I like SxS shotguns and have an Ugartechea 12 gauge double trigger gun, but it gets a little heavy during a dawn to dusk bird hunt. It's kind of frustrating because the gun is not that heavy at under 7 lbs but as I get older a lot of things seem heavier than they use to. So I bought a Yildiz SxS 20 gauge that only weighs about 5-1/2 lbs and seems REALLY light but I don't know much about the twenty gauge. Where we hunt in Kansas pheasant, quail, and turkey are in season simultaneously, so you have to be ready for any of them and you gotta be fast, especially if it's a quail. I was thinking about using #7-1/2 shot with Improved cylinder in the first barrel and a 3" magnum #5 shot with improved modified or full in the second barrel, but I've also heard 3" magnums in 20 gauge don't pattern very well because of the long shot columns. Any thoughts?
20 gauge side by side for birds?
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BUFF
SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
Use the same size shot that you use for your 12 gauge. There will be fewer pellets, of course, but lots of bird hunters use a 20 for the same reason you are. Some people start off their kids with a 20 because of the reduced recoil as well as lighter gun weight and the kids just use the 20 forever because it works.
Farmer17: I shoot a Winchester model 23 20 gauge with fixed IC and Mod chokes. I quail and pheasant hunt with this gun in Kansas and find that the Federal Prairie Storm 3" with 1 1/4 oz. of #5 shot is death on pheasants to more than 40 yards. I usually have a reload of 1 1/8 oz. of copper plated 7 1/2 in a 3" case in the IC barrel and the Prairie Storm in the Mod. barrel. We hunt WIHA from Lucas to Hill City and the farther west we go the more likely it is that I will have a Prairie Storm in both barrels. We hunt with dogs so long shots are rare for us.
I have never patterened the Prairie Storm shells but I know that if I shoot a pheasant at less than 25 yards he will be pretty shot up.
I have never patterened the Prairie Storm shells but I know that if I shoot a pheasant at less than 25 yards he will be pretty shot up.
I hunted for many years in IL with a 20 side by side for quail and pheasant with IC and Mod chokes loaded with 1oz 6 shot. Sometimes in late season pheasant hunting I would put 5 shot in the Mod tube, but it made little difference. 6 lead shot will kill a long way out if you can hit them, and I was mostly interested in getting the pheasant because I was walking them out to the end of cover and jumping them.
I would probably never have bought a 12ga except the steel shot waterfowl mandate came along.
I would probably never have bought a 12ga except the steel shot waterfowl mandate came along.
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Enjoy a long walk with a lighter gun style of hunt. The reality is much more carrying than shooting.
I am not ashamed to say... I too, transitioned to a very light 20ga O/U years ago and really enjoy it.
If I hand it to one of my hunting buddies for a fence crossing etc they say, "Man this thing is light!"
Use one size smaller shot size with the full choked barrel for better hole free patterns. Helps for smaller fast flying birds.
I am generalizing, but it has held true with most shotguns. Hit the pattern board to verify.
I am not ashamed to say... I too, transitioned to a very light 20ga O/U years ago and really enjoy it.
If I hand it to one of my hunting buddies for a fence crossing etc they say, "Man this thing is light!"
Use one size smaller shot size with the full choked barrel for better hole free patterns. Helps for smaller fast flying birds.
I am generalizing, but it has held true with most shotguns. Hit the pattern board to verify.
da gimp
Member
I always used low brass 7 1/2 shot for quail... no matter if using a pump, a semi auto 1100 or a double.. whether SXS or O/U always using improved cylinder or at most a loose modified... I'd gone to using just 20 gauges in 1985-86 including on turkey & pheasant too. But on pheasant I'd use size 6 shot going to a tighter modified choke.. every turkey I've ever killed was a head shot at about 20' to 25' with a 20 gauge using 7 1/2 shot. At one time we had 13 German Shorthairs in our kennels... my lady & I took bird hunting seriously...
On doves, we'd start out using my grandfather's old Win 97 pump that is an imp cylinder 12ga... but going to using a 12 ga with a modified choke as the season wore on & the birds got warier... then progressing to using a Browning Broadway 12ga, full & improved modified for the last 2 weeks of dove season..
Despite living & farming 12 miles south of Swan Lake Nat'l Goose refuge at Sumner, Missouri, , I quit hunting ducks & geese when the sky busters started using 3" 12's then went to 3 1/2" 12 ga's & 10 gauge shotguns using lead 00 buck & lead 0000 buck on birds that were 65 yards or further away... We were using 20 gauge shotguns (lead shot) & our old farm vet. Dr. Smith of Brunswick Mo. used a full choked Win 42 .410 pump.. he was that good a goose & duck caller...When the Feds. started mandating using steel shot... and with the sky busters in full tilt, a lot of us old farts gave up hunting our beloved ducks & geese.
