Poll....who is hunting with small gauge for up-land birds?
 

Not counting ducks and turkeys what is your favorite gauge? I have settled on the 16 for most wild bird hunting and enjoy 28gauge for woodcock. When you hunt long and hard to find wild birds you don't want a gun that will not do the job at hand...Guns must be light and pleasing to the eye, don't need a 12 gauge either. No contraptions or cross eyed stack barrels, SXS guns for me!!! Like the men who hunted at the turn of the century. See the bird and shoot it down.....take pics, pet the dog, smile and be happy...(-: Pictures of my 16-s and Gordon setter dog, grouse in the cast iron. Life is good...Ask any real upland hunter! SXS ohio

I hunt Pheasant with a 16, grouse and quail with a 20 or 28. I have been known to use a 410 on all from time to time with careful shot selection.
Bob Jurewicz

I've been a 16ga guy since I was a kid; my dad's gun was a 16 and I didn't know there was anything else :)!

16, 20 and 28 for upland birds.

Bird work is about evenly split between the 20 and the 28. It all depends on my mood. Doesn't matter whether the bird is a pheasant, quail, woodcock, grouse or dove.

I will admit that I have shot and killed wild roosters at 40 yards with a 20 but that is not the norm, a 16 with field loads is a better performer for me. Its as good as it gets. A centered shot will work from most 28 gauge and up but any marginal off center and you need more bullets and fuller patterns. 16 has 1 1/8 oz of shot, fuller patterns and gets the job done better with less cripples and still light and light to carry. Six and 1/2 lbs is about all I want to tote and 6lbs is even is better....(-:

I use all gauges (well......... .410, 28, 20, 16 and 12) for upland birds .............. from .410s in the early dove and quail season to 12s (only occasionally) at the very end of dove season for very high flying, migratory birds. I could probably do everything I do with the 1 oz. 12s with my 16s, but I just like to use them all.

SRH

For the most part nothing but 20's for me. The only exception is I occasionally use my 1 frame twist 12 ga. It is as light as my 20's and I only shoot 7/8 oz loads so it is essentially a 20.

I went exclusively to 16 gauge side by sides, I have 2 fox and a parker, I still have a nice 20 gauge over/under with screw in chokes, but hardly use it. I just like hunting with an older side by side like I did when I was a kid.

If you are talking wild birds, 12 and 16. If you are talking pen raised, 16 or 20.

I've been on a 20 gauge kick for years. I will add a 28 gauge when the right one comes along at the right time. I break out one of the 12 gauges, usually an open-choked one, when I get into a rut and can't hit anything to try and get some confident back.

I've killed more wild birds -- especially Bobs, grouse and woodcock -- with a 28 gauge which I used almost exclusively for almost 20 years. Now, I use small gauges almost exclusively for upland birds, but alternate among 28s, 20s, and 16s. When I went out west for prairie grouse and Huns, I used a 16. When I really want to shoot a pheasant, I'll take a heavier 16 or a light 12. I don't take long shots, but wild pheasants are tough birds.

Hmmm recently it’s been the 28 for quail and soon dove I hope . Last couple years preserve pheasents have been 16 and 20 . I’m booked for three driven Pheasent deals at Christmas Hill and plan on using a VH 16 30” F&F in December , a VHE 20 28” M&F for January and my little VH 28 26” F&F for February . Have somewhere between 2 and 4 quail deals booked for Rasawek Preserve this season and don’t see myself using anything other than the VH 28 or my Superposed 28 28” S&S . FWIW I have used a 10 gauge 2 7/8” a few times in the late December dove season . I have a semi recent acquisition I wouldn’t mind plunking a couple dove with a PH 10 3 frame 32” that’s something along the lines of IC&M . Gun has very good dimensions and does amazingly well on the skeet field if I’m in A game mode . I think I’ve loaded close to 7,500 12 gauge rounds in the last two weeks but to be honest I shoot a 12 not that much , might have to change that . Well atleast at the sporting clays places and maybe later in the early dove season .

