# 12 or 20 for quail



## maverick266 (Jan 20, 2011)

i personally think when it comes to quail, a 12 gauge is just a little too much gun. whats yalls opinion?


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## moose266 (Jan 20, 2011)

I would partially agree with you maverick.  If I had a choice, I would use a 20 ga but I shoot my 12 ga. Benelli and love it but as long as you let them get out there and use a light shot, it wont do too much damage.


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## coveyrise90 (Jan 20, 2011)

How about a 28ga? That's a fun quail gun. Jay (redneckbillcollector) sometimes uses a 410. I want to give it a try just for the heck of it.... 

I like shooting my SXSs and most of them are 12ga but I do shoot reduced loads.... 7/8 of shot at 1100 fps. That's less powerful than the standard 20ga and 28ga load.

Adam


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## kmckinnie (Jan 20, 2011)

Double barrell 10 ga 3.5 mags with 8s should get the job done! 














Or a 28 ga would be a lot of fun!


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## rocket (Jan 20, 2011)

I hope to be good enough of a shot one day to shoot a 28ga.  For now I will stick to 20ga.  Now dove get the 12ga treatment


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## BFifer (Jan 20, 2011)

If you shoot your 20, 28, 410 as well as your 12, I'd recommend knocking them down with smallest ga since, depending of course on how well your shells pattern out of your particular gun and choke, it should pattern the same (same spread) with less pellets in the pattern.... thus fewer shot in your meal. Having a 20 and 12 AND having broken the cheap browning firing pin spring that they install, I shot up a bunch of quail with my 12... never again... too much shot in the meat regardless of where you hit.


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## maverick266 (Jan 20, 2011)

kmckinnie said:


> Double barrell 10 ga 3.5 mags with 8s should get the job done!



HA! i bet it would! but i prefer to have a little bit more than feathers left over after i shoot it..


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## Sam H (Jan 21, 2011)

I've ALWAYS been a 20ga guy , until recently gone to sxs 16ga Sterly on 20ga frame.......Wonder who put in the _lonely_ vote for 12ga....Adam,who do you think it was

Sam


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## Pittard (Jan 21, 2011)

20 ga for me.  I'd go with a 28 or 410 if I had one though.  Like has been said Pattern should be the same with all.  Just less lead in the air.

My wife's uncle (the guy that got me into bird hunting) is a 28 ga guy.  His budy knocks down Phez with a 410.


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## easbell (Jan 21, 2011)

For pen raised birds something smaller than a 20ga. For wild birds, especially mixed with pheasants I stick with the 20ga.


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## scoggins (Jan 21, 2011)

12 is too much to carry around all day if you ar hunting on foot 
20 is good
but a 28 or 410 is most sporting
you better have your game on especially if you are FORTUNATE enough to get into real birds ( wild not pen raised)


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## wilber85 (Jan 21, 2011)

I have used a single shot 410 before.  Missed about 10 before I hit one.  After that I brought down 3 more and called it a day.  It was a humbling experience.


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## thomas gose (Jan 21, 2011)

Sam H said:


> I've ALWAYS been a 20ga guy , until recently gone to sxs 16ga Sterly on 20ga frame.......Wonder who put in the _lonely_ vote for 12ga....Adam,who do you think it was
> 
> Sam



I put one vote for 12. i use what i got i like the 12 gauge and use a 12 for any size bird. light feild loads seem to work just fine with quail and dove and when i do hit them i tear up no more or less than the boys shooting the smaller shotguns.


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## Sam H (Jan 21, 2011)

wilber85 said:


> I have used a single shot 410 before.  Missed about 10 before I hit one.  After that I brought down 3 more and called it a day.  It was a humbling experience.



Quail hunting with a 410ga is a very humbling experiance 

Sam


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## coveyrise90 (Jan 21, 2011)

I didn't vote 12.... I would had voted 28 had it been an option.

Adam


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## Nimrod71 (Jan 21, 2011)

Well it depends on what you got.  For many years all I had was a 12 ga and I hunted everything with it.  The thing about a 12 you can taylor your load to what you are hunting.  Back when we had wild birds I used a 3 1/4 - 1 1/8 load of 7 1/2's.  Great load, killed thousands of birds over the years with it.  Now the wild birds are gone and I use a 20 ga with hand rolled blue dot 1 oz loads.  I have to wait for them to get out a ways before I shoot.  When I am under a lot of pressure, like shooting for money, some times we shoot for a $1 a shot a birds, I use my 870 1 ga with my special home rolled shells.


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## 270 guy (Jan 21, 2011)

28 GA would do and be fun but a 12 ga with 1oz or even 7/8oz shot will work great. If you like 20 ga then go with it.


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## RipperIII (Jan 21, 2011)

love my .20ga., tried my hand with a buddy's .410 in open fields and did ok with it, but was happy to get my .20 back

I will say this, one year down in Thomasville in the tall pines, our guide had some young dogs that he could not control, they busted coveys well out in front of the shooters, our closest shots were in the 40-50 yard range for much of the morning, I happened to have my .12ga with me...it seemed to make a big difference


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## doublebarrel (Jan 22, 2011)

20,16 and 28 gauge.


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## muckalee (Jan 22, 2011)

*12, or 20*

Guys,

Personally I use a 20 gauge and think it is the perfect quail gun.  But if all you got is a 12 then by all means shoot it and dont apologize to any one.  You can always get the  1 oz light loads which is the same amount of shot as a field load 20.


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## muckalee (Jan 22, 2011)

*12, or 20*

Guys,

Personally I use a 20 gauge and think it is the perfect quail gun.  But if all you got is a 12 then by all means shoot it and dont apologize to any one.  You can always get the  1 oz light loads which is the same amount of shot as a field load 20.


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## irocz2u (Jan 22, 2011)

going  try  my  410  sxs   sunday


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## SSG (Jan 22, 2011)

"The gauge of the man is an index to the ability of the man to prove his manhood...If it is a 12 gauge, he is so-so. If it is a 16 , he is pretty good. If it's a 20 gauge, he is excellent, and if it's a .410 he is bragging."
  Robert Ruark,"The Brave Quail"


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## Nitram4891 (Jan 24, 2011)

SSG said:


> "The gauge of the man is an index to the ability of the man to prove his manhood...If it is a 12 gauge, he is so-so. If it is a 16 , he is pretty good. If it's a 20 gauge, he is excellent, and if it's a .410 he is bragging."
> Robert Ruark,"The Brave Quail"



I shoot a 20 and I wouldn't consider myself excellent by any means.  Shoot what you've got and be proud of it.


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## Ga Quail Hunter (Jan 24, 2011)

Thats funny. What about the 28 ga? Somewhere between excellent - bragging I guess.


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## redneck_billcollector (Jan 25, 2011)

I voted 20 due to a lack of the guages I normally use.  I normally use either 28 or .410.  Don't use 12 on quail, alot of the private properties I have hunted and hunt from time to time will not allow anything bigger than a 20. The only thing I might use bigger than a 20 is a 16 and that would be out west where I might be shooting pheasant or grouse also.  You talk to some real old crackers who hunted for food and not sport, they would swear by a 12 gauge with 10 shot, I don't reckon I have seen 10 shot since I was a youngun....it has kinda gone the way of the .22 short.


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## birddog52 (Jan 27, 2011)

True ( 9 shot is even hard to find


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## MrBull (Feb 5, 2011)

A musket full of grapeshot is sporting if you shoot birds as well as I do. LOL


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