20 Bore Or 12??

[paulus 26]

 

 

Aren't some 20 bores built on a 12 bore frame so they can be easier on the shoulder if your doing a lot of shooting or are slightly built

depending on which one then yes, lanber ect are i believe on a 12g frame, the idea of a 20 is a lighter gun yet i see people using 34g carts, kinda defeats the object

 

I've seen that a lot Paulus then they moan cos they've got sore shoulder, muppets!

 

I started on a 12G (Lanber Sporter, it was light mounting a fence stab to my shoulder lol), went on to a 20G (Browning Citori) and then back onto a 12G again (Lincoln Premier Gold, fab gun) which is actually lighter than the 20 I had lol.

 

But yes the fact the 20 cartridges are dearer irritated me and also by going back to a 12G I can mooch cartridges off boyfriend

 

i once asked a well known manufacturer why the smaller the cartridge the higher the price, and the answer was volume sold again i find that self defeating

[SportingShooter 0]

Supply and demand....

[paulus 26]

Supply and demand....

but the price of smaller carts limits demand, its like the chicken and the egg

[sussex 5,777]

I load on a couple of shoots & the amount of people shooting 20's now is not far of 50 %..with the Belgium guns its almost 90% & they kill every bit as good as a twelve ..The best shot I see last season was a partridge that 3 guns couldn't touch & was folded by a French lady using a 20 bore with 28gr 6's..they are with out doubt up to the job ..

[andyf 144]

Driven Grouse, are you Richard Branson?

£90.00 a bird shouldn't you be buying a Purdey.

[stroller 341]

Andyf I do a lot of work on the grouse moors so I get keepers days, if I could afford to pay for it I wouldn't be asking you riff raff for advice I would be down on Purdy's ranges experimenting with shooting beaters at various distances.

[trenchfoot 4,243]

a twenty bore franchi o/u will weigh more than most english 12 bore side by sides. if it fits you, and you put sensible loads through it, then there is no reason why it shouldn't perform well at grouse. I've shot driven grouse with a pair of berreta 20's for the last 4 seasons. I still use a 12 for driven pheasants, but more often than not, then 20 bore would still do the business. at normal game ranges, a 20 is more than capable with the right load. its a confidence thing. beware the man with one gun. the more you use it, the greater your confidence

[Alsone 789]

Nothing wrong with 20's but if you're getting a sore shoulder from a 12 then you're not holding it into your body hard enough.

 

Bruising is usually the result of space between the butt and shoulder that allows the butt to be accelerated back into the shoulder as a result of the explosion. Close the gap and what you get is a push against the body rather than a bruising impact. It only needs to be millimetres of gap to get bruising impacts.

 

In my opinion, the only people who really need a smaller guage are children, women and slightly built men as then the body weight is too low to absorb the recoil and so they get pushed off balance too easily, note pushed off balance, not bruised. Bruising only has one cause so far as I'm aware, the gap.

 

I've had the odd bruised shoulder myself in the past and the fault was always with me, not the gun. You have a few weeks out, hold the gun loosely and bang, bruised shoulder.

 

Consiously hold it in really hard and whilst it might restrict your swing intially, once you start to relax, both the swing and sore shoulder will eventually sort themselves out as it becomes second nature.

 

That said, if you like the lower push from a 20 guage, why not. They're certainly a nice effective gun from what I've seen and for the young, frail and old, less of a push can be a more pleasant experience.

[Rimfireboy! 1,463]

I use 23 gram three crowns in my 20 bore semi auto. Lovely to shoot and very effective.