Looking to start shooting a 20ga.

[owlhoot]

About any of the 20ga will work. Get federal HWT 7's and a good choke and enjoy the hunt   

yep 

[MickT]

Have you given any thought to shooting 2 3/4" loads out of your current setup? My 20 is so light that it kicks as bad or worse than my 12 with 3" shells.


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[Big Willie]

even the 3 inch kick bad to me

[chatterbox]

I shoot a mossberg 20 ha pump turkey thug with an SSX choke and Federal Heviweight 3-1.5-7's, and have not looked back!
Hardly any recoil, and those federals will wreck any toms day!

[Greg Massey]

 My 20 gauge 870 doesn't kick no were near my 12 ga...

[TrackeySauresRex]

About any of the 20ga will work. Get federal HWT 7's and a good choke and enjoy the hunt   

yep 

Welcome to the dark side     
I've shot 3-1/2's out of an ol 835 for a long time and I don't like getting the crap getting kicked outta me any more.
You will be amazed what a 20 can do. Cruise around the 20 tab here,you'll get some good ideas.
Enjoy it!
B-Well
Johnny

[krink1cb]

I shoot a mossberg 500 with a sumtoy choke. I couldn't be happier shooting federal heavyweights out of it. Never felt under gunned.

[BottomLand54]

I personally just bought a 20 guage Thompson center encore pro Hunter and also a weatherby sa-459 after shooting both new guns and seeing what a 20 guage does as far as patterns and how much less recoil in a 20 guage single shot is compared to a gas 12 guage it's a no brainier for me. Now I want to get rid of the like brand new sa-459 weatherby 12 guage and get another 20 guage..... Love to find someone who wants to trade for an even value gun in a 20 guage. Hope this helps you make up your mind. I am 29 and have shot 12 guagrs since I was 10-12 yrs old. But my shoulder does not deserve the recoil of a 12 guage 3" turkey load.

[gobblermadness]

I really like a 20 gauge especially combined with some Magnum Blend
shells....no reason at all that you cannot hammer turkeys with that
combination

my youngest shoots a 20 gauge with MagnumBlends and
the turkey choke tube that Hevi Shot makes.  He shoots
great patterns with it

[g8rvet]

I have an 870 Youth 20 I set up for my adult daughter that is new to shooting.  A Remington full and it is poison at 30 yards, with good forgiveness.  I tuned it up with a Trulock at 40 yards and it is shooting in the 160s.

I was having neck issues and was running out of my old Remington Hevi that I shot for years in my 870 12g.  So I decided on a 20.  I went with the Weatherby SA-459 as I wanted a dedicated turkey gun.  I have the '14 model.  Love it.  Killed 3 with it already.  37, 27 and 26 yards.  So soft shooting and a joy to point in the woods.  Love my little popgun. 

[ahfox16]

About 10 years ago I spend a fortune buying ever lead shell I could find to shoot out of my 870 with 21" barrel and was not comfortable with any lead load at over 35 yards.  Went to the Remington Hevi-shot in size 6 and it turned into a consistent 40 yard gun (100 plus hits at 40 yards in 10" circle).  Killed a few birds with it, but kept going back to my Benelli SBE with 3.5" Hevi-shot blends (50 yard gun all day ever day).  I decided to sell the 870 20 gauge and carry the Benelli.  About 5 years ago my buddy who was tired of lugging a Remington Super Mag 1187 decided he wanted to try a 20 gauge.  I owed him from a turkey hunt or two and I bought him a 24" camo Benelli Nova 20 gauge.  He tricked it out with Hevi-Nitro Ray 20 gauge shells and it was a 200 hit gun at 40 yards.  Well, he never looked back.   I was lugging my SBE (very tricked out) and it weighed over 8 lbs.  His Nova was a bit over 6 lbs.  Two years ago when Heavyweight Federal came out in size 7, I made the plunge myself.  Bought a used Benelli Nova with 26" barrel camo and stuck a Sumtoy choke tube on it.  First time out 150 plus hits at 40 yards and I decided that was good enough.  Have carried nothing else for the last two years (except a couple of birds with an sxs shotgun).

Take a hard look at the Benelli Nova 20 gauge.  I think you will like what you see.

[howl]

Light 20s aren't light kickers. If you want lighter recoil from a 20, you must get one of the heavier guns. Alternatively, you could try the 2 3/4" Federal #7 load out of your current 12 gauge. It'll probably work to 40 and will have less recoil than the 20 gauge version in a light 20 gauge gun.

[g8rvet]

Lots of good info here.  Recoil is about simple physics.  A lighter load going slower will be less recoil and heavier load at the same speed or faster will be more recoil.  But like the post above mine illustrates, FELT recoil and actual recoil are very different.  I think you just need to shoot and see what feels best. My 380 tires my hand out very quickly, but my 45 feels like I can shoot it all day.  Felt recoil between the two is huge difference, even though the 45 definitely has more recoil. The 380 is just sharper, if that makes sense.

[Lonster]

If you want a LIGHT gun with REALLY LIGHT RECOIL, get a Franchi 48AL 28 gauge. Mine puts 200 TSS 9's in a 10" circle at 40 yards.

It is super light, kicks like a baby fart and will kill at 50 yards all day long.