Why a 20?

[Neill_Prater]

I knew my old 11-87 Special Purpose with a cantilever barrel is heavy, but had never weighed it until the other day. It weighed 8.95 lbs unloaded. Several times at the end of a long day of turkey chasing, particularly when the temperature is high and the gobbling activity is low, I am pretty sure the decimal point drops out!

All this got me thinking about perhaps switching to a 20 gauge for my sunset years, which seem to be all the rage right now. After perusing the web at length, looking at possible candidates for my new EDC turkey gun, I noticed many models are within a fraction of a pound of the weight of a 12 in the same configuration. Overall length is similar to most 12's, unless you buy a compact or youth model, not really an option if you are over 6 ft like me. My Remington is only 42 inches long, extended choke included. Some might think of reduced recoil, but with the variety of loads available today, even custom loads, a lighter payload in a 12 is a viable option for reducing recoil. One of my favorite turkey hunting shells of all time were the now discontinued Winchester Xtended heavier than lead loads which had 1 1/2 ounces of shot in the 3 inch 12.

Is there actually any reason to either switch to a 20 gauge from a 12, or purchase a 20 gauge as your first turkey gun for those new to the sport, other than selecting a model which is substantially lighter?  The lyrics from the old song "Anything you can do, I can do better" seem to apply when comparing many 12's to a similar 20.


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[Tail Feathers]

Weight savings may not be huge but a pound or two help.  They are much easier on the shoulder recoil wise and a bit easier on the ears I think.
We are seeing quite a few people go all the way down to the .410 using TSS.
I usually carry my Winchester SX3 but my CVA single shot is a pound lighter and it gets the nod for run and gun days.

[LRD]

I switched to an 870 compact 20 gauge with a 21" barrel.  I am 6'1, and the stock has inserts to adjust the length of pull. Some people are buying the youth model and putting a Shurshot stock on them. For me, the 20 is much lighter and shorter than my 870 12 gauge with a huge reduction in recoil. Weight is important due to the terrain I hunt, and after having back surgery and slipped discs in my neck, I really don't care anything about taking the recoil of the 12 anymore. With TSS #9 handloads, the 20 shoots as good and probably even better than my 3.5" 12 with lead shot.

[Greg Massey]

The 20 gauge is just a better gun overall with the right choke and today's shells. I wouldn't switch back to 12 ga. myself ..

[Spurs]

Something I wasn't really aware of until I started shooting an 1187 compact was how big of a difference a shorted gun made.  I shot an 870 express 12 with a 26" bbl for about 15 years before the switch...the shire ability to maneuver that shorted gun made the switch worth it IMO.  Then there's the weight (including the lighter shells), cheaper shells, and generally easier to handle components.

[ChesterCopperpot]

I think if you're really looking to cut weight and move to a lighter shooting load why not just move to the single shot offerings that so many people are shooting nowadays? A Savage 301 Turkey will cut your weight down to 5lbs even. You'll be shaving 4lbs off your carry weight, more with shells, so 44% or greater off what you're currently carrying. And they're cheap. Super cheap. $200 for a new turkey gun honestly if you hate it just sell it on here. Personally I like carrying the single shot on the longer run and gun hunts. I still carry the Benelli 12ga most often, but that single shot balances much better on the knee and is an absolute pleasure to tote on long hard days.

[Gooserbat]

20 gauge is like a 12 gauge.  Some are lighter than others.  If I was looking for a 20 I'd do the same thing I done with the last 12 I bought and get a Benelli M2. 

[paboxcall]

Stepping down to the Mossberg pump 20 took 1.5 lbs off my the carry weight of my Winchester 1300. While it may not seem like much, every ounce counts especially if you are covering lots of ground during the morning. A quality sling helps by better distributing and absorbing that carry weight too.

Anyone who carries concealed will tell you every ounce counts for comfort.

Lots of other ways to shed weight, for example I don't carry 10 rounds of ammo with me, ditched the decoy years ago, don't carry a GPS, hydrate before hitting the woods and keep bottle water to 16 oz., etc.

[GobbleNut]

I probably carry the heaviest gun in my arsenal turkey hunting because I have the most confidence in it to kill turkeys cleanly at the ranges I am willing to shoot.  That is the most important factor to me.  When I start worrying about carrying and extra pound or two on my shoulder when I go hunting I know it will be time for me to quit.  Besides, carrying that extra pound or two on my shoulder may translate to a pound or two off of my waist after a day's worth of hiking.

