20 bore for upland

I've only been seriously upland hunting once, that was last fall for a weekend after quail and pheasants. I alternately carried my buddy's 12 gauge Beretta, his O/U Baikal 20 and my Ithaca Model 37 20 pump gun.

I love my Ithaca and actually knocked down a pheasant and a quail too!
 
Grouse Man said:
Here's my Ugartechea.
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Nice.......12 or 16?
 
I don't currently own a 20, but have hunted with them in the past, and I feel they are ideal for everything upland except Pheasant.

For those tough birds I prefer a 12. If only one gun is your plan, and upland rather than waterfowl, a 20 would be good, and with heavy 3" shells will suffice for pheasants as well.
 
straightshooter said:
There's more than enough "power" in a 20 gauge for most upland applications. In reality, though, the shell has more to do with it than the gauge of the gun.
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That's as truthful as it gets. A few years ago, I found a nice clean little cheapy in a 20. It was Brazilian made. I think it's the same thing Stoeger is bringing in now. Anyways, it fit me perfect, was light and after many boxes at clays, never malfunctioned once. The gun was chambered in a 3", but I had some 2 3/4" Remington field loads. Read CHEAP. I bought the gun for pheasants. And on opening morning, I went out to my favorite spot. I bumped into one other hunter who had no luck. We parted ways, and I went to the area he had just come from. I wasn't using a dog, more just going for a walk. I heard a cackle coming from the edge of the lake. I moved 100 yards down from where I heard it, and started back up the shoreline towards it. The bird flushed, within stone throwing range. I brought the gun up, and as the bird got to the top of the tree's I fired the first barrel. There was a cloud of feathers, and both legs dropped down. I knew i got it, so never fired the second barrel. But the bird didn't come down. He kept at it. And since I didn't have a dog, by the time I got through the tree's, I had no idea where he went. I looked for about an hour, but never found him. I felt sick and angry. I sold that gun, vowing never to own a 20 again, and after my first shot while hunting! I know now it was my foolishness, and using the wrong shell. If you go that route, do yourself a favor, and use good ammunition. I think someone smarter than me is enjoying that gun today. Have fun, and find a nice one.
 
I got a 20 for upland, but you don't need a nice new one. I picked up an old Stevens 5100 for $80 at a pawn shop, works just fine, and if I ever get tired of it looking old I can simply restock and blue it (which I am going to do). The point is some of the generic catalog guns from the 50's to the 70's are actually dang fine field guns, they just lack the elegance of the newer field guns.
 
pharaoh2 said:
The bird flushed, within stone throwing range. I brought the gun up, and as the bird got to the top of the tree's I fired the first barrel. There was a cloud of feathers, and both legs dropped down. I knew i got it, so never fired the second barrel. But the bird didn't come down. He kept at it. .
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Too bad you lost that rooster! As you rightly concluded, it was not the gun's fault being a 20 gauge, but I would not be too quick to blame the cheap ammo, because to bird got up close enough for cheap ammo to do the job. I would not put too much blame on your shooting, and I would guess that he was hit hard in the vitals because lots of feathers and dropped legs usually mean that, but the bird had a lot of flight left, because god of the hunt (luck) was not smiling at the time. You needed just one extra pellet to break a spine, neck or wing. This bird reacted much like a vital shot deer on his last sprint. If you could have pin pointed the landing spot, you would probably have a a stone dead bird at that point. Many birds are lost like the one you described and no one is happy about it, but the only way to guarantee that it will never happen again is to quit hunting. You mihgt have missed a meal, but the bird was not wasted.
 
Covey Ridge said:
Too bad you lost that rooster! As you rightly concluded, it was not the gun's fault being a 20 gauge, but I would not be too quick to blame the cheap ammo, because to bird got up close enough for cheap ammo to do the job. I would not put too much blame on your shooting, and I would guess that he was hit hard in the vitals because lots of feathers and dropped legs usually mean that, but the bird had a lot of flight left, because god of the hunt (luck) was not smiling at the time. You needed just one extra pellet to break a spine, neck or wing. This bird reacted much like a vital shot deer on his last sprint. If you could have pin pointed the landing spot, you would probably have a a stone dead bird at that point. Many birds are lost like the one you described and no one is happy about it, but the only way to guarantee that it will never happen again is to quit hunting. You mihgt have missed a meal, but the bird was not wasted.
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No, and with as many coyote's as there are there, I'm sure he was gone before sundown. I still see that shot in my head everytime I think of pheasant hunting. And everytime I see it, I know the shot was bang on. But given just a second or two, I promise that second swarm of lead would have been in the air.
 
I have used a Savage .22/20ga over/under for nearly 40 years. The gold on the trigger is worn off. Heavy little bugger, but the cat's meow for carrying along on an afternoon chicken/bush partridge/skunk safari. I wouldn't get too caught up in the "ideal/proper" stuff of the high falutin' gun book editorials. Buy what you like and enjoy it. So what if the next guy has a $2000 XYZ Super Dooper. My first ever shotgun was a single shot Cooey I bought as a kid at an auction sale for $12. I walked across town to my home with it. Nobody even batted an eye. The old Imperial Special Long Range shells that I fired in it smelled just as nice as the expensive guns' shells. :p:p
 
northwoodslivin said:
Question.

Why do you folks prefer a 20/16G over a 12G?

I have wanted to know this for some time now. Also, why do the old timers prefer a sxs or break action shotgun over a pump for upland?
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I shot a couple of chukars last year with my 12ga. They were so damaged, my dog refused to retreive one of them. I blew half the bird into minced meat.
A 20ga is more than enuff to get the job done and will not vaporize what you are shooting at.
I picked up a 20ga Mossberg pump this spring for $277 at S.I.R.; My first time shooting it at trap range... 22/25. Cheap, and it does the job nicely.
 
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