The 20-

gauge Gauge ( ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, especia ...

shotgun, also known as 20 bore or 20 gauge, is a type of smoothbore

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, peppergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which discharges numerous small ...

. 20-gauge shotguns have a bore diameter of , while the 12-gauge has a bore diameter of . 12-gauge and 20-gauge shotguns are the most popular gauges in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The 20-gauge is popular among upland game hunters, target shooters, and skeet shooters.

Description

Twenty lead balls of a 20-gauge shotgun bore weigh one pound, while just 12 lead balls of a 12-gauge shotgun bore weigh the same. A 20-gauge shotgun is more suitable for

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

certain types of game or for some hunters because it may have less felt recoil than an identical shotgun in a larger gauge, and guns may be smaller and weigh less, though this has changed since the introduction of the 3-inch magnum shotshell. Regarding the yellow body tube color that 20-gauge ammunition usually has, it has been reserved in SAAMI documentation saying "SAAMI has reserved yellow for 20 gauge ammunition" "This ammunition shall have a body tube that is primarily yellow" "Yellow shall not be used for any other gauge/bore shotshell body" "No other recommendations are made as to the color of service body tubes for other gauges/bores" This color designation may be designed to aid in identifying 20-gauge shells. A 20 ga shell, if mixed in with 12-gauge shells, will enter the chamber and lodge inside the bore at the end of the chamber. The result is catastrophic if a 12 ga shell is loaded and fired behind the lodged 20 ga shell.

Specifications

20-gauge shotguns are especially suitable for hunting game birds such as

quail Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally placed in the order Galliformes. The collective noun for a group of quail is a flock, covey, or bevy. Old World quail are placed in the family Phasianidae, and New ...

grouse Grouse are a group of birds from the order (biology), order Galliformes, in the family (biology), family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the Tribe (biology), tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetr ...

, and mallards when using lead-free birdshot. A 20-gauge buckshot load would most commonly be utilized in close- to mid-range self-defense scenarios. While slug loads are ballistically less accurate than rounds used in

rifle A rifle is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting and higher stopping power, with a gun barrel, barrel that has a helical or spiralling pattern of grooves (rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus o ...

s, powerful, high-

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

slug loads can provide improved ballistics for hunting

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

when paired with a rifled barrel.

Recoil

On average, 20-gauge rounds will produce less muzzle energy than 12-gauge rounds, resulting in reduced perceived recoil. However, there are many variables that affect perceived recoil, including gun weight, action type, stock pattern, shot weight, shell size, etc. There may be little to no difference between the two when using target ammunition. Loads for waterfowl will tend to produce more felt recoil in a 12-gauge shotgun than in a 20, but this may not be the case depending on the gun used. Full-power 20-gauge shells fired from a light gun will have more felt

recoil Recoil (often called knockback, kickback or simply kick) is the rearward thrust generated when a gun is being discharged. In technical terms, the recoil is a result of conservation of momentum, for according to Newton's third law the force requ ...

than those fired from a heavy gun. For a fair comparison, two identical shotguns, one in 12 and one in 20, with identical ammunition (other than gauge) have to be compared. In those cases, the 12-gauge does generate more recoil energy than the 20.

References

External links

Cartridge & Chamber Drawings
ANSI/SAAMI Cartridge & Chamber Drawings PDF links page

ANSI/SAAMI Cartridge & Chamber Drawings, 2019-04-23 PDF for Shotshells {{DEFAULTSORT:20-Gauge Shotgun Shotguns

Description

Specifications

Recoil

See also

References

External links