20 ga Wild Pheasant ammo?

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ole_270

Member
Just picked up a Franchi Instinct L 28" 20 ga. O/U. I've never had a 3" chamber 20 before. Wondering what ammo you guys with experience with them like. Son-in-law has most of a case of Kent Fast Lead 5s left over from before my Grandson switched to 12 ga. I see Golden Pheasant 3" are 1200 fps. I'm mainly a reloader but havent had a chance to pick up hulls or components.
 
Although I don't hunt pheasants with a 20 I have patterned a few different lead 3'' 20's for turkeys and will say that in my guns the Fiocchi's wound up being my pick. They pattern just as good as shells that are more expensive.
 
Bob Peters said:
And are there good steel options for factory 20ga?
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When using steel shot in a 20 gauge on pheasants, I think it’s best to go with 20-gauge 3-inch 1-ounce loads of either #3 or #2 steel. Steel shot lethality research conducted on pheasants by Tom Roster showed #2 steel to be more effective (at all ranges) than either #6 or #4 steel. Yes, you can kill them with #4 or #6 steel loads, but a little extra pellet energy is a good thing on wild pheasants where shots tend to be at going-away angles and can get on the long side. The research also showed #2 steel resulted in fewer cripples than both #6 and #4 steel; and Roster also speculated that the #3 steel pellet would be a good compromise between pellet count and downrange energy.

Here are a few of my pattern numbers to give you an idea of how these loads perform, in my gun/chokes!

Pattern numbers from a 20-gauge Browning Citori with 28" Invector-plus barrels and Briley flush chokes (patterns average of five, 30" post-shot inscribed circle, yardage taped muzzle to target, and in-shell pellet count average of five).

20 GA 3" WINCHESTER DRYLOK SUPER-X STEEL LOAD
1 oz #3 steel (145 pellets) @ 1330 fps
30 YARDS – CYL / pattern 87 (60%)
30 YARDS – SK / pattern 114 (78%)
30 YARDS – IC / pattern 123 (85%)
30 YARDS – M / pattern 133 (92%)
40 YARDS – IM / pattern 106 (73%)
40 YARDS – LF / pattern 110 (76%)

20 GA 3" REMINGTON NITRO-STEEL MAGNUM LOAD
1 oz #2 steel (118 pellets) @ 1330 fps
30 YARDS – CYL / pattern 75 (64%)
30 YARDS – SK / pattern 101 (86%)
30 YARDS – IC / pattern 105 (89%)
30 YARDS – M / pattern 114 (97%)
40 YARDS – M / pattern 88 (75%)
40 YARDS – IM / pattern 99 (84%)
40 YARDS – LF / pattern 102 (86%)
 
ole_270 said:
Just picked up a Franchi Instinct L 28" 20 ga. O/U. I've never had a 3" chamber 20 before. Wondering what ammo you guys with experience with them like. Son-in-law has most of a case of Kent Fast Lead 5s left over from before my Grandson switched to 12 ga. I see Golden Pheasant 3" are 1200 fps. I'm mainly a reloader but havent had a chance to pick up hulls or components.
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These are my reloads that I've shot many pheasants with but should give you an idea of the kind of patterns you may get from similar factory loads.

A 20ga 3" 1 1/4 oz load of lead 5s should be a great all-round pheasant shell. Many ammo companies make this load so pick your favorite.

Patterns from a 20-gauge Browning Citori with 28" Invector-plus barrels and Briley flush chokes (patterns average of five, 30" post-shot inscribed circle, yardage taped muzzle to target, and in-shell pellet count average of five).

20 GA 2 ¾” RELOAD (BLUE DOT)
1 oz #6 lead (233 pellets) @ 1200 fps
30 YARDS – SK / pattern 147 (63%)
30 YARDS – IC / pattern 168 (72%)
40 YARDS – M / pattern 146 (63%)
40 YARDS – IM / pattern 163 (70%)

20 GA 3" RELOAD (BLUE DOT)
1 1/8 oz #5 lead (190 pellets) @ 1220 fps
30 YARDS – SK / pattern 140 (74%)
30 YARDS – IC / pattern 149 (78%)
40 YARDS – M / pattern 138 (73%)
40 YARDS – IM / pattern 147 (77%)
 
Thanks guys. Wondering what chokes you use with the 1 oz-5s at longer ranges? Smaller pellet count than I'm used to with my 12 and 16 gauges.
I managed to get a box of target loads through it for a partial break in at clay pigeons out of my Whirleybird thrower late yesterday afternoon. Really smoked them except for the ones I forgot about the auto safety. Did some patterning this morning using Precision Reloading load specs. 1oz-6 eagle brand over 800x and a Guilandi wad through the lower barrel with IC choke at 25 yards hit 91%. 2 3/4" Cheddite hull and primer with B&P wad,Longshot, 1 1/8 oz 6s through the top barrel with modified choke at 35 yards went 66.5%. Same load with 5s went 77%. Since I don't usually get many close shots I'll probably use the 1-6 in the bottom barrel and 5s in the top. We're heading to SD later this week. My old SxS 16 ga will still get some use.
 
Sounds like you get closer shots than I normally do. I don't have a dog and when hunting in our group I'm mostly away from the dogs.
 
I like light mod on the long shots of 35-40 yds. Every once in awhile out to 50. That's with a Briley extended light mod. On those tighter flushes I take my time and make sure I am on the bird before shooting so I shoot very few close ones.
 
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