Last updated September 2026 · By Nick Hall, 20 gauge shooter. Where I have not shot a gun on this list myself, its section says so
A light weight, low recoil shotgun that fires cheaper ammo and contains the madness just that little bit better is still in massive demand. So the best 20 gauge shotgun options are still seriously popular. For upland hunters wanting a traditional double, the CZ Bobwhite G2 takes our number six spot, and it leads our full best side by side shotgun ranking.
For basic hunting, turkey hunting, hunting small game, pest control and target shooting, the best 20 gauge shotgun can be all the gun you need.
12 gauge is pretty industrial strength ammunition, whereas 20 gauge is a little more refined with a little less at the top end. That can be a good thing if you want a home defense shotgun with less recoil than a 12 gauge. It still punches through interior walls, so know what is behind your target before you ever need to find out.
What is the best 20 gauge shotgun for sale in 2024? Here are our picks.
Table of Contents
How we tested: Every pick here is ranked against our testing methodology. Minimum round counts, accuracy and reliability protocols, the failures that disqualify a gun. Where we have not shot a specific variant ourselves, we say so in that section.
At a Glance
| Pick | Best For | Street Price | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mossberg 500 Persuader | Home defense | $400-$700 | Price ↓ |
| Benelli Super Black Eagle 3 | Waterfowl | $1,629-$1,900 | Price ↓ |
| Remington 870 Express Tactical | Best-selling pump | $350-$1,200 | Price ↓ |
| Beretta 686 Silver Pigeon | Clays and upland | $2,799-$2,800 | Price ↓ |
| Winchester SXP Long Beard | Turkey | $520-$570 | Price ↓ |
| CZ Bobwhite G2 | Upland side-by-side | $698-$755 | Price ↓ |
| Mossberg 590 Shockwave | Truck gun | $350-$501 | Price ↓ |
| Benelli M2 Field | All-round hunting | $1,363-$1,600 | Price ↓ |
| Savage Arms Stevens Security 320 | Cheapest home defense | $370 | Price ↓ |
| Benelli Ethos | Premium upland | $1,956-$2,899 | Price ↓ |
| Remington 870 Tac-14 | Compact home defense | $389 | Price ↓ |
| Rock Island Armory All Generation Shotgun | Cheapest new gun | $226 | Price ↓ |
| Savage Arms 301 Single Shot Turkey Shotgun | Single-shot turkey | $230-$276 | Price ↓ |
| Browning Citori | Heirloom over/under | $1,740-$4,350 | Price ↓ |
| Benelli Nova | Wet-weather pump | $449-$725 | Price ↓ |
| Ithaca Model 37 | Used-market classic | $500 used | Price ↓ |
1. Mossberg 500 Persuader
- Gauge: 20 Gauge
- Barrel length: 18.5 inch
- Weight: 5.5lb
- Capacity: 5+1
Pros
- Light at 5.5 pounds
- Huge aftermarket parts supply
- Proven Mossberg pump reliability
Cons
- Only 5+1 capacity
- Basic parkerized finish
- Not a hunting configuration
The Mossberg 500 Persuader is the classic 20 gauge pump action shotgun. It is lightweight, low profile and without any of the real tactical gear weighing it down.
Of course you can strip off the stock and add a pistol grip for the cut down Mossberg Maverick 88 Cruiser 20 gauge that is a design icon in its own right, as well as a proper truck gun and home firearms stalwart. We like that Maverick 88 Cruiser, and you might as well.
There’s a 12 gauge version, obviously, but the 20 gauge pump action shotgun is much less taxing to shoot. So if you are spending the whole day shooting targets at the range, you’ll really feel the difference.
Of course when you get into hunting there’s a lot to be said for the sledgehammer 12 gauge. But even then you don’t really need that much power for hunting turkey. It’s a sledgehammer to crack a nut honestly.
