Handloads: A 20-Gauge Load For Beginner Bird Hunters

A good deal on a slightly used Winchester 1200 20-ga. pump-action shotgun showed up at a local sporting goods store just in time for my grandson to start practicing for bird hunting. Most of grandson John’s shooting will be hand-thrown clay pigeons to prepare for grouse hunting along the edge of the forest.

That shooting is easily handled with 7/8 oz. of lead No. 8s for targets and No. 7½s for hunting. A mild muzzle velocity of about 1,200 f.p.s. will help keep recoil light against John’s skinny shoulder. Increasing velocity doesn’t add all that much to pellet energy, anyway; a No. 7½ pellet fired at 1,330 f.p.s. carries only 0.32 ft.-lb. more energy at 20 yards than the same pellet starting out at 1,200 f.p.s. Switching to larger shot is the only appreciable way of increasing energy—a No. 6 packs nearly half again as much energy as a No. 7½ when both are fired at the same speed.

I picked Alliant 20/28 propellant for the recipe’s load. It provided even velocities with a standard deviation of 6 f.p.s. across five shots. Many other propellants, though, perform just as well firing 7/8 oz. of shot in the 20 gauge. A few include Winchester Super Field and 572 and Hodgdon Universal and Longshot.

The Winchester’s fixed full choke printed the recipe’s load in a pattern diameter of 25" at 30 yards that was centered well on the point of aim. The 15" center circle of the patterns contained an average of 61 percent of the load’s pellets. At 40 yards, 72 percent of the load’s pellets landed within a 30" circle.

We’ll see how John’s shooting progresses. Perhaps a spreader insert in the shot will enlarge pattern diameter a bit to provide some aiming leeway—something both beginners like John and shooters with years under their belt can use to their benefit.