I do most of my wild quail hunting with a 20
Gauge over dogs.

A GH 16 and a VHE 20 for Most of my grouse and woodcock hunting. On occasion I will shoot a 16 VHE skeet gun on a nice day and a 28 gauge H&R double hammer gun at least once a year in woodcock cover.

I’m a dummy, I shoot 7/8 oz in both 20 and 16 gauge. I decide what gun I want to hunt depending on chokes and weight, sometimes barrel length. For the grouse and woodcock hunting over a Setter, 90% of the time it’s a 26 3/4” cut barrel open choked 20. In part because I can handle it with my right hand and move cover out of the way with my left. Inevitably the places we find grouse are thick and a deer trail is a luxury.

Pheasant with a flushing Springer Spaniel a 16ga with full and improved mod barrels 28”.
Or a 20ga full/mod.

For me it’s sort of a 308 vs 30/06 thing and more than likely comes down to what gun I feel like using that day. Sometimes the weather plays a part also.
Or I can get real scientific and see my choice made by how many and what gauge are still in the vest.

I used to hunt exclusively with 16's. My first 2 SXSs were my VH 16 1 frame and a Fox SW 16. Lately, I've gone over to the 20 ga for grouse, and will take 3 20's with me to the UP. I will take 16's for wild pheasant, bit will use both gages at home for pheasant. I've just never been bitten by the 28 ga bug, and rarely shoot my little Ugartechea 28.

I do like John Davis. 12, 16 or 16 , 20

For me it’s 16, 20, and 28 but mostly 28 these last 10 or so years. My first 28 was a straight stocked Repro, IC/Mod with double triggers. The big deal came along when I bought one for Kathy with Q1/Q2 chokes and a beavertail. What a great combo that was.... then I graduated to original 28 gauge Parkers and haven’t looked back.
I have several 16’s both hammer guns as well as hammerless and I have 1 20 gauge DH with 28” Damascus barrels.

They’re all fun!





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I split my time in the uplands between the 16 & 20ga. I've said it many times that if I had to be limited to one gun for upland work it would be a 16ga.

Occasionally I'll carry a one framed DH-12 that I bought from a member here. It's one of those Damascus barreled light weight beauties that only Parker could produce, coming in a 6lb 8oz for a 12ga. Other than it feeling a little wider in the hand when carrying it, I can hardly tell I'm not carrying a 20ga.

16 for wild pheasants and prairie grouse. 28 for doves and preserve birds. 20 just for fun - whenever!

I mostly shoot a 16ga and sometimes a short 10

16 gauge except late season prairie birds ( pheasant, sharptail) then it's a 12 even with great dogs sometimes you shots can be a little longer.

Askins’ opinion was exactly that - his opinion. And it certainly doesn’t fit the way I like to hunt and shoot and doesn’t even remotely define a significant number of us.





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Gun writers are paid to have opinions and to get paid they need a lot of them. They change them like socks and tout the latest fad as the world beater that it is.
We shoot our 100 year old technology and smile.

Lots of quail plantations require either a 20 or 28 double gun these days. I saw them shut down a guy with a 12 last year.

They ought to allow 16s in my opinion and why they don't I do not know.

20 gauge 26" barrels for me either Fox or Parker everything from wild Pheasants in SD, wild quail in TX to woodcock and grouse closer to home. The Parker is 26" O frame and weights 6 lbs 12 oz. It has some heft which keeps my swing going on wild pheasants. The Fox is 5 lbs 14 oz and more open chokes, my grouse and woodcock gun.
Big ducks are a different story strictly a 12 ga or 10 ga affair for me.

I've shot wild Pheasants with every gauge from my 12-gauge 3-inch Super-Fox to the 28-gauge, and I've shot some Doves and Quail with the .410-bore. For most of my years the great bulk of my Pheasants and prairie grouse have been with "Meat-in-the-Pot" my 1914 vintage A-Grade, Ansley H. Fox.

