August, 1918 
FOREST AND STREAM 
503 
A TALK ON THE TWENTY 
ITS REAL EFFICIENCY LIES IN THE CONVENIENCE OF 
HANDLING IN THE SLIM OUTLINE AND THE LIGHT WEIGHT 
By L. D. WHITTEMORE 
F OR a ldng while the pages of the sport¬ 
ing press have been replete with small¬ 
bore gun lore. Indeed the matter 
seems to have been handled over and 
threshed out until there would appear to 
be little left to say upon the subject. It is 
gratifying to me to note, however, that 
the vast bulk of sentiment has all been in 
favor of the smaller gauges. I have read 
and experimented a good deal and have 
finally disposed of all my other guns and 
have ordered a 20 bore for all purposes. 
I am getting a 6/2 lb. gun with 30 in. bar¬ 
rels, full-choke in both to make, as near 
as possible, the same pattern with both 
barrels. I am getting a straight-grip stock 
•ith 2)4 in. drop at heel and ifs at comb. 
This gun would be entirely too straight 
for the average shooter, who would be 
better fitted with a gun with 2)4 by 1 Ya 
and a pistol-grip stock. Mr. Crossman 
once told me that he liked a good-sized 
pistol-grip on his guns because he liked to 
feel that he had something in his hand. 
Now I find when hunting in a warm coun¬ 
try such as California, that holding onto 
a pistol-grip (especially if it is not check¬ 
ered) causes the palm of my hand to sweat 
and bothers me. Also in case the gun has 
double triggers it is easier to drop back 
after firing the first barrel w r hen the grip is 
straight. In case of a single-trigger gun 
there would be little excuse for a straight- 
grip. Of course it may also be said that 
a straight-grip causes one to over-shoot, 
which seems a good fault in snap-shooting. 
There are several good American 20 bore 
guns, both double-barreled and repeaters. 
I use the double-barrel for several reasons. 
One is that I can get the second shot in 
quicker on a wounded bird or rabbit. I 
have all my guns made full or 70 per cent, 
choke, because I can kill all the game I 
want with almost any kind of gun and be¬ 
cause, should I be tempted to try a first 
barrel shot at long range I would be less 
liable to cripple and lose a bird. For this 
reason also a single-trigger gun should 
lalf-choke 20 -gauge pattern at 25 yards 
hoot the same with both barrels. The 
ormal range of a 20 bore gun is about 
hree-fourths that of a No. 12 of compara¬ 
tive weight and similar boring. Not many 
are good beyond 35 yards on anything 
smaller than a duck. 
Half-choke 20 -gauge pattern at 35 yards 
I N this connection it might be well to state 
that anyone can easily “get onto” a fly¬ 
ing bird much closer in with a No. 20 
gun than with a No. 12. Neither does the 
pattern cut the game to pieces in the 
smaller bore like it does in the larger. In 
my last season’s shooting I used both a 
No. 20 and a “28,” and strange as it may 
seem, I only lost two dead birds that I 
could not find and not one badly crippled! 
I find that I can kill as many birds with 
2J 4 drams and Y, oz. in a No. 20 as I 
can with 3J4 and i ]4 in the No. 12. I feel 
confident I shall never shoot another 12- 
bore gun although my palmiest days have 
been spent in company with that gauge. 
The real efficiency of a 20-bore lies, not 
so much in the pattern it will make or the 
speed of the charge, but in the conven¬ 
ience of handling in the slim outline and 
the light weight. Gunmakers tell me it re¬ 
quires great skill to bore a No. 20 so that it 
will make a close even pattern. Not many 
will make a 70 per cent, target with No. 8 
shot; a good many will do it with 6’s or 
7’s; while almost any good one will aver¬ 
age up to 70 per cent, with No. 4’s. I 
have seen shooters who used an ounce of 
No. 5 shot in the No. 20 for ducks and got 
good results, but in my opinion the load 
is too heavy for the gun. 
I N my opinion 2 Y2 drams of bulk pow¬ 
der and Yi oz. chilled shot is the 
limit for a 20-bore of whatever weight. 
This charge used in a 2)4 inch shell 
gives room for a sufficiency of soft 
wadding and the penetration is fully up 
to the best 12-bore gun. The gun 
should be chambered for 2)4 in. shells if it 
is above 6 T 4 lbs. in weight and the cham¬ 
bers should be of such length that when 
the gun is fired the crimp of the shell will 
unfold and lie in the cone or shoulder of 
the chamber. This helps, a long way, to 
prevent leading and keeps gas from the 
powder charge getting into the shot and 
“blowing the pattern” as is the case when 
using shells too short for the chambers. 
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