[RutnNStrutn]

This season I started hunting with a 20. I built it specifically for places where I'd be covering miles of ground or be walking up and down mountains.
I bought a used single shot H & R Topper in 20 gauge. I had the barrel cut down to 22 inches, and tapped to take a choke. Then I had the barrel drilled and tapped for a scope rail. Next I replaced the old wood stock with an AR style stock. I topped it off with an Indian Creek choke with .562 constriction and a Trijicon dual illumination (tritium and fiber optic) RMR green dot scope. It weighs in at 4 pounds, 12 ounces! That's quite a bit lighter than lugging around my 870 Supermag land cannon.
I shoot TSS through it and it throws a good pattern out to 55 yards.
I'll still hunt with my 12's but my 20 is a pleasure to carry. You don't even notice it on your shoulder. I don't mind the single shot either because it is exceedingly rare that I have to shoot more than once.

Sent from deep in the woods where the critters roam.

[Greg Massey]

This season I started hunting with a 20. I built it specifically for places where I'd be covering miles of ground or be walking up and down mountains.
I bought a used single shot H & R Topper in 20 gauge. I had the barrel cut down to 22 inches, and tapped to take a choke. Then I had the barrel drilled and tapped for a scope rail. Next I replaced the old wood stock with an AR style stock. I topped it off with an Indian Creek choke with .562 constriction and a Trijicon dual illumination (tritium and fiber optic) RMR green dot scope. It weighs in at 4 pounds, 12 ounces! That's quite a bit lighter than lugging around my 870 Supermag land cannon.
I shoot TSS through it and it throws a good pattern out to 55 yards.
I'll still hunt with my 12's but my 20 is a pleasure to carry. You don't even notice it on your shoulder. I don't mind the single shot either because it is exceedingly rare that I have to shoot more than once.

Sent from deep in the woods where the critters roam.

That's a good looking 20 gauge ..

[VaTuRkStOmPeR]

Weight:  On 10-13 mile days, that 5.25lb Benelli is a dream in contrast to an 8-9lb 12 ga.

Performance: With TSS, I can kill turkeys cleanly out to 50 yards, which is as far as I wish to kill them( the gun is definitely capable of killing them considerably farther).

Length: The short length of the gun is extremely maneuverable.

Noise: My ears don't ring nearly as badly after my 20 ga goes off and turkeys are not nearly as disturbed.  I have been hunting with friends on multiple occasions when multiple groups of birds were working to us.  We'd kill whatever Gobbler got to us first, wait 45 minutes and fire up the other group and kill from the sameness tree.  In contrast, when the 12 ga goes off, the irfan typically scatter harder and aren't as inclined to re-engage the call.  I've seen it happen too many times to doubt what I'm telling you.

[blake_08]

I usually carry an 870 super mag 12 gauge loaded to the brim with 3.5" longbeards. I have no idea what i weighs but it ain't light. This year, I bought a 301T in 20 gauge and some TSS for my son to shoot in youth season and after I carried it for him all weekend, i never took my 870 out of the safe all year. That little gun was a joy to carry and hunt with and it rolled the gobbler i killed just as good as any i've ever killed with a 12 gauge. I don't know how much action my 12 gauges will be seeing from now on.

[Sir-diealot]

You may not have to go to a 20 to save on weight, last season I had an associate hunting with me and at one point I had to reach over and move his 12 gauge and about threw the thing through the ceiling of the blind it was so light when I picked it up, it was an Italian made gun, can't remember the name exactly but I do recall that it started with an F and I have seen people talk about them here in the past. Very, very light compared to my 11-87

When I had my first shoulder surgery they had to remove a part of my bicep muscle and now I notice the weight of my gun where before it never bother me to carry it all day long so I feel for you.

[Marc]

I was all set to adamantly disagree with you the differences in weight between the 20 and the 12 gauges...  But when I went to look up the weights of many manufactures, I was surprised to find that in average, there is only between a 1/2 to 1 lbs difference.

I own a 12 gauge Urika-2, and a 20 ga. Urika 2, and the weight difference is coming up on 2 lbs (on a scale), which is considerable when hunting upland game (with the need to mount and shoot quickly as well as lugging the gun around).  But, one is a waterfowl gun (12 ga.), and the other is an upland gun (20 ga.)....

What I will say, is that 1 lbs can make a difference...  A little for lugging around, but more noticeable when it comes to holding a gun up for long periods waiting to shoot that bird.

The slimmer profile of the 20 ga. is also appealing to me...

Ammunition availability is a down-side to the 20 ga. over the 12 ga..

I was set to switch to a 20 gauge some years back (as I was also making the switch from lead to Hevi-Shot).  The loads I wanted in the 20 ga. were on back-order, and I got a steal on some 12 ga. loads from a private seller...

But now looking to purchase some 20 ga. loads for juniors, I have found that there is far less options and availability for 20 gauge loads (especially here in California were we cannot mail-order ammunition any longer).