Now the Persuader is more of a tactical shotgun than a thoroughbred hunter. But the 500 Line has the 500 Field shotguns for sale and specialist waterfowl hunters and turkey guns. For the full line, go here:
2. Benelli Super Black Eagle 3
- Gauge: 20 Gauge Shotgun
- Barrel length: 28 inch
- Action: 20 Gauge Semi Auto Shotgun
- Weight: 7lb
- Capacity: 3+1
Pros
- Inertia action stays clean
- Superb on waterfowl
- Eats 2.75 and 3 inch
Cons
- Expensive at over $1,600
- Only 3+1 capacity
- Heaviest gun on this list
The soft shooting Benelli Super Black Eagle 3 is a legend in waterfowl hunting circles and it is increasingly the well rounded hunting shotgun you can take anywhere. Is it the best semi auto shotgun for the field? It might well be.
The long shotguns work well in the field and you can use your Benelli Super Black Eagle 3 for deer hunting and even dangerous predator hunting without any adjustment.
Now the inertia driven system does the work for you and you can adjust the choke to tailor your shots, but you don’t have to. This 20 gauge semi auto shotgun will do that for you.
The Benelli Super Black Eagle 3 semi-auto shotgun will eat everything from light target loads through to 3 inch magnum loads and slugs. The 20 gauge gun is chambered 3 inch, not 3.5 inch, because 3.5 inch shells are a 12 gauge thing and do not exist in 20. Inertia guns are good like that.
Chokes Are a Science Lesson
Those Crio choke tubes have been cryogenically treated for enhanced strength through increased mass density. It’s quite the Physics lesson if you have the time to root it out.
There is an oversized bolt handle and safety, together with an enlarged trigger guard for gloved hands. Also, the entire stock is a recoil pad thanks to a split stock with a chevron pad system and a final recoil pad.
Now this semi-auto shotgun isn’t just for birds. The inertia operated Benelli Super Black Eagle 3 semi-automatic shotguns are the all-round outdoors, small game hunting through to big game hunting and sport shooting clays shotgun you’ve been looking for.
You can also get a black synthetic shotgun, or a variety of colors. Whgatever you choose, you might just have the best shotgun of 2026.
Or you could be looking for one of these:
3. Remington 870 Express Tactical
- Gauge: 20 Gauge
- Barrel length: 18.5 inch
- Weight: 6lb
- Capacity: 7+1
Pros
- Best selling pump ever made
- 7+1 capacity for defence
- Parts everywhere and cheap
Cons
- Express finish rusts if neglected
- Rougher action than a Wingmaster
- Wide price spread between sellers
The Remington 870 Express is one of the best-selling shotguns in America and has been for about 70 years now.
Back in 1950, the Remington Model 870 took its public bow. By 1973, Remington had sold more than 2 million guns. By 1983 the Remington Model 870 had become the best selling shotgun in history. with 3 million units sold.
You can get a black synthetic tactical for close range work, or Field and outdoor hunting shotguns versions of these popular models. It is pretty modular, the trigger group is solid and you can order a field and tactical combo pack, too, with switchable long barrel shotguns and tactical.
The shotgun is massively adjustable with some easy parts & accessories and there are upgrades galore for the best 20 gauge shotguns.
Law enforcement loves the Remington 870 and any that don’t have a Mossberg in the patrol car have one of these. You can also get a .410 version. But that’s really for hunting small animals. Law Enforcement doesn’t carry those.
4. Beretta 686 Silver Pigeon
- Gauge: 20 Gauge
- Barrel length: 30 inch
- Action: 20 Gauge Break Action
- Weight: 6.9lb
- Capacity: 2
Pros
- Beretta build quality throughout
- Balances beautifully on clays
- A gun to keep forever
Cons
- Nearly three thousand dollars
- Only two shots
- Heavy for a 20 gauge
The Beretta Silver Pigeon Sporting shotguns line bring a lot of Beretta premium shotgun features to the mass market.
That’s a relative term, as these are still expensive shotguns. But the over and under looks like a custom gun for off the shelf money and you know it would be your personal favorite before long.
You get that low profile receiver built around the legendary 686 action.
