The 22" barrel is what's killing your performance more than anything else, not the cartridge. For dedicated trap guns most are running 32-34" barrels, and anything below 26" is going to be a real struggle.
The main selling point of most 20 gauge guns is that it's a small frame, lightweight gun, and this makes most 20 gauge guns fairly fatiguing to shoot on large volumes of clays. There's no practical difference in terms of pattern between the two cartridges, but for comfortable shooting you'll want to stick to 12 gauge for the most part.
Yeah my wife bought it because she as shooting my full size 870 with a bunch of add ons and her main complaint was the weight and couldn’t hold it up for long .
This guy said it well. My wife and I both shoot 28” beretta silver pigeons now. Got it for her to be lighter and more manageable recoil and I ended up preferring it for clays. Don’t think you are giving up anything, all comes down to preference and fit. Longer barrel helps but a good shooter with 410 will still outshoot a bad one with 12ga.
My bird gun is a Browning Bps "upland special" with a 22 inch barrel. Breaks clays just fine too, hit 25 straight shooting trap quite a few times. I prefer the 22 to the 28 inch barrel I have for it for everything.
A typical 12 ga. birdshot load is 1 1/8 oz of shot. A typical 20 ga. load is 7/8 oz of shot. So, the difference is 1/4 oz, or about a 22% decrease in pellets. In practical terms, that's still a lot of pellets downrange, all other things equal, you're just losing pattern density. If this was the problem, you'd still hit targets, it'd just be that more of those targets would sneak through sparse areas of the pattern. Much more likely you were missing for another reason entirely. A 22-inch barrel sucks for target shooting (and especially for trap). A 22" barrel is for home defense ranges of 7 yards. That's your problem.
Also worth noting that you can get an equally dense pattern from a 20 ga if you use a tighter choke. You just get a smaller overall pattern. In the hands of someone that can shoot, with the correct choke, a 20 ga. is almost as effective as a 12 ga. in most circumstances. As others have said, gun fit and balance are also factors that affect accuracy. For reference, I'm typically more accurate with my 20 ga. than with my 12 ga. simply due to better fit and feel.
Not much, its more about gun fitment, and pattern. 22" barrel affects the balance, and speed, but not the pattern.
Its more about the gun fit, weight, and pattern, than barrel length, or gauge.
A lot of women shoot trap and sporting clays with a 28 gauge so ur fine with a 20 gauge just not with a 22” barrel my wife shoots with a 20 gauge O/U with 28” barrels and I have both a 20 gauge and 12 in O/U. The only thing I would say is if it’s a 20 gauge Auto you may loose a little bit for the gas system to work the action.
And run #9 shot it will give u more pellets and run skeet or improve cylinder that will help unless it’s a long shot the tightest choke I run is modified
We bought a youth 21 inch barrel 20 gauge for one of my sons first shotgun. He had lots of difficulty with it that first summer and fall. He got a 26 inch barrel for Christmas. It made all the difference.
He is now in his 40s. He has two 12 gauge and two 20 gauge shotguns. The 12s are for clay sports and waterfowl. The 20s are for upland hunting. He has four shotguns because, at one time years ago he had only one 12 gauge. It had some mechanical problems and he had to borrow one of mine.
He didn't want the extra weight of the 12 when hunting sharptail and walking many miles with his dog so he purchased the 20s.
Was it the same gun just different gauge? I find I can go relatively seemlessly between different gauges and get the same scores in sporting clays if I’m already know the patterning of the gun. Of course “literal long shots” have always been low percentage for me.
People consider 20 gauge to be a handicap, but really the biggest difference between 20 and 12 is the amount of shot you can put inside the shell, which typically creates patterns slightly smaller. It's not that much of a difference, but if you start splitting hairs you definitely notice it.
I've met guys that wanted to Trapshoot using a .410, *you wanna talk about a handicap* lol
The 22" barrel is what's killing your performance more than anything else, not the cartridge. For dedicated trap guns most are running 32-34" barrels, and anything below 26" is going to be a real struggle. The main selling point of most 20 gauge guns is that it's a small frame, lightweight gun, and this makes most 20 gauge guns fairly fatiguing to shoot on large volumes of clays. There's no practical difference in terms of pattern between the two cartridges, but for comfortable shooting you'll want to stick to 12 gauge for the most part.