On doves, we'd start out using my grandfather's old Win 97 pump that is an imp cylinder 12ga... but going to using a 12 ga with a modified choke as the season wore on & the birds got warier... then progressing to using a Browning Broadway 12ga, full & improved modified for the last 2 weeks of dove season..
Despite living & farming 12 miles south of Swan Lake Nat'l Goose refuge at Sumner, Missouri, , I quit hunting ducks & geese when the sky busters started using 3" 12's then went to 3 1/2" 12 ga's & 10 gauge shotguns using lead 00 buck & lead 0000 buck on birds that were 65 yards or further away... We were using 20 gauge shotguns (lead shot) & our old farm vet. Dr. Smith of Brunswick Mo. used a full choked Win 42 .410 pump.. he was that good a goose & duck caller...When the Feds. started mandating using steel shot... and with the sky busters in full tilt, a lot of us old farts gave up hunting our beloved ducks & geese.
Rpg
Member
I hunt the same birds OP mentioned.
For years, I've hunted with Parker 16's loaded with no more than one ounce of shot, usually 7/8 oz loads.
I use #6 shot for pheasants, 7 1/2 or 8 for doves and quail and #4 for turkey.
Sure is more fun carrying an 0 frame Parker at 5 3/4-6 pounds than an SKB 20 at 7 pounds (done that too).
I can't remember missing a bird because I didn't put enough shot in the air.
When I miss, it's on me.
For years, I've hunted with Parker 16's loaded with no more than one ounce of shot, usually 7/8 oz loads.
I use #6 shot for pheasants, 7 1/2 or 8 for doves and quail and #4 for turkey.
Sure is more fun carrying an 0 frame Parker at 5 3/4-6 pounds than an SKB 20 at 7 pounds (done that too).
I can't remember missing a bird because I didn't put enough shot in the air.
When I miss, it's on me.
a 7/8 or 1 oz load of number 6 shot should do you OK as an all around load in a light 20 ga. Imp Cyl and Mod chokes if you have a pointing dog, Mod and Imp Mod if you don't.
A 5 1/2 lb gun is going to wallop you with 3" magnum shells. I don't recommend it.
A 5 1/2 lb gun is going to wallop you with 3" magnum shells. I don't recommend it.
Pig Hunter
Member
With a Turkish gun that light make sure the triggers are light enough not to cause a flinch. Fiochi Golden Peasant loads in any gauge are great killers. Shoot light loads with similar velocity a lot to learn to keep the gun moving. With pointing dogs, an ounce of 6's should be fine on Pheasant, later in the year you might want to switch to 5's. Play fith a pattern board enough to let you be confident in your choice of hunting loads, then shot skeet, if you have a place to, because I KNOW you have to follow through with a light 20.
Farmer....You're gonna like that light Yildiz......I have the Yildiz 20 under & over that I shoot doves with.....Its been flawless.
shouldazagged
Absent Comrade
I took 1.3 metric shiploads (and as you know, a metric shipload is much larger than a standard or U.S. shipload) of doves with a double-trigger, extractors-only 20 gauge Stevens Model 311, 28" barrels, choked full and modified. It just fit me and pointed well.
I haven't been able to hunt for years, but I still miss that little twenty.
Also had a Browning Light Twenty A5 I liked a lot, but I shot the double gun better.
I haven't been able to hunt for years, but I still miss that little twenty.
Also had a Browning Light Twenty A5 I liked a lot, but I shot the double gun better.
BUFF
SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
"With a Turkish gun that light make sure the triggers are light enough not to cause a flinch. Fiochi Golden Peasant loads in any gauge are great killers."
Never seen Peasant loads, they must market them to royalty.
Just kidding, of course.
Never seen Peasant loads, they must market them to royalty.
Just kidding, of course.
I don't hunt anymore,,haven't in years. But stil lshoot shotgun every week..
Why batter yourself with 3" shells in a lightweight 20ga gun,,all they do is put more shot into the air (denser pattern).
You can get the same result with a slightly smaller shot size and a smaller payload and save your shoulder some pain. Makes for a more comfortable afternoon too,
A 1oz or even 7/8oz load in a 20 is no different than it is in a 16 or 12, It's still around 1200/1300 fps and the shot still fills a 30" pattern at 35yrds.
Find a shot size and load that patterns nicely in your gun, leaves no holes in the pattern and is comfortable to shoot.