The Optima bore and choke tubes are also optimized to keep the balance right at the hinge pin on this 20 gauge break action shotgun.
Pros will tell you that helps the gun track naturally when you’re shooting clays or bird hunting with the best 20 gauge shotguns.
You get floral engraving on the receiver that harks back to the old world English gunsmiths and European schools that followed. It’s select walnut furniture and a cold hammer forged barrel. It’s all good stuff then.
If you’re aiming at a sporting clay target, or something fleshier, this is a gun you could keep for life as a workhorse or a country club show pony. This is one of the best shotguns on the market.
5. Winchester SXP Long Beard
- Gauge: 20 Gauge
- Barrel: 24 inch
- Weight: 6.9lb
- Capacity: 4+1
Pros
- Fastest pump action made
- Turkey choke and camo included
- Under $600
Cons
- Sharp recoil for the weight
- Camo finish scratches easily
- Not a clays gun
The Winchester SXP is another one of those venerable 20 gauge pump action shotgun legends that comes as a tactical shotgun, field shotgun and this turkey shotgun.
In short there is a Winchester Super X Pump for every season and shell that Winchester produces.
With this model you get the InvectorPlus Extra Full Turkey Choke tube with a fluted body, knurled friction ring and camo front band.
The pistol grip is another obvious performance feature and there’s an adjustable height of comb and adjustable length of pull on these popular models.
The gun is optimized for the Winchester Long Beard XR turkey shell and the main ambition is holding the shot together and producing tight 10 inch groups at 60 yards.
It sounds like a great hunting shotgun because it kind of is. Dn’t forget your other hunting gear for turkey season too.
6. CZ Bobwhite G2
- Gauge: 20 Gauge
- Barrel: 28 inch
- Chamber: 3 inch
- Weight: 6.5lb
- Capacity: 2
Pros
- English grip suits upland swinging
- Five flush chokes included
- A real double under $750
Cons
- Two shots only
- Double triggers take practice
- Not shot by us
If you want a traditional double and you do not want to spend Beretta money, this is the one. The Bobwhite G2 is a proper English-stocked side by side for less than $750, which is a sentence you could not write about a new double a few years ago.
It runs double triggers, one per barrel, so you pick your choke by which trigger you pull rather than working a selector. Purists like that and it is genuinely faster once your finger learns it. The straight English grip suits the way a light 20 gauge wants to be swung at a bird crossing left to right.
The 28 inch barrels are chrome lined, the chamber is 3 inch, and five flush chokes come in the box running from cylinder to full. At 6.5 pounds it carries like a proper upland gun rather than a range toy, which matters on the fifth mile of a walked-up day.
I have not shot the 20 gauge Bobwhite myself, so treat the handling notes as specification and reputation rather than my own range time. What is not in question is availability: CZ still catalogue it, and it is in stock in 20 gauge at four retailers as I write this.
The honest catch is that a double gives you two shots and no more, and double triggers take a season to stop thinking about. If you want a third shell or a single trigger, the Beretta 686 at pick 4 is the gun, at roughly four times the money.
7. Mossberg 590 Shockwave
- Gauge: 20 Gauge
- Barrel: 14 inch
- Weight: 4.9lb
- Capacity: 6+1
Pros
- Lightest gun here at 4.9lb
- Handles tight spaces well
- Not an NFA item
Cons
- Birds head grip punishes wrists
- Restricted in some states
- No stock means slower aiming
This compact defensive shotgun is an ideal truck gun and it swings round stairwells and apartment doorways brilliantly too. It is a genuinely compact gun, with that 14 inch barrel.
The smaller 20 gauge shotgun makes a lot of sense for defensive duties and really isn’t much less powerful than the all conquering 12 gauge shotguns. It also packs a solid 6 shells into that magazine tube.
Performance features include dual extractors, steel to steel lockup, dual action bars. There’s a front bead sight and that legendary Shockwave Raptor Bird’s head grip.
It is the zombie apocalypse gun, a close range specialist and a star in any gauge.
