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Shotgun Gauge


Wyoma

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12 gauge by far, but I see a lot of 20 gauge also. I alternate between 12 & 20 myself. The 12 SxS is heavier which cuts down on the recoil but the 20 SxS is lighter and I can swing it a little faster. Your preference really. If you want to use a pump then you are pretty much locked into a 12.

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OP,
My vote is also for 12 gauge, for the above mentioned reasons.

Winchester AA Featherlites #AA12FL8 are 401 grains, 980 fps.
These are the softest shooters I have found for my wife, so far.
They are such light shells, they will not cycle my V3 trap gun action.
These are pricey.

If you hand load, you can beat the above, and control your costs.
Light handloads produce approximately 10 ft. lbs of recoil in my 5.75 lb SxS.
The AA are 11.7 lbs of recoil.

You can further reduce the recoil by adding a dead mule (weight) inside the stock bolt chamber.
Fill a baggie with lead shot sufficient to stuff in the bolt hold, then reinstall the butt pad.
This will significantly change the gun balance, but is an easy process to test out, and/or restore.

Gauge is has no direct bearing on recoil.
It depends entirely on the weight of the gun and the weight + velocity of the shot (ejecta).
Recoil of 3/4 oz, 1200 fps, 5.75 lb gun is identical, 12 or 20 gauge.




 

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2 hours ago, bgavin said:

OP,
My vote is also for 12 gauge, for the above mentioned reasons.

Winchester AA Featherlites #AA12FL8 are 401 grains, 980 fps.
These are the softest shooters I have found for my wife, so far.
They are such light shells, they will not cycle my V3 trap gun action.
These are pricey.

If you hand load, you can beat the above, and control your costs.
Light handloads produce approximately 10 ft. lbs of recoil in my 5.75 lb SxS.
The AA are 11.7 lbs of recoil.

You can further reduce the recoil by adding a dead mule (weight) inside the stock bolt chamber.
Fill a baggie with lead shot sufficient to stuff in the bolt hold, then reinstall the butt pad.
This will significantly change the gun balance, but is an easy process to test out, and/or restore.

Gauge is has no direct bearing on recoil.
It depends entirely on the weight of the gun and the weight + velocity of the shot (ejecta).
Recoil of 3/4 oz, 1200 fps, 5.75 lb gun is identical, 12 or 20 gauge.




 

 

THIS ^

 

..........Widder

 

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3 hours ago, bgavin said:

...Winchester AA Featherlites #AA12FL8 are 401 grains, 980 fps....These are pricey....

 

Of course "pricey" is subjective.  And some folks find them hard to find.  But there are a few Walmarts around here that consistently have them for $7.87.  I would not save enough reloading to be worth my limited time.  Those AAFL8's do have the added negative of poor QC in recent years, which has developed the cottage industry of checker/sizers.

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12 gauge. When I was a kid my first SG was a 16 gauge 1897 and I shot a lot of ducks, geese, pheasants, etc.. with it. When I got into CAS about 14 years ago I thought 16 gauge would be the way to go because of the nostalgia of my early 16 gauge and I wish I had gone with 12 gauge. The 16 gauge shells are sometimes hard to find and usually quite a bit higher in price. Save yourself some money and go with the 12 gauge. When you’re at a match and run out of 16 shells for some reason it’s doubtful any of your pards will have a few 16 gauge shells to loan you.

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I shoot 12 ga in 97s and 20 ga in sxs when I shoot blackpowder.

Yesterdays match had about 38 shooters.  Me and one other shot 20 ga.  Everyone else shot 12 ga.  Our one local 16 ga shooter passed last year.  I do see some 10 ga shooters in Va.

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I think some of the 16 ga '97 shooters like it because they can grab more shells in one hand.  That would not be something to start out with, though, I would think.  

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4 hours ago, Abilene, SASS # 27489 said:

 

Of course "pricey" is subjective.  And some folks find them hard to find.  But there are a few Walmarts around here that consistently have them for $7.87. 


Here, when AA are not sold out, they are up near $11 per box here.
It takes about 2.0 hours to pick them up, with the lines and all the paperwork.
I have two cases of AA left in stock and held only for matches.

Apparently Walmart in CA no longer sells ammo at all.
Both of ours sold their stock and closed the aisle entirely... said they are no longer selling ammo.

Walmart in NV was selling $50 cases of shotshells for $70, because the demand is so high.
My friends over in NV tell me the shelves are bare... all sold out of centerfire and 22LR.
I've gone through all my cases of Winchester Super-X and Gun Club for trap, so will have to curtail until stock becomes available again.

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6 hours ago, Rough 'N Ready Rob said:

12 gauge, shells readily available and cheap. You can get a 97 in 16 gauge, shells hard to find and pricy. My daughter's 20 gauge SXS kicks harder then her 97 I'm sure.


I sure agree with that.
You got me thinking about it, so I looked up the gun weights and applied them to a typical Gun Club load, 1.125 oz.

21.9 ft. lbs in a 6.4 lb. SxS Stoeger 20-gauge
17.5 ft. lbs in a 8.0 pound 1897.

I ran some #00 and a few slugs through my Charles Daly 500 (5.75 pounds, weighed) and the recoil is huge.
Win AA are significantly more mild in the same gun.

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12 guage most common.  
If you shoot 16, 20. Or even 10 G at some point you will forget to bring shotgun shells to a match. May not be able to borrow any! 

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12, by about a hundred to one. 20 is a distant second. We have a couple shooters who prefer 16 for some reason - the only two I know who shoot sixteens. I don't know anybody who shoots a 10 on a regular basis. I shot a 20g Baikal coach gun in the last two matches, because I've got a 5 gallon bucket or two of 20's left over from my daughter shooting with me til about four years ago, and it just seemed like a good excuse to buy my own 20g. :lol:

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