First Duck Hunt With A 20 Gauge. How Did It Go? Hevi VII 6’s, Boss 4’s, and Xpert 4’s tested!
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- A quick walk though of my first duck hunt with a 20ga.
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We hunt almost exclusively with 20 gauge guns. I'm using either a Beretta 390 or Rem 11-87 and my buddies are using a Beretta and Rem too. We are all using 3" steel loads to very good effect. We get a lot of teal and hunt over decoys. The types of birds we get are teal, mallard/mottled, woodies and pintail. Geese are just not around here. I love a 20 gauge for just about everything.... I will use my 3.5" SX2 for turkey. Most of the time the 20's get the nod. TY MH Oh, I am using trulock extended chokes too. My go to chokes are IC and SKT..... MOD once in a while.
The next 20ga on my list in an A400 xtreme. I already have one in 12ga but I’d like one in 20ga.
Ever consider a 20ga for Turkey? Seems with all these different shot types that the 20ga has made a HUGE come back.
As for chokes, I love TruLock. I use them in many different shotguns at this point. I just prefer a bit tighter choke. Mod is usually the most open I go for waterfowl hunting.
@@avidwaterfowler7522 Hey, I might try 20 for turkey, but I am more inclinsed to use my SX2 12 ga. with 3.5" and full choke.... Those 3.5 mags kick like a mule too. If you can call in the turkeys a 20 ga will work fine.
20ga SX4 “Standard gun”😂 the fastest firing, the light recoiling, and extremely reliable waterfowl gun if you keep up with your cleaning. Top shelf is correct! Not loading your own waterfowl ammo is a bit disappointing. You won’t catch me buying waterfowl ammo. From load data there isn’t much you can do to add horse power to the 20ga running steel. If you’re spending money on Hevi shot or TSS then a 20ga is a monster. For decoying birds you could use a lot less than a 20ga….
Great review!
This is an older video. I shoot 80-90% hand loads in 20ga at this point. Check out my 20ga TSS, Bismuth, and steel loads!
both Hevi Shot and Boss are Cheddites with a hot primer you can buy them on BPI right now, and I reload them all the time with no issues
Yes, I’m thinking about buying some. I use cheddar primers in the standard form for a lot of my shots he’ll reloading.
Winchester heat seals them to keep moisture out of the shell
Yes, I know. I’d prefer that they use a sealant like other manufacturers. When I reload my waterfowl shells, I use BPI sealant.
@@avidwaterfowler7522 just use clear fingernail polish works just as good and way cheaper
@@TJLANG321 Or be wild and use red. You could use a different colour to correspond with how many times that hull has been loaded. The ducks won't notice.
Looks like you have an Avery push pole in your Four Rivers Mini. They have a marsh foot attachment and a paddle attachment that are sold separately. Which one are you using? I’m looking at getting one to help get my mini through low water (when I’m using trolling motor). Leaning towards the marsh foot, but paddle would be nice to use as backup if battery gets too low on trolling motor.
I take both actually. I was using the marsh foot that day, but after my trolling motor started giving me troubles I moved the paddle. The paddle end has a marsh foot built it, but it doesn’t work as well. Subsequently, it’s also not a great paddle either. But it’s better than nothing.
Thanks for the info. I’ll pickup both of the attachments. I’m trying to streamline my gear and think the Avery push pole can double as a wading stick and emergency paddle.
If you’re running boss or hevi shot, no disadvantage ballistically.
Steel 4s 7/8 is kinda meh but it works.
I think the huge advantage to shooting gas operated 20s is you’re way faster and accurate on your 2nd or 3 rd shoots. Opposed to gettin bounced around with a 3.5”
I think bismuth really helped bring sub gauges into a more viable option for a Waterfowl hunting.
Even though those little Winchester steel 4’s are lacking in payload, they are nasty on game that is 30yrds and under. Suckers are moving well over 1500 according to my chrono. Certainly wouldn’t be my preference for a main shell, but they’re good enough for cripples.