8. Benelli M2 Field
- Gauge: 20 Gauge
- Barrel: 24 inch
- Action: Semi-Auto shotgun
- Weight: 5.7lb
- Capacity: 3+1
Pros
- Light at 5.7 pounds
- Inertia action runs clean
- Genuine all round hunting gun
Cons
- Over $1,300
- Only 3+1 capacity
- Inertia needs full power loads
This semi-automatic shotgun is a lightweight workhorse that can handle everything from target shooting to big game hunting, waterfowl hunting, turkey hunting and just about everything else.
The Gas Operated Benelli M4 is the semi-auto 12ga shotgun that the US Marine Corp takes into action, but most of us aren’t US Marines. So this inertia driven shotgun that is a much cheaper option is pretty much as good.
Feed the Benelli M2 20 gauge semi autos everything from 2.75 inch birdshot through to the heaviest 3 inch Magnum loads. The best semi-auto shotgun will take them all without a complaint.
Naturally you can adjust the choke, but you’re largely controlling the spread and you don’t have to adjust anything for the different weight 20 gauge ammo with these inertia guns.
The 24 inches up front keeps this shotgun light, portable and versatile for deer hunting and small game hunting, as well as fast moving birds. Sporting clays? No problem.
This magazine tube is limited, but then there’s no real reason to ask for more for most sporting shotguns.
You can opt for a 28 inch barrel, and a variety of camo finishes, as well as a smaller 20 Gauge semi auto Tactical. Look here for all the options on these semi-autos.
9. Savage Arms Stevens Security 320
- Gauge: 20 Gauge
- Barrel: 18.5 inch
- Action: Pump
- Weight: 6.6lb
- Capacity: 5+1
Pros
- Cheapest new pump here
- 5+1 for home defence
- Simple and hard to break
Cons
- Rough out of the box
- Heavier than the Mossberg
- Thin aftermarket support
This entry level tactical shotgun comes with a pistol grip, a proper matte black polymer stock and a reasonably smooth pump shotgun. All for less than $250 for a complete home defense shotgun.
You got a bead front sight, dual slide bars and basic 20 gauge pump action shotguns for a good price. Not many of these have a pistol grip and genuinely attacking layout. But well, this pump gun does.
Savage Arms is behind the Stevens Security 320 so the major working parts are all pretty solid gear delivered to a price point.
Felt recoil management is limited to a basic pad but, again, did we mention it is cheap?
10. Benelli Ethos
- Gauge: 20 Gauge
- Barrel: 26 inch
- Action: Semi-Auto
- Weight: 5.5lb
- Capacity: 4+1
Pros
- Light at 5.5 pounds
- Beautiful fit and finish
- Soft shooting for a 20
Cons
- Approaching three thousand dollars
- Overkill for casual shooting
- Delicate finish for rough use
The semi-auto Benelli Ethos is a semi-auto shotgun that was built for the great outdoors and combines traditional crafstmanship with modern shotgun technology.
So you get a AA-Grade Walnut stock and a scroll engraved receiver that harks back to the old days on the Benelli Ethos. You can see there’s a solid amount of adjustment with those modern looking spacers next to the old world stock.
You also get a massively practical 4+1 shot shell semi-auto shotgun with a long barrel that works for everything from turkey shooting to clay pigeons, upland game and even shooting the odd deer. Felt recoil is next to nothing as well with this high price, high spec gun.
The Benelli Ethos is the field shotgun archetype, in terms of the look, but a modern sporting shotgun under the skin. These semi-automatic shotguns can handle shooting sports as well.
It kinda works pretty well honestly and these 20 Gauge semi autos are a much more efficient package than the old side by side double barrel shotgun.
11. Remington 870 Tac-14
- Gauge: 20 Gauge
- Barrel: 14 inch
- Action: Pump
- Weight: 5.6lb
- Capacity: 4+1
Pros
- Compact and genuinely handy
- Not an NFA item
- Under $400
Cons
- Birds head grip is brutal
- State restrictions apply
- Only one retailer stocking it
These are compact 20 gauge pump action shotguns that work great for home defense and could function as a concealed carry shotgun.
