Is it true that, choke for choke and at the same distance, a 20-bore and a 12-bore shotgun will throw the same patterns?
Would you like to appear on our site? We offer sponsored articles and advertising to put you in front of our readers. Find out moreMy experience is that my 20-bore patterns more tightly than my 12, choke for choke, and I wonder if this is general.
SHOTGUN PATTERNS
Mike George
I have read that, choke for choke, all bores pattern the same, but I have to say it does not match my experience.
I wondered why I couldn’t initially hit much with the only 20-bore I ever owned, which was choked 1/4 and 1/2, same as my 12-bore.
The pattern plate soon told me that it was throwing pattern diameters consistent with a 12-bore choked 1/2 and 3/4, although the bore micrometer showed me that the chokes stamped on the barrels were spot on, with 10 and 20 thou of constriction.
I asked a few other 20-bore users how they found their guns patterned, and got mixed results, which suggests that the only way to check any gun’s pattern is to use a pattern plate or – particularly if you are using steel shot – a sheet of cardboard.
The answer, with my gun, was to have 5 thou taken out of each choke.
I wouldn’t take too much choke out of a 20, as with fewer pellets in the lighter loads the pattern could get a bit sparse.
This is the reason why guns of bores smaller than 20 are almost always choked tight, and most .410s have full choke.
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