Sidearms & Scatterguns So I considered a shotgun for my wife, WTF is this?

what exactly does a smaller gauge allow me to do that every other gauge cant also do?

i started out shooting 20 ga and 410, so i am no 12 ga chest-thumper. i am curious as to what you have in mind with this statement.
you can get the gun up, and on target faster. you can change directions faster. And your arms dont get as exhausted carrying a small 28 compared to a 12 gauge all day.

and a larger payload isnt always a benefit. when hunting with my setter, i didnt like taking anyone out with a gun larger than a 20 gauge. too many birds were getting blown to smithereens. and yes, i made every motherfucker that did that pick up the leftovers and add it to their bag limit. I never had that issue with the 28.

the only two scenarios i choose a 12 is man on man, and crow hunting. IF i was going goose hunting, i’d prolly take a 12. that’s it.
 
Less recoil ==> Easier follow up shots. Easier doubles. Shoot a case of ammo all at once without developing a flinch.

Lighter weight shotguns swing faster.

A light weight gun is just more fun to carry all day.

But, there is no getting around shot pattern density. More pellets ==> denser pattern.

That said, I've killed way more turkeys with 2 3/4" 20 ga shells than I have 3" 12 ga shells.
 
anyone who slams a 28 or 410 for not being effective is either using it wrong or talking out of their ass about something they have never tried.

for those that had less than stellar results with a 410, i am willing to bet you were using #9 shot.
try taking a mallard with a .410 then we can talk.

ive personally seen a mallard take 3 rounds of 3" 12G turkey loads and fly off laughing.
 
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It looks like, to simplify manufacturing, they did not build the chambered barrel as a unit, but rather attached the barrel to the chamber/action assembly.
It's called monoblock construction and almost all Italian gunmakers, including Perazzi, make guns that way. There's a right way and there's a wrong way.

With Beretta, Ceasar Guerini, Zoli, etc you get the right way. With Turkish crap you get the wrong way.
 
try taking a mallard with a .410 then we can talk.

ive personally seen a mallard take 3 rounds of 3" 12G turkey loads and fly off laughing.


Quack, just a flesh wound, Quack....

11131500-6821489-image-m-6_1552904934676.jpg


 
try taking a mallard with a .410 then we can talk.

ive personally seen a mallard take 3 rounds of 3" 12G turkey loads and fly off laughing.


Obviously...someone was pushing the range limitations of the load or has pretty shitty aim. If the aim was on, and the mallard was within range, aint no way. I shot a porquipine with a 12 gauge. Turkey load once...and it blew the entire top half of the porky completely away. Now you ask me to believe that a fucking duck can take 3 rounds. Sorry hoss, i aint buying that one. Do i believe you saw someone fire 3 rounds at a mallard? Yup. Do i believe you when you say the duck escaped? Yup. Do i believe that duck was within range, and was hit, and flew off after absorbing 3 turkey loads? Not a chance in hell.
 
Obviously...someone was pushing the range limitations of the load or has pretty shitty aim. If the aim was on, and the mallard was within range, aint no way. I shot a porquipine with a 12 gauge. Turkey load once...and it blew the entire top half of the porky completely away. Now you ask me to believe that a fucking duck can take 3 rounds. Sorry hoss, i aint buying that one. Do i believe you saw someone fire 3 rounds at a mallard? Yup. Do i believe you when you say the duck escaped? Yup. Do i believe that duck was within range, and was hit, and flew off after absorbing 3 turkey loads? Not a chance in hell.
OBVIOUSLY youve never duck hunted a day in your life.

duck was <15yds........buddy shooting with me shoots 25s at Trap regularly......and feathers were flying off the damn thing.

duck feathers absorb a TON of energy much like a ballistic vest does.......and ducks are tough SOBs.........comparing what a 12G does to a porcupine to a duck already tells me you dont know what the fuck you are talking about.

the only way you are duck hunting with a .410 is if you use the shotgun as a club.
 
And for what it’s worth, i’ve shot mallards before. I used a 20 gauge. And i dropped as many as anyone else. I didnt find them to be any tougher once hit than any other bird.

The toughest birds i’ve found are crows....i use a twelve on them mainly because i have no intention of eating them and i aint doing it for the sport of it. We have used the 28 and it has dropped just as many when paired with larger shot.


I will admit a 12 gauge throws more shot, and therefore gives the shooter a wider margin of error. That’s all you are getting with it. No added velocity, no added range. You do a fair comparison of shot size to shot size, you’ll see different results.

In the end, i dont expect to change anyone’s mind. Those of you who have your mind made up have found what works for you. But keep in mind, the 20, 28, and 410 work just fine for other people.
 
Porky’s are pound for pound the toughest critters i’ve ever seen. I wont get into it, but the bastards absorb a shit ton of lead and are very hard to kill.

A duck at 15 yards with a turkey load? 3? Dude, listen to yourself. You go buy a duck. Set said duck up at 15 yards, and video you pumping 3 turkey loads out of a 12 gauge into that duck( direct hits), and if there is anything left of that duck when you are done, i’ll eat my shoe.

I aint buying it.
 
Porky’s are pound for pound the toughest critters i’ve ever seen. I wont get into it, but the bastards absorb a shit ton of lead and are very hard to kill.

A duck at 15 yards with a turkey load? 3? Dude, listen to yourself. You go buy a duck. Set said duck up at 15 yards, and video you pumping 3 turkey loads out of a 12 gauge into that duck( direct hits), and if there is anything left of that duck when you are done, i’ll eat my shoe.

I aint buying it.


.....and i dont really give a shit......

get off your ass and hunt and find out first hand
 
Each gauge from 10 -28 has its place.
410, not so much for wingshooting.

