20g hunting question

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Jayph

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Just bought a shotgun and was curious what the realistic hunting range for a 20 gauge with a 21" barrel would be with quality lead shot on upland birds? I am going to pattern the shotgun tomorrow, just trying to draw some knowledge and info from people that may have hunted with them.

Thanks

Jason
 
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Barrel length is not as important as choke. What is the chamber length? By the way you pattern a shotgun not a rifle.
 
It has a modified choke and 2 3/4 and 3" chamber. I bought federal premium #6 1 1/4oz shot. Also while I used the wrong word I once had a sks that you patterned not grouped.
 
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With a modified choke you'll be fine out to around 40 yards.

7/8oz or 1oz of hard #6 shot is plenty, why beat yourself up with that 1.1/4 shell?
 
1shot said:
With a modified choke you'll be fine out to around 40 yards.

7/8oz or 1oz of hard #6 shot is plenty, why beat yourself up with that 1.1/4 shell?
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The lead shot 20 gauge selection was very limited most was 4shot. There was only two kinds of 6 shot and I picked that based on good luck with federal in the past.

This shotgun is for my girl friend to bird hunt with me as it fit her better than any of the 12gauges she tried at the store. However I know very little about shotguns and ammo, other than the odd skeet shoot for fun and upland birds I don't do much with them. I am not sure what you mean about hard shot is lead not lead? Thanks for the comment about the recoil as she found it manageable but it did cause discomfort so getting rid of the rubber puck pad and less shot should make her very happy and keep her shooting
 
I often use a 20 with 1oz of lead and FFG black powder running about 1140FPS on pointed birds - works great.
My buddy uses a O/U 20 with 2 3/4" aammo in 6's.
The 20 gauge I use for ducks and geese has 26" barrels and I have found 2 3/4" Federal premiums and 3" Fassteel number 2's and 4's very good over decoys.
Cat
 
I had a 20 gauge that was pure murder with 3" 1/4 oz loads so I used 7/8 and 1 oz loads in it. The gun also patterned the lighter loads better giving a more effective pattern than the heavier loads which had significant holes in them.
 
What kind of upland birds are you hunting - pheasant? That is a heavy load of #6, the biggest shot size I've ever used on late season sharptails. 1 oz. is plenty.

The barrel length is not a significant issue w.r.t. range.
 
Jayph said:
I am not sure what you mean about hard shot is lead not lead?
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Antimony is added to lead to make it harder, and of course you can add a tiny bit or you can add the required amount for nice hard shot. Lead deforms when shot through a barrel and deformed lead doesn't fly true, weakening the pattern. However, hard shot deforms less so it stays in the pattern at further ranges giving you a denser, more uniform pattern (depending on the choke).

That being said, I doubt you'll be connecting with too many 40 yard birds as you are still new to shotgunning and wingshooting. Stick with an open coke like Imp Cyl and keep the ranges to 30 yards or less and that gun will be deadly.
 
Grouse Man said:
Antimony is added to lead to make it harder, and of course you can add a tiny bit or you can add the required amount for nice hard shot. Lead deforms when shot through a barrel and deformed lead doesn't fly true, weakening the pattern. However, hard shot deforms less so it stays in the pattern at further ranges giving you a denser, more uniform pattern (depending on the choke).

That being said, I doubt you'll be connecting with too many 40 yard birds as you are still new to shotgunning and wingshooting. Stick with an open coke like Imp Cyl and keep the ranges to 30 yards or less and that gun will be deadly.
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I have been hunting birds for 17 years but have always used a 28" barrelled 12 gauge with full choke and federal high brass loads. But my better half wanted to get into hunting birds and my 12 what just to heavy long and big on recoil for her to have any chance of being effective. I have never seen a 20gauge round till I bought her shotgun and I had zero experience with short barrels so I just wanted to gather some info on what to expect.

How do you tell how hard the shot is in factory ammo? I will admit that I have always been a grab a box and go kind of guy and am quite ignorant when it comes to knowledge with shotguns and the different loads.

The birds are grouse and partridge no pheasant. I will say the little 20 feels like no recoil after shooting my new dead coyote loads through the dead dog choke that had some bark (pardon the pun)

Thanks for the info.
 
The choice of a small-framed 20 ga. was ideal for your wife. Lighter, better balance, etc. Yes, it will be her and not you that needs the wingshooting practice - skeet is your friend.

The cheapest bargain ammo they sell will almost guaranteed NOT have much if any antimony in it - apparently it's expensive stuff. You'd think that if you bought a name-brand load specifically for hunting, that it would have harder shot. I think the only way to really know is to contact the ammo manufacturer directly. Then you can also get into copper or nickel plated shot, and buffered shot to help tighten up patterns. But I think in your case, shot hardness shouldn't be anything to worry about.
 
Grouse Man said:
The choice of a small-framed 20 ga. was ideal for your wife. Lighter, better balance, etc. Yes, it will be her and not you that needs the wingshooting practice - skeet is your friend.

The cheapest bargain ammo they sell will almost guaranteed NOT have much if any antimony in it - apparently it's expensive stuff. You'd think that if you bought a name-brand load specifically for hunting, that it would have harder shot. I think the only way to really know is to contact the ammo manufacturer directly. Then you can also get into copper or nickel plated shot, and buffered shot to help tighten up patterns. But I think in your case, shot hardness shouldn't be anything to worry about.
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Thanks for the help and info.
I Found a small town co-op with some 20 gauge high brass load #6 shot 1oz I forget if it was winchester or federal but Iam on my way to buy whats left as they only want 10.99 a box and thats 10-15 cheaper than what the city wanted for what they had left in stock.

I had her out shooting eggs I was tossing and she is now excited about skeet, local gun club meets once a week for a fun shoot so she should be good and tuned up for next falls birds. Glad I can get a lighter load and still have the rifle effective as it had a bit of a kick with the ones I bought.
 
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