Attachment 87755

Late years I have shot quite a few with my RBL-16, especially in areas where non-tox is required. Two of my recent acquisitions have been 16-gauges, both of 1941 vintage, a Model 21 Skeet Gun and a 26-inch barrel VHE. Hoping I live long enough to shoot some birds with both.

Mr. Gietler;

Me thinks you are a troll and as I get older I have absolutely no tolerance for posters like you. Please go away. If you live near me I'd love to challenge you to a shooting match, either live birds or clay targets, you using your BSS 12ga with 1 1/4oz loads (which I'm sure you shoot at everything) and I will take the pitiful 28ga. and proceed to show you just how wrong Askins, and you, are.

BTW; I have a BSS 12ga. and it's a club.

Gentlemen in Texas don't hunt quail with a 12 ga.! I'm a 20 ga. guy for dove and quail mostly. I HAVE, on occasion, pulled out my 30" FxF 1 1/2 VH 12 ga.for those late season high flying doves 'cause it works.
Waterfowl........all's fair. I shoot my 16s a lot over decoys, tend to go to 12 ga. late in the season. Birds are more heavily feathered and sometimes a bit shy and wary. I'm only mad at the geese about once or twice a year anymore. Then it's an Ithica Mag 10 or a 3 1/2 mag 12 ga Winchester.

I hope our PGCA Board does not degrade to the level commonly found on the Doublegunshop Board. Differences of opinion should be recognized and accepted as just that differences of opinion.
I know Mr. Gietler. He is not a troll and does not deserve that kind of treatment for one of his first posts here.
Bob Jurewicz

Thanks, Mills. You have just given me my excuse.

Should I ever be so lucky as to present myself for Southern plantation Quail, I don’t want to be shut out by solely owning side-by-sides in the disallowed 12 and 16 gauges.

And what gun fancier really wants to be on a hunt while shooting a borrowed weapon.

Always happy to be of service. I will say I want to get a Parker 12 gauge half frame and take it quail hunting. RST 7/8 or 3/4 12 gauge should be just the thing. The type of load used is probably as important as gauge

Thanks, Bob. I've shot competitively for many years, have made money shooting a12 gauge. I totally get the dominance of the 12 gauge, as an all around gun. I love to hear what people think regarding guns, gauges, etc.
That said, I will be opening our dove season with a .410.
I will pick my shots, and promise to not cripple any game birds.

16 & 20 parkers

16's and 20's for me here in NH. Added a 28 to the collection this year and will hopefully be fit when October comes.

Yes, sub-gauges are fun to shoot and easy to carry. Yes, many of today's put and take quail preserves don't allow anything bigger than a 20 gauge. Why would you when you've either got to literally kick the bird up or send in a flushing dog to get something even close to a covey rise? And yes, sub-gauges seem to be the latest rage among collectors these day's.

But the fact remains that the 12 is and has been for the past 150 years the most popular gauge to shoot. It overtook and supplanted the 10 and it withstood the advent of all other smaller gauges. There is a reason that 99% of all guns used for trap are 12's. If you didn't have sub-gauge events in skeet and sporting clays, the same would be true for those disciplines as well. And with the opening day of dove season just around the corner, a vast majority of the guns you'll see in the field will be 12's.

So to be clear, I love a 16, 20 and 28 gauge as much as anyone. I enjoy shooting them in pursuit of most upland game. But if I'm going to travel a thousand miles to shoot wild birds in South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas or anywhere else, I'm probably going to be shooting a 12 gauge.

:corn::corn::corn:
:rolleyes:

season must be getting close, the annual tribal questions begin to show as everyone gets anxious (BTW- the original post was innocent enough)


heck- Bert Spiller the poet laureate of upland hunting hunted grouse with a 10 gauge - must have been as good as 2 20's if he used one

but really, not a gentleman or a real bird hunter unless you agree with a post :shock:


i have an unusual suggestion - why don't we shoot whatever gun we shoot best and concentrate on being sportsman worthy of our game and our dogs