Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

12 or 20 gauge Savage


Recommended Posts

Posted this on here about a year ago but I didn't end up buying the gun. Thinking about it agsin but I can't decide which one.

I'm set on the Savage 212 or 220. I currently shoot a 12 gauge benelli slug gun. The reason I would go to the 20 is for less recoil.

My main concern is a clean efficient kill so if I have to sacrafice some extra recoil I have no issue with that. I sit on some field edges which provide the opportunity at some longer shots.

Whats your guys thoughts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mj if you hit that deer in the vitals with a 20 ga it will go.down same as a 12 ga .

You are still hitting them with a hefty chunk of bullet .

A friend of mine hunt with a 20 ga has for 30 plus years and he fiesta regret it at all last year he purchased the savage in 20 ga and loves it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If your not adverse to a single shot look in to an H&R ultra slug hunter. It may be a single shot but you can get one new for half the price of a savage. Everyone I've spoken to that has them or has shot them has nothing but great things to say. I'll be picking one up in 20 gauge within the next week or so.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Go with the 220. I almost bought one last year myself but picked up an 870 20 ga. with both rifled and field barrel instead. I wanted the open sights. Not sure if the 220 comes with them or not.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Buy the 220. 3 rounds touching at 100 yards with Rem Accutips. I havent shot out to 200 yet but ive heard 4" groups. I've only dropped the hammer on one doe with it so far and she went about 60-70 yards and piled up, made a real nice hole..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have heard one big complaint about the 220 and that is that the 20 gauge sabots they want you to shoot are hard to find. Great gun though...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hornady SST's are everywhere now days. The AccuTips are a little harder to find. krugerfarms had plenty of them before the season though. grin

Why would you put iron sights on a tack driver? Put a scope on it and prepare to be amazed. Pretty impressed so far with my Vortex 3x9

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guess I took it wrong from the way you worded it.

Another plus that this gun has it made the rifle of the year award. So that has got to say something for it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

At an advanced hunter ed class I went to years ago the claim was that the 20 gauge is more accurate than a 12. That may not be accurate any longer. But you asked about whether the force would be enough to be lethal. Absolutely. Best thing to do once you get the gun set up is to get a couple boxes of a couple different kinds of slugs and spend some time at the 25 yard range with a bench rest and see what works best for you. I would bet that you can dial that gun in to 3-4 inch patterns at 100 yards if you spend the time and money to work it up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I hunted SE MN with a 20 ga Mossberg youth with a rifled barrel/cantilever scope mount for 10 yrs and it did a fantastic job for me. I shot Remington Copper Solids cause that's what it shot best. Haven't kept up with the advances in Sabots but there are probably better rounds today. I also went with a 20 for lighter recoil. It was good for at least a dozen 1 shot kills out to 140 yds. If I was going to hunt with shotgun again I'd use the same set up.

Nearly used it for deer after moving north but ended up buying a rifle cause we do encounter 200 yd shots occasionally.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guess I took it wrong from the way you worded it.

Another plus that this gun has it made the rifle of the year award. So that has got to say something for it.

I should have made that little more clear.

I think I should have worded my whole post a little differently. I undertand that the 20 ga. will cleanly kill a deer.

I guess my question is if the 12 ga. is superior to the 20 ga. enough to put up with the extra recoil.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is bigger better I think only the shooter can honestly answer that. In my opinion the only significant difference is the recoil,but the ballistics guys may tell you different wink

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have been researching this gun for a year now. I would buy the 220. Both seem to be great guns but the 220 seems to be more accurate at longer distances. One forum had a guy (a supposed professional gun tester) shooting 3.5 inch groups at 200 yards. It is hard to say whyit's more accurate. My best guess with 220 is that there is less recoil and maybe the loads fit that gun better. I just looked at a 212 last weekend they are a nice fitting gun.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The drop of the slug beyond 150 yards is pretty steep. At 200 yards it is close to 12 inches. Check out this link or google shotgun slug ballistics

https://www.google.com/search?q=shotgun+slug+ballistics&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=fcd&tbo=u&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ydALUe2QBNH8yAHQyICYBw&ved=0CEcQsAQ&biw=1440&bih=745#imgrc=LyFN3sekhPcgrM%3A%3BOQv3H_lsI84VtM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fi285.photobucket.com%252Falbums%252Fll60%252Fplasticexperts%252FTrajectoryChart-3andahalf600pix.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fslugshooting.accountsupport.com%252Fforums%252Fviewtopic.php%253Ff%253D8%2526t%253D952%3B600%3B432

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I like 20 gauges a lot. For slugs i prefer an auto loading 12 gauge, but ive shot plenty deer with my 870 20gauge. I like 20 gauges to for pheasents, sum hunters would shun me for that but hey.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess my question is if the 12 ga. is superior to the 20 ga. enough to put up with the extra recoil.

That's too open ended to answer. What is your measure of "superior"?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The hornady website has the droop for the 20 gauge sst at 8.2 inches at 200 yards, that is sighted in dead on 150.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • smurfy
      Looks to me like Leech brought his chair home!!😅😆
    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
    • leech~~
      As I get older it's really not just about sending bullets down range.  Some of it's just the workmanship of the gun and the wow factor. The other two guns I have really wanted which I'll never have now because of their price, is a 8mm Jap Nambu and 9mm German Luger.   Just thought they always looked cool!  
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.