Anyone use a 12 gauge for everything?

[halberg]

Evening,

Talking hunting with a mate who's big into shotties and got me thinkin'...

Anyone have a shotty as their one and only?

Between bird shot, larger BB for foxes etc and slugs for deer they can do it all I guess...

Anyone just have a shotty as their do-it-all gun?

[MeccaOz]

Not myself, but a farmer mate of mine does. So your mate isnt alone.

[on_one_wheel]

The 12 gauge shotgun would have to be the no.1 most versatile gun ever.

[wrenchman]

Some areas - because of human population - it's all you can hunt with here in the state of Ohio. It's that or muzzle loader for deer hunting during the gun season, so it's not uncommon at all here but you see a lot of pumps with slug barrel combo.

I would not fill handy caped by it at all with a shotgun if that was what I owned.

[veep]

I would not fill handy caped by it at all with a shotgun if that was what I owned.

The shoulder would just feel sore instead if that's all I had to shoot

[south]

Bit of kick hey?

How does a 12 gauge compare to rifles? What calibre would you say the recoil is like?

I've never fired one yet.

[NukeBOMB88]

I've found that the recoil on a 12g is vastly different with different projectiles, for example Quail shot won't destroy your shoulder like a slug will

[tom604]

308ish so not too bad

[wrenchman]

I agree with nuke there are some sabot rounds that would compare to shooting a magnum gun.
there are loads for the 12 gauge for just about anything doves to bears'

[Josh Smith]

Hello,

I used to have a Mossberg pump 12 gauge.

It was too heavy for Northern Whitetail. Many will disagree with this, but I found my 20 gauge smoothbore to do just fine. It had a much better trigger and excellent sights. I content it was more precise, but that may have also been that the ergonomics were better.

As well, the 12 gauge was too heavy for rabbit, squirrel, and other small game. I like to stalk them or take really long shots (as far as rimfire and shotgun go, anyway.) Stalking close, the 12 gauge tended to tear them apart, and 100 meters out, the spread was too wide.

They excel at knocking squirrels out of trees when the leaves are still on said trees, though, when you only get a flicker of fur to shoot at.

I did really liked my double 20 gauge. Never used it for deer, but for close-in coyote defense and small game hunting, it was perfect! I could choose the IC or Modified choke depending on distance. I sold it but shouldn't have.

The 12 gauge got demoted from field use to home defense use. These days, prefer a sidelock muzzleloader for deer, and have been looking for a smaller (.32 or .36) muzzleloader to supplement my Savage MkII BTVS .22 Long Rifle for squirrel and rabbit.

But yes, I have, and at moderate distances, the 12 gauge cannot be beat.

Regards,

Josh

[Warrigul]

If I could only have one firearm I would choose a 12 guage.

It is a bit of overkill for possum and makes too big a mess of the possum traps(they only ever need one round though), I left the rifle home once when shooting birds and the orchardist had set the traps overnight knowing I was coming to shoot birds the next day. I had to use the shotty on five possum- never again.

[RoginaJack]

I find the shotgun has more of a "push" than a "kick". sometimes a bit more push just depending on the loads.

Cheers

[Norton]

308ish so not too bad

I reckon that's about right.

Maybe on the heavier side of .308 loads but close enough.

[Shotfox]

The heading says it all - Hunting, Fishing and Camping

[inventurkey]

The heading says it all - Hunting, Fishing and Camping

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