doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Are 12 gauges dead now?

I don't know how the rest of you feel about this but if I had to get rid of every shotgun I own(currently around 20) and could only keep one it would be an easy decision for me.
I'd keep the Fox Sterlingworth 12 ga. I've had for over 40 years. It's stood me in good stead all these years and will do just about anything you'd require of a shotgun.
Jim

When I pulled out of the drive-up line at Kentucky Fried Chicken and proceeded out to the ranchland to bag my own birds I left the world of the rational and joined the world of sport. Carrying the most rational effective deadly shotgun ever built does not move me back to the rational world.

And besides that some people fish with a flyrod, 4 pound tippet and a #22 Parchute Adams. Others, more interested in a better job, use dynamite!

And a 7 pound 12 bore does everything better than a 5-1/4 pound 28 gauge except carry on a 9 hour foot hunt behind pointing dogs.

Now I will get my helmet!

You got that right AmerilloMike.

We are still,current politics aside, very blessed in this Country and have incredible options not available to many citizens of the rest of the world.
We know that aren't many places where a lot of the residents could own 20 different shotguns plus a lot of other weaponery as I do and many of you do as well. Economics and restrictive regulations would preclude this.
My point is: If you could only keep ONE shotgun and had to make do with it for all types of hunting how many would keep a 410 or 28 gauge? Either can be a delightful Quail gun with terrific snob appeal as well but would you want one in a duck blind? Anyone care to use one in a shotgun only State for deer hunting?
Getting back to the original question in the thread about the end of the 12 gauge. It's still very hard to argue against it being the most versitile gauge available and I expect it's not only to be around but a real factor as long as hunting is available.
Jim

Second? my arse! I haven't got thru the first.

Mike's little walks invariably turn into a journada del muerto* for most mortal men and dogs. He'll suggest a short stroll around a windmill in a pature corner and six hours later, with a glazed expression in his eyes, he'll be apologizing for the "walk" being a little longer than he expected and for being lost half of the time. And he has no qualms dragging a 70 year old man through this hell. Only two days ago, as I drug myself back to the car whimpering incoherent moans, he compassionately commented, "I don't know why I hunted over there, the birds are always in the corner". Not more'n hundred yards from the truck! But we did get our exercise. Course I had to carry one of his dogs back that had passed out from heat exhaustion. Oh yes.....we didn't even see a single bird on that trip. I carried the perfect gun for this little walk: a 16 gauge hammer single shot at 4 1/2 pounds. Only thing it was used for was a crutch. Damned! but I love bird hunting....and Chinese water torture....and....hitting my thumb with a hammer....and....!

* For you yankees, that means "journey of death".

Agreed, we are in the best country in the world.

I'd keep a .410, hands down. I don't waterfowl, have no inclination to, and I don't hunt deer with a shotgun, thats what my bow is for. The .410 has given me more enjoyment than any other gauge, by far.

No arguement from me that a 12g is probably the most versatile insofar as being an efficient weapon. But, since I don't hunt to live, but rather live to hunt, I chose a small bore.

Going to have to start shooting my 12s more I guess. Just sort have drifted away from them, my excuse was that they were too heavy. Reading this thread made me think I have at least 3 that are under 7 lbs. a Beretta BL-3, Ithaca 37R and my faorite a fifties V. Bernadelli SxS. Now if the snow melts some more so I can get to the range time to get back to the 12. For me they weren't dead just hibernating.

Well said Chuck. I've often wondered if I could bag chukars with a .410 sxs. It would be fun to try.

I just shot 4 farm raised chukar with a .410 on Saturday's plantation hunt. ('plantation' is too generous. More like muddy weed section from hell, we like to call "the black hole" because it swallows all the birds we pay for. I took 5 wild roosters in So Dakota's openning weeked this past October. I think they go down pretty hard with the right load.