12 gauge rabbit loads

[Smith357]

12 gauge rabbit loads

I've got a hankering to do some bunny huntin' with my new Rossi coach gun.

What size pellet in a 2 3/4 shell makes a clean kill at 15-25 yard ranges.

 

[OFT II]

I like #6 shot for rabbits. 7 1/2 shot ain't bad but I do prefer #6.

 

[Sebago Son]

I use No. 5 shot for just about everything these days. I like the Federal 1 1/4 Oz., 3 3/4 Dram equivalant loads. It will really dig them out of the brush for you.

 

[Arik]

1oz lead slug!

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[Gatofeo]

I used No. 6 in the forests of northern Idaho years ago, but in a 20 gauge. Worked great on rabbits and grouse. I tried No. 5 but found it too destructive for the relatively close range at which I was shooting. But occasionally, I'd get a longish shot and the No. 6 shot patterned better at 25 to 30 yards than the 7-1/2.
I ate the cottontails I killed. Baked them in a red wine sauce made of wine, spices, green onions, a bit of garlic and -- surprise! Prunes! The prunes give a nice, subtle sweetness to the sauce. And you have some nice, cooked plums to go with the rabbit.
My Belgian mother taught me this recipe. She also used it for ducks.

 

[Nevada Ed]

1oz of lead #6 is the standard rabbit load with a mod or I/C choke for little bunnys...............Jacks get out a little farther away and 1 1/8oz will work for them.

 

[weatherby]

What size pellet in a 2 3/4 shell makes a clean kill at 15-25 yard ranges.
It doesn't take much to kill a bunny but being a coach gun I imagine your pattern won't be very tight.Therefore I'd go a bit heavy on my shot and use # 4's

 

[gdauth]

I use slugs, can't be to careful with those killer rabbits, just ask Jimmy Carter.

 

[DWalt]

#6 is what most bunny hunters use.

 

[ACP230]

The last "rabbit" I killed was a snowshoe hare.
Sixes from my 20 OU rolled him.
Shot was about 15 yards.

I started out using seven and a half shot on rabbits and grouse.
Switched to sixes after a couple years and have stayed with them since.

 

[mkk41]

Always used 1oz of #5 or #6 , but outta my 16ga.

 

[badge 851]

I use 1oz load of #6 whether in my 12, 16, or 20ga gun.

 

[Smith357]

Thanks it's beginning to look like a consensus. I will pick up a box of #6 and get my Fudd on.

 

[DWalt]

If you have a choice, more open chokes are better. Most of the time, you won't get a long shot at a rabbit, and at short ranges a full choke will tear up the rabbit. In those long-ago years when I hunted rabbit a lot, I used an antique 12 Gauge Marlin pump gun with no choke at all, and it never failed me.

 

[weatherby]

The reasons I wasn't in that consensus for me

were coach gun and clean kills out to 25 yards

 

[Nevada Ed]

With a little practice and a skeet choke, carring your gun muzzle down......... you can shoot from the hip and hit a cotton tail that jumps out...........something you do not want to try if you are using a full choke !!

The other 66% of the time I carry my shotgun at "Port arms" or on my shoulder,so this style of shooting is not an option................... and yes even #6's in my .410 pump.