20 ga Rios

20 gauge is just for those who can shoot.

No, 12 Ga is for the intelligent. Just look at the 4H kids, those that can shoot 12 ga do. You will kill more birds at lower cost with 12 ga. If you want to challenge yourself with a smaller load, thats fine I get it.

Been an avid dove hunter all of my life and have killed a lot of birds with a 12 gauge, but for whatever reason I've killed more with the 20. When the birds start flying high I just switch to #6 shot. I like #6 in a 20 anyway, just have to discipline myself to not make close shots and hamburger them.

That's because the 20ga is a lighter gun, that is the only benefit with a 20ga. The benifit of the 12ga you are throwing more lead in the air, the down side is that it is a heavier gun, but when you are muscular like me, not an issue...

Folks like me, Mike Tyson. Mr. T, we do better with 12ga... Kids, girls, folks like Judge Judy, they do better with 20ga. Have you tried over/under 12ga? They are a lighter 12ga, I see the 4H girls shoot those, you might want to try that Skinner.

Man my youngest Son is 9, tall lanky kid. He's been shooting the family single shot 4-10 now at skeet & dove for several years, but never hit anything at all until a couple months ago. Some family & I were BBQ'ng & shooting skeet and all of a sudden, something clicked with him. He started hitting skeet with the 4-10, we both got pretty excited lol. We had a table full of different shotguns & gauges laid out so anyone could grab whatever they wanted to try. So my boy picked up a too long for him old bolt action 4-10, and started hitting even more of them. Then I moved him up to 2 different 20 gauges, and he hit even more. He said he was ready & wasn't scared of the 12, so moved him up to 12. Both guns were way too long and heavy for him and his form was terrible, but he hit even more with the 12's. He hit about half of all skeet thrown, which was a big improvement from 0. Those 12 gauges kicked the [censored] out of him though, bruised his shoulder and his cheek, but he didn't quit LOL. So anyway, he'll have his own 20 gauge this year.

Awesome! My 4 sons never got the 410 because shells were too high. Started them on 20's and now they are all grown 12 gauge skybusters. (Buying their own shells)

Skinner you missed a chance but I'll take it.... Arnold, Lou and I use 10 gauges.

Yeh I was getting tired of buying 4-10 shells too lol. That reminds me, I need to find more soon because my little girl is right behind him.

You’re gonna turn that boy into hunter before you know it....

Reloads! make my own! Winchester AA's in 20's, i duplicate the AA trap load in 20ga, 7/8oz of shot, with #7's or
#9's. whatever we have. Gets me by, that way i know they are mine and not made by Chi-Coms with the virus!




hunt safe....

Double A's

12 ga. is for guys that hit chit.

Sniper I want to say this post made me use all my old shells, probably over a case of old shells I have shot, have not bought any this season. I scrounged around some more shells to shoot this weekend. I had a lot of shells that did not go boom, that's ok. It has been worth the savings.

Next, I got a bunch of old 16ga shells, I might have to be like Skinner and shoot a girls gun.

At the rate of 5 shells per dove, you must have had a lot of old shells.

Oh well, it was for a good cause.

Yall talking Ducks or Dove?

More like 3, that includes many shells that did not fire. You are probably 5.

Dove. I need to do the same thing for duck.

A lot of the "kids that can shoot" in 4H are shooting light loads in a 12g. When a they are shooting 400+ rounds in a competition, lighter loads = less felt recoil at the end of the day. Most of the top kids will beat you with a 20 as well as a 12, it's the indian, not the arrow.
You are correct in that they are cheaper, esp when the top shooter are buying by the pallet.

You throw more pellets in the air with 12ga vs 20ga, a lighter load is just less velocity/gunpowder (1oz vs 1 1/8 oz). Those 4H kids I have seen (its been years), including my own son, they are looking for every edge they can get, they love the 1 1/8oz loads. The could careless about recoil. They shoot the 1oz load for practice because it is cheaper. And, yeah, if you can't put the pattern on the bird, no shell/gun will help you.