Every shotgun pattern different, just as every rifle and pistol shoots ammunition differently.
I'd bet it isn't anything approaching a heavy load that does the trick.
It only takes a few pellets of the right size to bring down a bird cleanly.
jmo
Why batter yourself with 3" shells in a lightweight 20ga gun,,all they do is put more shot into the air (denser pattern).
You can get the same result with a slightly smaller shot size and a smaller payload and save your shoulder some pain. Makes for a more comfortable afternoon too,
A 1oz or even 7/8oz load in a 20 is no different than it is in a 16 or 12, It's still around 1200/1300 fps and the shot still fills a 30" pattern at 35yrds.
Find a shot size and load that patterns nicely in your gun, leaves no holes in the pattern and is comfortable to shoot.
Every shotgun pattern different, just as every rifle and pistol shoots ammunition differently.
I'd bet it isn't anything approaching a heavy load that does the trick.
It only takes a few pellets of the right size to bring down a bird cleanly.
jmo
model70hunter
Member
Farmer, 1st, what area of KS are you hunting?
I have killed many Quail and Pheasant using 7.5 reloads in a 12 guage.
I have bagged a few turkeys with the same load in a tight choke 12.
But I do hear you on the weight, youth had many benefits that go way with age. I've packed an old Ithaca MAg 10 turkey, goose and duck hunting, never a problem. Then I got older.
I love my old M-12's in 12 and 16 for doves. I recently bought a Benelli Montefeltro in 20 for that almost all day packing.
I am thinking about using it on a pheasant trip this year. I think I'll look for 2.75" plated #5 shot and go for it. Mod tube probably.
I have killed many Quail and Pheasant using 7.5 reloads in a 12 guage.
I have bagged a few turkeys with the same load in a tight choke 12.
But I do hear you on the weight, youth had many benefits that go way with age. I've packed an old Ithaca MAg 10 turkey, goose and duck hunting, never a problem. Then I got older.
I love my old M-12's in 12 and 16 for doves. I recently bought a Benelli Montefeltro in 20 for that almost all day packing.
I am thinking about using it on a pheasant trip this year. I think I'll look for 2.75" plated #5 shot and go for it. Mod tube probably.
OP
Bill Bates
Member
Okay, now we need photos.
I have a hard time believing a Yildiz 20 came in much less than 6 lbs. I can sure related to wanting to carry a lighter gun. These days I'm pretty happy carrying a gun in the 5 3/4 lbs. to 6 1/2 lb. range. I struggle to swing and connecting with targets when a shotgun drops much under 6 lbs.
I guarantee if you pick up a box of 3 inch loads you will have most of that box for as long as you own that side by side. I use to shoot a Beretta BL-3 over under that weighed a couple once over 6 lbs. With 3 inch loads it was brutal and I'm not a recoil sensitive guy. Also, most 3 inch loads don't pattern worth a darn out of a 20 gauge. I think they are waste of money and not worth the pain.
Stick with a standard 7/8 oz load and you will be much happier. I hunt over pointing dogs and find 7/8 oz. of 7 1/2 or 6 shot is pretty deadly on most birds, including late season pheasant. With a tight choke, if the range was less than 30 yards, I wouldn't think twice about pulling the trigger on a turkey with his neck stretched out.
I look forward to your hunting reports. For me doves and grouse are only 2 1/2 weeks away. I think for the dove opener I'll be shooting a Turkish DeHaan 28 gauge side by side.
I have a hard time believing a Yildiz 20 came in much less than 6 lbs. I can sure related to wanting to carry a lighter gun. These days I'm pretty happy carrying a gun in the 5 3/4 lbs. to 6 1/2 lb. range. I struggle to swing and connecting with targets when a shotgun drops much under 6 lbs.
I guarantee if you pick up a box of 3 inch loads you will have most of that box for as long as you own that side by side. I use to shoot a Beretta BL-3 over under that weighed a couple once over 6 lbs. With 3 inch loads it was brutal and I'm not a recoil sensitive guy. Also, most 3 inch loads don't pattern worth a darn out of a 20 gauge. I think they are waste of money and not worth the pain.
Stick with a standard 7/8 oz load and you will be much happier. I hunt over pointing dogs and find 7/8 oz. of 7 1/2 or 6 shot is pretty deadly on most birds, including late season pheasant. With a tight choke, if the range was less than 30 yards, I wouldn't think twice about pulling the trigger on a turkey with his neck stretched out.
I look forward to your hunting reports. For me doves and grouse are only 2 1/2 weeks away. I think for the dove opener I'll be shooting a Turkish DeHaan 28 gauge side by side.
model70hunter
Member
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