Anyone who thinks a 28 gauge will give CONSISTANT kills as far as a 12 gauge and s willing to put their money where there mouth is please PM.

Some folks get carried away with their favorite items dispite facts to the contrary.
 
i tell ya, if i wanted to aquire a mallard, i could have one by the end of the weekend. plenty of farm raised birds to be had if you wanted to prove me wrong.

you’ve been eating onions, and you know it.



Each gauge from 10 -28 has its place.
410, not so much for wingshooting.

Anyone who thinks a 28 gauge will give CONSISTANT kills as far as a 12 gauge and s willing to put their money where there mouth is please PM.

Some folks get carried away with their favorite items dispite facts to the contrary.

The only reason people get results further out with a 12 is the amount of pellets equals a denser pattern the further out you go. It isnt that the pellet has any more power behind it. Scatterguns being what they are, the shot spreads as it travels. This is why i take a 12 crow hunting.


Some of you are trying to have it both ways. You dismiss the smaller gauges as not worthy. Someone counters that, and you proceed to tell tales of kevlar ducks :unsure:, which is stating the 12 is ineffective as a waterfowl gun?

can you at least admit that the “sub” gauges will get the job done in the vast majority of cases, within reason? Seems easy enough to me.
 
I have not read all of the above...

I picked up a 20ga Yildiz O/U a year or so ago in trade. Got it dirt cheap. That thing has been rock solid. Fires ejects everything i feed it. Chokes work as they should. And hits to POA with both barrels.

No complaints at all. Even the wood is nicely (enough) figured.
 
The only reason people get results further out with a 12 is the amount of pellets equals a denser pattern the further out you go. It isnt that the pellet has any more power behind it.

ABSOLUTELY CORRECT


can you at least admit that the “sub” gauges will get the job done in the vast majority of cases, within reason?

NO, AS STATED NOT CORRECT

“vast majority of cases” and “within reason” are contradictory terms.

I use both 12 and 20 gauge. I competed worldwide for 25 years with a shotgun. The smaller bores are simply inferior beyond 35 yards. Most folks are not really capible of shooting consistently beyond that range anyway.

I had a live pigeon ring set up for years. Lost track of the times guys would show up with their “super 20 gauge”. Live pigeons are normally killed at 40-55 yards when shot at 32-35 yard rise. Results were humbling for the 20 gauge shooters. Guessing 15 or more showed up but all quit VERY quickly. No one shot a 25 or 30 bird race with a small bore and completed it.

A couple did go tell their buddy’s how they “beat all those 12 gauge shooters” I heard later. Absolute bullshit.

Enjoy a 20 gauge for what it is. Enjoy a 28 gauge for what you wished it was. Do not shit yourself that it in any way equals a 12 gauge.

Below is a matched pair of Fabbri’s in 12 and 20 that I still own and shoot. I am unbiased and prefer the 20 bore for a lot of field shooting. I just do not kid myself that it in any way equals the 12 bore.
 

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i tell ya, if i wanted to aquire a mallard, i could have one by the end of the weekend. plenty of farm raised birds to be had if you wanted to prove me wrong.

you’ve been eating onions, and you know it.
round here we get our ducks from the river....not a cage.
 
When I was a kid I wing-shot a morning-dove with a 20 ga. that tumbled once (spraying a puff of feathers in the process), then lit in a tree. I proceeded to shoot the dove out of that tree with that 20 ga. It fell stone-dead out of that tree, and the spot under that tree where it fell looked like I plucked it right there. When I got there to pick the bird up, the fucker flew away. It couldn't have had more than a dozen feathers left on its body, but they must have all been wing feathers.

Why do I tell this story? Because you can blow a fuck-ton of feathers off a bird and not do enough damage to kill it. I've heard that ducks are tough to kill- and geese are tougher- but every waterfowl I've ever picked up out of a field or pond has been dead...:oops:
 
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All teasing aside, i have no doubt @mcameron saw what he saw. I’ve seen similar stuff as well. Makes you scratch your head sometimes. Peeling feathers off happens, but a feather isnt a vital organ. Hell, i’ve shot birds that when you clean them, you can’t even find any trama to it...if one didnt know better; you’d think you scared it to death.
i also had a red squirrel “run through” three 3 inch mags...shot impacting all around him as he was hauling ass. Unbelievable. Fact was, he just got damn lucky through the shot pattern. Same same with that duck.....pellets close enough to peel feathers, but nothing else. Undoubtedly a WTF moment.
 
We normally shot 32-35 yards in North America at times extended to 37.5 yards or 27-31 meters in Europe.

Large percentage of birds fly directly away rapidly. Back fence is 15-18 yards beyond the boxes.

At max on both that is 57.5 yards. To win you need to be able to drop a bird instantly at that range. The best plan is to kill them before they get to that range of course.
 
Hell, i’ve shot birds that when you clean them, you can’t even find any trama to it...if one didnt know better; you’d think you scared it to death.

had that happen when i was a young'in shooting at squirrels with a pellet gun....hit the thing( im assuming)....it flopped over dead instantly.....and when i went to retrieve him, no blood, no entry or exit hole.

i dont assume a pellet gun would be loud enough to scare a squirrel into a coronary....but ive been wrong before.
 
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i often think about how if i had half the crazy shit i’ve seen on video, i wouldnt have to go to work as i’d be a youtube kinpin. i think about that red squirrel running through my shot, 3 times no less, and if i’da had that recorded, you just had to see it to believe it.

i’m sure the mallard with the three shots was much the same thing. it’s impossible, but yet there it is.
 
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