CAS: SHotguns

COREY

COREY

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I was thinking of picking up a 20 guage side by side for bird hunting, but I thought that if I got it it could be used for CAS if the bug ever bit me to try it out. At as CAS match, does the shotgun knock over a target, or is it just for the hit? I ask since I would consider going with a 12 gauge if I was knocking targets over, but a 20 if all I need to do was make a dining noise on the steel plates.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.
 
Frenchy:

Not around here- you just have to hit the swingers and make it move a bit to confirm a hit.

I shoot 20 ga Norince SXS external hammer. Don't think I would recommend it though, too expensive for the ammo- the guys here get together and buy 12 ga in bulk so the cost per box is quite low. Don't forget, you need lead, and No. 6 shot or so. Too much smaller doesn'thave enough impact to move the swingers. Unfortunately, It was the only SAS legal gun I could find last year.

However, finding a 12 ga cowboy action in say the "trench gun" style is nearly impossible (none at Marstar in months) unless you have a lot of money to buy one of the more expensive replicas and are real lucky in being able to get one without having it ordered and waiting months for it to show up.

The Stoger 12 ga SXS with internal hammers wasn't available last year when I was looking, but I understand that some of them have now reached Canada, and they are cowboy legal.

I'm thinking of picking up one myself in the summer if I can get someone to buy my almost new 20 ga Norinco.

Niagara Glenn
 
A majority of the women that I know shooting CAS in this part of Alberta are shooting 20 gauge. My lady is shooting 16 gauge, but it is more expensive than 20ga. In the past 12 years of shooting CAS, I have shot numerous matches that require targets only to be hit and numerous matches where the steel reactive targets have to go down. #6 shot is a nice compromize.
 
I picked up a Stoeger Uplander 20 ga a few years back for the wife to shoot cas with and I have used in on on a few occassions myself, all of our shotgun targets are knockdowns, some of which are very heavy 3/8" plate pepper poppers and it has never been a problem. Quite a few shooters who shoot 12 gauge are shooting low recoil rounds that are 7/8 to 1 oz loads which is the same payload as a 20 gauge field load. You should have no problems with knockdowns as long as you are not shooting straight cylinder choke.
 
Some scenarios just call for an observable hit on a swinger etc. while other scenarios may demand a knockdown, sometimes to get at a second target behind the first.
I find 12 ga with target/light loads is the way to go, since I always seem to be able to find inexpensive 12ga shells.
I shoot Classic Cowboy and therefore use an open hammer double.
If/when Marstar gets more in, I'll buy a back-up Norinco Coach Gun as a back-up.
 
Both my wife and I are using 12 ga either in a pump or SXS. The ammo is considerably less. My wife does not mind the 12 ga, nor do any of the other ladies in our club. She prefers her Win 97 but shoots both. There have been plenty of 97's as of late in the Shotgun EE. You also might consider an older SXS that can be worked into a nice coach. As far as knock down, the course of fire determines whether or not it's knock down or hit. At the shoots I've attended, that decision is called before the shoot begins.

Preacher Flynn T. Locke
Red Mountain Renegades
Mission BC
 
I shoot a 97 in 12 gauge and my wife and another lady in our club shoot 20 gauge coach guns, not because of recoil but they find the lighter coach guns quicker and easier to handle than the 97's. As far as knock downs go you just need to watch them hammer the targets with their 20 gauges and all doubt of the 20 gauge's ability to flatten targets at CAS distances will be put to rest.
 
As mentioned already, targets can be either knockdown or visible hit. Since the distances are typically 15yds, a 20ga will have no problem knocking anything down. Problems occasionally happen at longer ranges with cut-down guns that have no choking, so it is worthwhile to pattern your gun to find a load that doesn't open too quickly. I shoot 12ga, but find that using #6 gives me better performance in my cylinder bore guns on knockdowns at distance. If you're getting a dual-purpose gun, get one with interchangeable chokes and you'll be good to go with a 20. Since it sounds like you're not going to be a high-volume CAS shooter, the price difference in ammo shouldn't be a factor. FWIW, just got back from LeBarons and the price for a flat of Win AA 12 and 20 is the same.....$78.
 
Last edited:
lgholden said:
Frenchy:

Not around here- you just have to hit the swingers and make it move a bit to confirm a hit.

I shoot 20 ga Norince SXS external hammer. Don't think I would recommend it though, too expensive for the ammo- the guys here get together and buy 12 ga in bulk so the cost per box is quite low. Don't forget, you need lead, and No. 6 shot or so. Too much smaller doesn'thave enough impact to move the swingers. Unfortunately, It was the only SAS legal gun I could find last year.

However, finding a 12 ga cowboy action in say the "trench gun" style is nearly impossible (none at Marstar in months) unless you have a lot of money to buy one of the more expensive replicas and are real lucky in being able to get one without having it ordered and waiting months for it to show up.

The Stoger 12 ga SXS with internal hammers wasn't available last year when I was looking, but I understand that some of them have now reached Canada, and they are cowboy legal.

I'm thinking of picking up one myself in the summer if I can get someone to buy my almost new 20 ga Norinco.

Niagara Glenn
Click to expand...


Trench gun models not legal for Cowboy main match guns. Can only be used in Wild Bunch competitions or side matchs.
 
The $250.00 shotguns would be a good start depending on the cost of getting the barrels cut down and an internal screw in choke in cylinder mounted. Make sure you polish the chambers for quick extraction and have any automatic ejectors taken out or modified so they don't work.
 
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