Outdoor Life Field Test Compares 12 and 20 Gauge Shotguns on Ducks

Outdoor Life editor-in-chief Alex Robinson hunted Minnesota's duck opener with a 20 gauge one day and a 12 gauge the next to see whether the lighter gun kills as cleanly. He notes that scarcer, pricier bismuth and tungsten loads make the question worth revisiting.

Key points

• Test guns: Two Browning A5 shotguns with 28-inch barrels and modified chokes. The 20-gauge model weighs under six pounds.
• Field results: Robinson and producer Roy Holdford took 12 ducks with each gauge. They judged 30 yards the practical limit for clean kills with the 20 and 40 yards with the 12, for the loads and ducks they hunted.
• Pellet count: The 12 gauge's edge is payload, not pellet speed. A 1 1/4-ounce load of No. 4 steel holds about 240 pellets, against 192 in a 1-ounce 20-gauge shell.
• Patterning: 12-gauge No. 2 steel at 40 yards put 126 pellets in a 30-inch circle, the same count as 20-gauge Hevi Hammer No. 3s at 30 yards.
• 20-gauge pluses: Lighter carry and less felt recoil, which Robinson says help with quick follow-up shots and keeping the gun ready in a marsh.

Quick take

Robinson calls the test unscientific and small. In his view, a 20 gauge suits hunters who shoot decoying birds close, as in flooded timber or on small creeks, with well-patterning steel No. 3s and shots kept inside 30 yards. Beyond that, he says, smaller shot and denser-than-steel loads are needed.

Read the full story at Outdoor Life.