12ga or 20ga for first SBS?

[awp_101]

Thinking about using my birthday/Christmas budget to get my first NFA item and the plan is to grab a Shockwave to Form 1 from the local pusher. My use case is strictly for fun and hopefully a class or two. No plans for HD, duty use, etc.

I keep more 12 on hand than 20 but it looks like the cost per round is pretty close. I believe the only 20ga Flite Control loads are hunting loads. For a fun gun, is it really that big of a deal? 20 is definitely easier on the shoulder and for new shooters/smaller shooters (thinking about the grandkids if they decide to start shooting).

Are there any other compelling reasons to choose 12 over 20 in this case?

[jandbj]

In your shoes I’d go 590S in 12 gauge. Mini-shells for all the options.

[167]

Definitely 12 gauge. All the good shotgun ammo only comes in the 12ga flavor, and the super light recoiling loads are all 12ga. It is easier to get a 12ga to recoil less than a 20ga, than the other way around.

[awp_101]

In your shoes I’d go 590S in 12 gauge. Mini-shells for all the options.

Ohhh, I hadn't thought about the mini-shells!

[jandbj]

Ohhh, I hadn't thought about the mini-shells!

Check out Rhett’s experience with the shockwave setup for em.https://youtu.be/HickaAVzBH4

[HCM]

Thinking about using my birthday/Christmas budget to get my first NFA item and the plan is to grab a Shockwave to Form 1 from the local pusher. My use case is strictly for fun and hopefully a class or two. No plans for HD, duty use, etc.

I keep more 12 on hand than 20 but it looks like the cost per round is pretty close. I believe the only 20ga Flite Control loads are hunting loads. For a fun gun, is it really that big of a deal? 20 is definitely easier on the shoulder and for new shooters/smaller shooters (thinking about the grandkids if they decide to start shooting).

Are there any other compelling reasons to choose 12 over 20 in this case?

For an SBS ? 12 gauge all the way.

The 20 gauge fallacy:

Full power 20 gauge rounds are less powerful than full power 12 gauge but the 20 gauge guns are lighter so it’s a wash in terms of felt recoil. However, low recoil 12 gauge, in a 12 gauge gun kicks less than standard 20 gauge.

20 costs more, is less available and has a limited selection of loads available. AFAIK Low recoil and mini shells are only available in 12 gauge.

In a hunting gun one is carrying around all day a 20 gets you a lighter gun. That’s it. For an SBS there is no reason not to go 12 gauge.

[LJP]

What has already been said above. 12 ga all day, every day. The only time I could envision a 20 ga would be if I ever found a 20 ga slug gun for deer hunting.

[jlw]

Thinking about using my birthday/Christmas budget to get my first NFA item and the plan is to grab a Shockwave to Form 1 from the local pusher. My use case is strictly for fun and hopefully a class or two. No plans for HD, duty use, etc.

I keep more 12 on hand than 20 but it looks like the cost per round is pretty close. I believe the only 20ga Flite Control loads are hunting loads. For a fun gun, is it really that big of a deal? 20 is definitely easier on the shoulder and for new shooters/smaller shooters (thinking about the grandkids if they decide to start shooting).

Are there any other compelling reasons to choose 12 over 20 in this case?

20ga is great for knocking birds out of the sky, but there is not a suitable protection load available in anything other than 12ga.

[gato naranja]

Thinking about using my birthday/Christmas budget to get my first NFA item and the plan is to grab a Shockwave to Form 1 from the local pusher. My use case is strictly for fun and hopefully a class or two. No plans for HD, duty use, etc.

I keep more 12 on hand than 20 but it looks like the cost per round is pretty close. I believe the only 20ga Flite Control loads are hunting loads. For a fun gun, is it really that big of a deal? 20 is definitely easier on the shoulder and for new shooters/smaller shooters (thinking about the grandkids if they decide to start shooting).

Are there any other compelling reasons to choose 12 over 20 in this case?

When shooting impromptu on a Sunday afternoon, Surly Bob's Gas 'n' Grub is more likely to have a box of reasonable 12 ga loads than a box of 20's. This is one of the things that has come back around after being a non-issue for decades, now that flyover country depopulates and small towns starve out.

And possibly not an important consideration, but then again...
If one concocted otherwise identical (shot size and weight, powder type and weight) 12 and 20 gauge, theoretically the 12 will pattern better because the shot column is shorter in proportion to the diameter of the shell/bore and less distorted or deformed when passing through the choke.

[awp_101]

The 20 gauge fallacy:

Full power 20 gauge rounds are less powerful than full power 12 gauge but the 20 gauge guns are lighter so it’s a wash in terms of felt recoil.

Thanks for the reminder, I'd forgotten about that part despite having seen it first hand. When he was 8-9, the youngest boy wanted to shoot skeet with me so we surprised him with a 20ga single shot and a PAST pad. The first time out he complained about the recoil and being the big, bad Army REMF I was at the time, he got lots of support in the way of "It's just a 20, quit whining!". On Station 4 I shot his gun for a single and damn if it didn't hurt! That thing recoiled more than the 12ga 870 I was shooting. I went back and looked at the box of shells and realized I'd bought field loads instead of target loads. "Uhhhh sorry dude, I goofed!"