It’s a simple bird’s head grip that does mitigate recoil, minimal as it is, when you pull the trigger of this pump gun and work the slide action.
That could help you keep control in a defensive situation and that makes 20 Gauge shot shells better than 12 gauge. For you anyway…
These are not NFA items. They ship as “firearms” rather than shotguns because they left the factory with a birds-head grip and an overall length over 26 inches. Fitting a stock or a vertical foregrip is what would make one an NFA item. Not every state allows them either. But if you can, man they are fun to shoot and seriously practical.
A sawn-off shotgun is a federal crime to make. This is the factory-built, legal way to get something close to that handiness.
They sell out fast, so check your state law first and then move quickly.
12. Rock Island Armory All Generation Shotgun
- Gauge: 20 Gauge
- Barrel: 26 inch
- Weight: 6.5lb
- Capacity: 5+1
Pros
- Cheapest new gun here
- 5+1 capacity
- Adjustable for different shooters
Cons
- Fit and finish is basic
- Little aftermarket support
- Single retailer stock
The cheap guns manufacturer has done what it does best with a low price shotgun that ticks a lot of boxes.
The RIA All Generation shotgun isn’t the prettiest 20 gauge pump action shotgun you’ll ever see. But it is a reliable slide action, simple and effective as a field shotgun.
You get a chunky recoil pad to reduce felt recoil when you pull the trigger and an adjustable comb, too, which you might use, sometimes, for skeet shooting. Or stalking animals through public lands.
RIA import great rifles, shotguns, pistols and more to the United States. Everything from Armscor in the Philippines is well put together, pretty reliable and, increasingly, fun to shoot.
Check out the RIA 12 gauge semi-auto shotguns and their immediate shooting competition here.
13. Savage Arms 301 Single Shot Turkey Shotgun
- Gauge: 20 Gauge
- Barrel: 26 inch
- Action: Break Action
- Weight: 6lb
- Capacity: 1
Pros
- Cheap and dead simple
- Single shot teaches discipline
- Light at 6 pounds
Cons
- One shot only
- No follow up on a miss
- Break action is slow
This is a specialist tool built around the extortionately expensive TSS Turkey Loads shot shells.
You can remove the one piece rail and that is basically the only complication here. Well there’s a TruGlo fiber optic front sight at the end of that long carbon steel barrel.
It really is a specialist turkey hunter now. You need follow up shots for bird hunting and even sporting clays, not with big fat birds.
But it’s a cheap, relentlessly reliable shotgun that you can basically hose down on maintenance. The few moving parts mean it also field strips in quick and easy fashion. This is not a complicated shotgun, is the takeaway.
It is set up with with an Extra Full choke to keep your pellet groups tight beyond 60 yards. That’s actually pretty cool and why lots of turkey hunters are willing to reload more often and take this gun.
Elegance of a Single Shot
A rifle, shotgun or handgun with just one round is also inherently safer for firearms training with new shooters and it can be the best for youth training. Especially on public lands.
They can only lose control once before a reload, and there’s a natural chance to intervene. So if your kids are learning to shoot, there’s a lot to be said for a one shot firearm to begin with. Is it the best for youth firearms training? Maybe…
There is a purity to a single cartridge rifle, shotgun, whatever, too, that is hard to quantify, and yet does mean something.
It’s a light weight gun by definition, too, with no gas operated system or gas piston piling on the pounds, or even a tube magazine loaded with 20 gauge shot shells. In the real world, even that adds up.
Chokes for a 20 Gauge
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This is easy for left handed shooters too. It’s one of the few guns that is truly ambidextrous at all times and a left handed person can shoot it from deep in the shoulder just as easily as a rightie. But these firearms are truly awful for home defense…
14. Browning Citori
- Gauge: 20 Gauge
- Barrel: 28 inch
- Weight: 6.1lb
- Capacity: 2
Pros
- Browning over under pedigree
- Light at 6.1 pounds
- A genuine heirloom gun
Cons
- Prices reach four thousand
- Only two shots
- Expensive for a first shotgun
The Browning Citori is another over/under shotgun with charisma to spare and a frightening price tag.
