GUN NOTES
Light Heavyweight
High-density shot and super-tight chokes have pushed the humble 20 gauge up into a higher weight class.
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New hunting bullets have made lighter-caliber rifles far more effective than they were in Elmer Keith's youth, or even my own. Much the same can be applied to shotgunning. Old Elmer--a bigbore man to the bone--was a staunch proponent of the 10 gauge.
But things are changing. Just the other day I was in my friend Bruce Caltrider's home in Lansing, Michigan. He showed me his favorite waterfowl gun--a Remington 10 gauge--and lamented that 12-gauge shells were now so effective that he expected the 10 gauge to slip into retirement once again.
At that moment I wasn't sure I agreed with him. Four days later I knew he was right. The next morning I flew from still-frozen Michigan to southern Florida, where I hunted Osceola turkeys with PR gurus Kevin Howard and Mike Capps. Eight hunters took eight gobblers--a miraculous feat with those pesky tropical Florida birds. This is even more miraculous when you understand that seven were taken with T/C 20-gauge single-shots.
Remember Bruce Caltrider's comment about the 10 gauge slipping in popularity "once again"? In the days of lead shot for everything, the three-inch 12 gauge almost erased the 10 gauge; heavier guns and more expensive shells just weren't needed. Steel shot brought a resurgence among waterfowlers, and as turkey hunting grew in popularity, some chose the 10 gauge for its heavier payload. Then came the 3 1/2-inch 12 gauge, almost equaling the 10 gauge in shot-charge weight. Theoretically, the 3 1/2-inch 12's longer shot string cannot equal the more balanced payload of the 10 gauge. But practically, with modern wads and good chokes, it's pretty hard to measure the difference.
Now in addition to steel we have non-toxic shot with "lead-like" characteristics. Bismuth shot, tungsten shot and tungsten-bismuth matrix have changed the game once again. Kevin Howard is an avid turkey hunter. In addition to showcasing products from Cabela's, Hunter's Specialties and Thompson/Center, Kevin wanted some hidebound writers like me to see the effectiveness of Winchester's High Density loads. Seven writers were issued 20-gauge T/Cs. The load? Winchester Supreme Elite High Density with 1 1/8 ounces of No. 5 shot.
No. 5s offer a bit more penetration than No. 6s but more pattern density than No. 4s. High Density shot is tungsten, more dense than lead, so with it you get penetration similar to one step up in shot size but with the pattern density of the finer shot.
Because of the Lansing gig, I arrived a day late to find five of my colleagues grinning over five mature Osceola gobblers, all taken cleanly at various ranges from 15 to 40 yards. Nobody seemed to have been severely handicapped by the 20-bores. Kevin took me straight to the pattern board, and in a few moments I understood why. These T/C guns had two advantages. All were fitted with fiber optic open sights and Hunter's Specialties' UnderTaker choke tubes. Unlike most shotgunning, turkeys are taken by deliberate aiming, so sights are helpful, but these inexpensive choke tubes designed for extra-heavy shot produce amazing patterns.
