My last choice would be 16 gauge. Most are built on 12 gauge frames, so get the 12. 12 gauge is readily available everywhere! 16 is not! The 12 can be had in cheaper and lighter recoil loads than a 16. What you can do to a 16 to get it to recoil less, you can do to a 12. Between 20 and 28 in optimum loads there is little difference. Between the two I would pick the 20 because of availability of cheap ammo and the option of 3 inch. If one patterns the whole lot of gauges, it is obvious that only one often throws a less than game getting pattern at normal range. That is the 410.
410 for women
- Thread starter mackillan
- Start date
Want to see how effective a 410 is? Figure out the average distance of most of your successful flushed shots. Now take any gauge and a .410 out to a gopher field in the spring or summer and compare. Only shoot gophers at your average or a little further. Only count the ker...plunk dead on ground kills or ones you could retrieve before they go down the hole. I am sure you will hit one with every shot. Compare the kill or retrieve ratio.
The only thing I will agree on is that the .410 is a fun gun.
- Location
- Ft. Mac. Alberta
There is a reason that us skeet shooters refer to the 410 as " the idiot stick".
Compared to a 28 , or a 20, the 410 is greatly lacking in patternability ( tech term)
The reason it was referred to as an "experts gun" is because it is the hardest shotgun to hit consistantly with.
Cat
Skeet shooters may refer to it as " the idiot stick", but when I see it used for hunting all but stump chicken on the ground, I often think it is the idiot's stick.
BigUglyMan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- New Scotland
A 20 would be a much better choice than a .410
- Location
- Ft. Mac. Alberta
