More duck hunters are carrying 20-gauges into the blind. They’re lighter to tote through the marsh and easier on the shoulder, and the shells keep getting better. Does the little gun give up too much on birds, though? Outdoor Life Editor-in-Chief Alex Robinson tried to find out in a hands-on field test published October 9. The results are worth a look for anyone choosing a gun or loads before Southeastern seasons open.
How Outdoor Life ran the test
Robinson and OL multimedia producer Roy Holdford hunted Minnesota’s duck opener with a 20-gauge Browning A5 and then hunted day two with a 12-gauge A5. Both guns had 28-inch barrels and modified chokes. In the 12, they shot Remington Nitro-Steel, 1 3/8 ounces of No. 4. In the 20, they used an Apex stacked load of No. 7.5 TSS over No. 4 steel, 1 1/8 ounces. The birds were early-season teal, wood ducks and mallards at roughly 15 to 45 yards, and each gun accounted for 12 ducks.
Robinson was upfront that the test was “very unscientific,” with a small sample and two hunts in different spots and different weather. Keep that in mind as you read the results.
What they found
In the field, the 20-gauge killed cleanly out to about 30 yards. Past roughly 35 yards, birds often came down but weren’t dead, and the dog had to chase cripples. With the 12, ducks around 40 yards fell hard, and Robinson dropped a teal cleanly at about 45.
The pattern board told the same story. In a 30-inch circle at 40 yards, the 12-gauge with 1 1/4 ounces of No. 2 steel put 126 pellets on paper. A 20-gauge load of 7/8 ounce of No. 2 steel managed 90. A 1-ounce 20-gauge load of No. 3 put 126 pellets in the circle only when the team moved in to 30 yards. That matches the 12’s density at 40.
The Apex steel-and-TSS blend was the only 20-gauge load to match or beat the 12 at 40 yards on paper, with 152 hits. Robinson noted that it runs about $60 a box and is hard to find, and in the field it still didn’t kill consistently at 40. He suspected the lighter No. 4 steel in the stack was running out of energy.
The main reason is simple: pellet count. Velocities are similar between the two gauges, and a pellet hitting at the same speed does the same damage no matter which gun fired it. A 12-gauge just throws more pellets. By Outdoor Life’s figures, 1 1/4 ounces of No. 2 steel holds about 156 pellets, compared with about 125 in an ounce from a 20.
GUN Crusade’s take: picking the right gun for your water
This doesn’t mean the 20 is a bad duck gun. It means you need to know its range. The 20 looks like a great fit for a lot of Southeastern duck hunting: flooded timber, beaver ponds, creeks and small rivers, where birds work in close. Its lighter weight and softer recoil also make it a good choice for youth, smaller-framed hunters and anyone who struggles with a heavy 12.
If your birds tend to hang out past 35 yards, as they often do on big open water or in coastal marshes, the 12 still has the edge.
A few practical steps based on the test:
- Set a range limit and stick to it. With quality No. 3 steel, Outdoor Life suggests keeping 20-gauge shots to 30 yards or less.
- Pattern before the opener. Shoot your gun, choke and load at 30 and 40 yards and count pellets in a 30-inch circle.
- Consider denser shot for longer shots. Robinson suggests trying smaller shot in denser-than-steel loads, such as Hevi-Shot, Boss or Apex, if you want more reach from a 20.
- Use a range finder or decoy markers so you learn what 30 yards really looks like over water.
Fewer cripples is the goal every duck hunter should share, whatever gauge is on your shoulder.