You get a barrel selector, automatic ejectors when you open the breech and the chambers are chrome plated.
15. Benelli Nova
- Gauge: 20 Gauge
- Barrel: 26 inch
- Action: Pump Actions
- Weight: 6.6lb
- Capacity: 4+1
Pros
- Weatherproof one piece stock
- Benelli build at pump money
- Under $500 at the low end
Cons
- Heavier than the Mossberg
- Being superseded by the Nova 3
- Plain looks
The Benelli Nova could easily feature much higher, bu other Benelli USA shotguns are up there instead.
On another day, this 20 gauge could just as easily be on the podium.
These great pump actions come with an overmolded steel skeleton for rigidity and weather resistance at a reasonable price and weight, so the stock and receiver are a single unit.
Of course that means limited adjustment with the length of pull and comb. But that’s one of the prices you pay for a cheap Benelli and things like the trigger pull, felt recoil and sensory touch points are great.
There is a floating rib, the trigger guard is oversized for gloved hands and you get one of the most coveted brand names in the shotgun world with Benelli USA emblazoned on the side of that simple shoulder stock.
There’s a shorter 20 Gauge Nova Tactical, which is good, and you can check the whole line here:
16. Ithaca Model 37
- Gauge: 20 Gauge
- Barrel: 18.5 inch
- Action: Pump
- Weight: 6.6lb
- Capacity: 5+1
Pros
- Bottom eject suits left handers
- Classic American pump
- Solid used market value
Cons
- Used market only
- One consignment gun available
- No factory warranty
The Ithaca Model 37 is one of those offbeat favorites in 12 and 20 gauge.
Released in 1937 as a basically a homage to the Remington Model 17 and it got such good reviews that it became one of the standard issue shotguns for US troops.
In 1942, the us government ordered more than 1,400 Ithaca Model 37 shotguns and a large number of field shotguns. The Vietnamese government ordered more than 20,000 and the Ithaca Model 37 has swept more trenches in more corners of the globe than you care to know
With a bayonet up front and a ventilated hand guard for cooling, this was a real weapon of war with the right shot shells. It was a quick and easy tool to raid an enemy trench and often the best option.
A shotgun is easy to carry and it is reliable. Forget the spread myth though: at across-the-room distance buckshot opens up about an inch per yard, so you still have to aim it. You don’t have to work too hard to mitigate recoil too. It got to the point where Germany wanted shotguns banned in war at one point.
They are getting harder to find in good condition, so take a clean one when you see it.
20 Gauge Shotguns for Youth and Smaller Shooters
This is the gauge’s real job. A 12 gauge in the hands of someone who is not big enough for it teaches a flinch, and a flinch takes years to unlearn. A 20 gauge lets a new shooter learn to mount and swing a gun properly before recoil becomes the thing they are thinking about.
Fit matters more than the gun. The number to look at is length of pull, the distance from the trigger to the back of the stock. Adult guns run about 14 inches. A 12 year old needs 12 to 12.5, and a gun that is too long gets mounted badly, which puts the recoil into the shoulder joint instead of the pocket. If you buy nothing else on this page, buy something with an adjustable stock so the gun can grow with them.
Ammunition does the rest. Reduced recoil and light target loads in 20 gauge are widely available and they take a lot of the sting out without changing how the gun handles. Start there, not on 3 inch magnums.
Mossberg 500 Super Bantam: the default youth 20 gauge
The Super Bantam is the same 500 action as our number one pick with a shorter 22 inch barrel and a stock that adjusts through about an inch of length of pull. That adjustment is the whole point: it fits a 10 year old and it still fits them at 14. It runs from around $429, and because it is a 500 underneath, every part and accessory made for the platform still fits.
