20 gauge shotgun questions

[dougfinn]

My first 20 gauge was a Ruger red label skeet gun. Deadly on grouse and ducks. Didn’t like the flexible fore stock so I traded it in on a Browning Citori, also in 20 gauge. Great gun and screw in choke tubes to boot.

 

[BWH]

Go Semi Auto

Benelli M2
Benelli Montefeltro
Benelli Ethos
Browning Silver
Beretta A400

How much you want to spend?

 

[larry4831]

20 gauge, sweetest little gun in the woods.

 

[BWH]

20 gauge, sweetest little gun in the woods.

Until you’ve taken a Benelli Ethos 28ga out with you. Can take 2.75 & 3” shells. Kicks luck a rocking chair. Super light to carry.

 

[Ray B]

- when you really get into this, you will discover that you can spend a lot more for a quality SxS or OU than a good rifle.

 

[Ray B]

Above is an example of money well spent on something that was a little bit more than a good rifle- It's a Parker VHE 0 Frame 16 ga, Miller SS trigger restocked in English Walnut, weight 5 lb 13 oz. A hunter can only hunt with one gun (at a time) so he/she might as well use something that he/she likes.

 

[Ray B]

 

[Ridgewalker]

JMO&E, but I really don’t like walking a farmers field and seeing empty shells all over the place waiting to kill one of his cows. If you’re only sitting in one spot for doves or ducks, a semi auto works well, but it’s easy to clean up after yourself. In that situation, I’d recommend, as others, the Benelli or Beretta.
If you start quail hunting, an O/U works well and two shots at a bird or two is plenty for each rise/flush. Beretta 686 isn’t cheap anymore, but it is light, tough swings and points well.
Those of us who have done a lot of upland hunting aren’t so much interested in the kill as much as watching the dog work...BEAUTIFUL! These days I only go into the field with a SxS and my old dog. It’s more about tradition and the hunt for wildly flushing birds. At this point I carry either an AYA #2 in 12 ga for pheasant, or a little Arrieta 20 ga for quail or pen raised birds. Both are Spanish copies of dreamy English SxSs.
SxSs are not as easy to shoot as an O/U, but the bird count in my vest isn’t as important as watching my old GSP work. Some flushes I never get a shot off just watching the old boy and birds enteracting. I think he gets a little irritated that he doesn’t get the taste of a bird in his mouth as a reward sometimes.

Clays shooting ranges usually have rental or “try” guns you can test just to see what you shoot best. Eventually you’ll want to get a gun fitter to adjust your gun for the final tweak.

It will be interesting to see how you go into this!

 

[Philip Glass]

Went out for my first dove hunt and had an absolute blast. I'm hooked. Used my old 12 gauge Mossberg 500, but now am pretty sure that I "need" a 20 gauge for doves. Autoloader? OU? I know very little about shotguns or bird hunting so any advice would be appreciated.

Beretta auto 12g is my choice for everything. I’m not sure at this point in my life there is any need for anything but 12g. My kids all started with reduced loads in Beretta 12g autoloaders and never looked back. Very little recoil in the auto.
Regards,
Philip

 

[Philip Glass]

Good over unders are hard to find. I know there are a lot of cheap ones that come out of turkey, but I have heard sketchy things about them.

I use a pump, but that is more because I don’t use shotguns that much, and pumps tend to work well with a wide variety of loads w/o changing anything.

If you do get a semi, it probably won’t work with a huge variety of loads without some settings change. Might be as simple as adjusting gas on a gas operated one, or changing buffer weights in an inertial type system.

Not a big deal, just don’t expect a shotgun to cycle dove loads and bear loads without adjustment.

Berettas will shoot most anything you out in them. I love them.

 

[Philip Glass]

Go Semi Auto

Benelli M2
Benelli Montefeltro
Benelli Ethos
Browning Silver
Beretta A400

How much you want to spend?

Ditto