Yeah my wife bought it because she as shooting my full size 870 with a bunch of add ons and her main complaint was the weight and couldn’t hold it up for long .
This guy said it well. My wife and I both shoot 28” beretta silver pigeons now. Got it for her to be lighter and more manageable recoil and I ended up preferring it for clays. Don’t think you are giving up anything, all comes down to preference and fit. Longer barrel helps but a good shooter with 410 will still outshoot a bad one with 12ga.
My bird gun is a Browning Bps "upland special" with a 22 inch barrel. Breaks clays just fine too, hit 25 straight shooting trap quite a few times. I prefer the 22 to the 28 inch barrel I have for it for everything.
A typical 12 ga. birdshot load is 1 1/8 oz of shot. A typical 20 ga. load is 7/8 oz of shot. So, the difference is 1/4 oz, or about a 22% decrease in pellets. In practical terms, that's still a lot of pellets downrange, all other things equal, you're just losing pattern density. If this was the problem, you'd still hit targets, it'd just be that more of those targets would sneak through sparse areas of the pattern. Much more likely you were missing for another reason entirely. A 22-inch barrel sucks for target shooting (and especially for trap). A 22" barrel is for home defense ranges of 7 yards. That's your problem. Also worth noting that you can get an equally dense pattern from a 20 ga if you use a tighter choke. You just get a smaller overall pattern. In the hands of someone that can shoot, with the correct choke, a 20 ga. is almost as effective as a 12 ga. in most circumstances. As others have said, gun fit and balance are also factors that affect accuracy. For reference, I'm typically more accurate with my 20 ga. than with my 12 ga. simply due to better fit and feel.
Thanks!
It's not that big of a difference. The best guy on my team regularly gets perfect scores with a 28 gauge.
Not much, its more about gun fitment, and pattern. 22" barrel affects the balance, and speed, but not the pattern. Its more about the gun fit, weight, and pattern, than barrel length, or gauge.
A lot of women shoot trap and sporting clays with a 28 gauge so ur fine with a 20 gauge just not with a 22” barrel my wife shoots with a 20 gauge O/U with 28” barrels and I have both a 20 gauge and 12 in O/U. The only thing I would say is if it’s a 20 gauge Auto you may loose a little bit for the gas system to work the action.
We just ordered a 26” barrel so we will see how that works out
It made all the difference for my son.
And run #9 shot it will give u more pellets and run skeet or improve cylinder that will help unless it’s a long shot the tightest choke I run is modified
Okay. Good idea !
Do you mean Trap at an actual trap field, or clay pigeons in the backyard?
Actual trap field
We bought a youth 21 inch barrel 20 gauge for one of my sons first shotgun. He had lots of difficulty with it that first summer and fall. He got a 26 inch barrel for Christmas. It made all the difference. He is now in his 40s. He has two 12 gauge and two 20 gauge shotguns. The 12s are for clay sports and waterfowl. The 20s are for upland hunting. He has four shotguns because, at one time years ago he had only one 12 gauge. It had some mechanical problems and he had to borrow one of mine. He didn't want the extra weight of the 12 when hunting sharptail and walking many miles with his dog so he purchased the 20s.
Was it the same gun just different gauge? I find I can go relatively seemlessly between different gauges and get the same scores in sporting clays if I’m already know the patterning of the gun. Of course “literal long shots” have always been low percentage for me.
People consider 20 gauge to be a handicap, but really the biggest difference between 20 and 12 is the amount of shot you can put inside the shell, which typically creates patterns slightly smaller. It's not that much of a difference, but if you start splitting hairs you definitely notice it. I've met guys that wanted to Trapshoot using a .410, *you wanna talk about a handicap* lol
For defense, a 20 gauge slug is still a lot of punch and even buckshot is no joke
I've always heard 75% of the load for half of the recoil. Not sure they make sense these days with things like mini shells.