Retay Gordion: the smaller-stature semi-auto
If the shooter has outgrown a youth pump but still wants the recoil taken out of the equation, a gas or inertia semi-auto does that mechanically. The Retay Gordion is an inertia gun in the Benelli mould at roughly a third of Benelli money, from about $553, and Retay make a Compact version with a shorter stock and barrel for smaller shooters at around $729.
I have not shot either of these two myself, so take them as specification and availability rather than my own range time. Both are current production and both are in stock in 20 gauge as I write this.
Where to Buy Shotgun Ammo
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If you’re looking to buy the best 20 Gauge shotgun ammo in bulk, try Palmetto State Armory and Lucky Gunner. Both of them have good deals and you might want to buy a lot while you can…
Rifle ammo and handgun ammo shop, too, if you’re on the hunt for rifle ammo for your bolt action rifle, or semi auto. You can sort ammo by caliber and come up with some really obscure ammo shop for your bolt action rifle collection too.
PSA does some nice hunting gear, too, although you can buy military surplus at Sportsman’s Guide.
Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through one, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes which guns make this list.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best 20 gauge shotgun?
The Mossberg 500 in 20 gauge is the best overall for its versatility, reliability, and price (~$400). For hunting waterfowl, the Benelli Super Black Eagle 3 is the premium choice. For home defense, the Mossberg 500 Persuader in 20 gauge is excellent for recoil-sensitive shooters. For sport/skeet, the Beretta 686 Silver Pigeon is hard to beat.
Is 20 gauge good for home defense?
Yes. The 20 gauge produces roughly 75% of the recoil of a 12 gauge while delivering effective stopping power with buckshot. It is an excellent choice for smaller-framed shooters, recoil-sensitive individuals, or anyone who prioritizes controllability. Modern 20 gauge defensive loads from Federal and Hornady are highly effective at home defense distances.
20 gauge vs 12 gauge: which is better?
The 12 gauge is more powerful, has more ammo variety, and is the standard for tactical and hunting use. The 20 gauge has less recoil (roughly 25-30% less), is lighter, and is easier for smaller shooters to handle. For most adults, 12 gauge is the more versatile choice. For youth, smaller adults, or recoil-sensitive shooters, the 20 gauge is better.
Can you hunt deer with a 20 gauge?
Yes. A 20 gauge with slugs is effective for deer hunting inside 100 yards. Modern sabot slugs from Federal and Remington deliver excellent accuracy and terminal performance from rifled 20 gauge barrels. Many states that require shotguns for deer hunting allow 20 gauge. It is a lighter, lower-recoil alternative to 12 gauge slugs.
What is the best 20 gauge for turkey?
The Winchester SXP Long Beard and Savage Arms Stevens 301 Single Shot are the top 20 gauge turkey guns. Both accept tight turkey chokes that deliver effective patterns at 40+ yards. Modern 20 gauge turkey loads from Federal TSS (Tungsten Super Shot) have closed the gap with 12 gauge at typical turkey hunting distances.
Is 20 gauge ammo expensive?
20 gauge ammo is slightly more expensive than 12 gauge due to lower production volume. Budget target loads cost $0.40-0.60 per round. Hunting loads run $0.80-1.50 per round. Defensive buckshot costs $1.00-1.50 per round. Expect to pay 10 to 20% more per round than 12 gauge.
Is a 20 gauge good for home defense?
Yes, and for many people it is the smarter choice over a 12 gauge. The 20 gauge delivers serious stopping power with buckshot while kicking noticeably less, which makes follow-up shots faster and the gun easier to control for smaller or recoil-sensitive shooters. Load it with quality buckshot and it gives up very little at across-the-room distances.
Is 20 gauge or 12 gauge better for a beginner?
The 20 gauge is the friendlier starting point. It recoils less, the guns are lighter, and a new shooter will build good habits instead of flinching from punishing kick. The 12 gauge offers more payload and cheaper ammo, so a confident shooter may prefer it, but for learning the 20 wins on comfort.
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