretty much crumpled birds.

Yup....not ideal but in tight no problem with 3" #3.

Just got back from Arkansas and found the #3 3” Heavy Hammer, by Heavy Shot, to be very effective out to about 40 yards. The gun was a Remington 1187 Compact, 21” barrel, with an improved cylinder choke. This was a great combination that we will use again. Also likely to try some Winchester Blind Sides in #2 next time, as a comparison.