The advantage with gas operated anything is quicker follow up shots and less felt recoil. Not to mention they often way a little more which also helps reduce felt recoil. I have had inertia guns in my life, but all of the semiautos I own are gas guns. The sx4 20ga is so efficient, that 3” mags fell like shooting a 410 2.5”. It’s such a weird recoil response when hunting.
Wow people set up 125 yards away? That’s insane. I get upset if someone sets up inside of a mile from my spread. We are pretty spoiled here in Florida with world class duck hunting. Never have to deal with anything like that.
Unfortunately, it’s a PA thing. It’s usually only an issue in early season… I wish I had your problem, lol.
You should see what it is like in Washington. I thought 125 yards! That's pretty good.
Fishing on the rivers around here is called" combat fishing". People will be under 3' from you. If you turn around to get more tackle they try and take you place.
Fights break out over tangled tackle. 2 guys will be fighting it out and other people move into their place!
What is on the head stamp of those two shells? Any stars?
They are all cheddite hulls for the boss and hevi shot from what I can tell. I bought some fresh new ones to load and they are identical.
@@avidwaterfowler7522 that's what they look like. They don't seem to hold up well to reloads. But even 2 are worth it.
@@eddieb4227 they’re terrible for reloading. You will get 2 loadings on average. Anything after that is a bonus.
@@avidwaterfowler7522 I was trying to be nice, which doesn't happen very often. Lol
@@eddieb4227 the ched hulls are weird. They seem to be ok in some gauges or even great in others. Of the ones I’ve loaded, 12 is the best 20&10 kinda stink, and 410 is ok. The 12ga can be reloaded a bunch.
What you think of the 3” #4’s in 20 gauge?
The super x’s
Overall, they hit really hard for what they are. Check out my other video for the patterns they produce which are quite good. They are just 4 shot which will help with density being it’s only a 7/8oz. If you get your birds in tight, it’s good for ducks all day long. I personally would suggest going with boss 4 shot that way you can take geese and ducks up to 30-40 yards comfortably. My issue with 20ga steel is payload versus shot size. There just isn’t enough volume to go with the larger pellets in 20ga and get a good enough payload IMO. Bismuth or heavier options solve that and make 20ga a viable option, and this is coming for a 10 gauge guy… I forgot to mention, they are the only shell that sometime misfeeds in my sx4 20ga. The hull is the issue as it’s just so darn soft it get hung up feeding. I reloaded a few to see how they work, and I had the same issue.
@@avidwaterfowler7522 nice,,, i jus bought my first 20 gauge ever,,, ive never shot one my whole life,,,, my teenage years too present day i always used a 12 gauge cause my dad made me back then lol,,, i cant wait too try out my 20 gauge on some ducks and geese, i bought a case of 3” #2’s super x,,,, now im debating on the 3” #4s of the same brand,
@@riverrivers250 the rio 1oz 4 shot steel did great as well.
this is so silly.. have hunted everything for 25 years with 20 ga. 3" kent fasteel. The 20 shoots the same speed just as far as a 12 just less payload... people are just so misinformed.
Yep. I run a .410 shooyin #9 tungsten super shot. I get the same pellet count as 12ga shooting #2steel, except i get way more energy downrange, way better penetration, and its way quieter and hardly any recoil. 12 and 20 had no place in my safe. My 410 will outperform them all out to 60yards.lol
It’s really not. I’m not saying that 20ga is ineffective, but most people were caught up in marketing about needing 3.5” shells and guns… I have run a 20ga for other wing shooting for the last 20 plus years, so my confidence in 20ga has always existed, but ducks and geese are a bit harder to kill than a pheasant or dove.
The point of this video isn’t meant to be controversial, but more to open others eyes on 20ga for waterfowl. There is no arguing that 20ga is making quite the wave right now in the waterfowl hunting world. Many are thinking about it but just haven’t quite made the move. You can watch my other videos on 20ga with patterns and a successful hunt that I had using the 20.
Tungsten makes any shotgun perform well beyond is Normal design limitations.
@@avidwaterfowler7522 absolutely does. This little .410 im running as crazy as it sounds outperforms any waterfowl shotgun ive ever ran. 12ga,16,20,28ga. It does it with near zero recoiln and is pretty cheap to relosd since its payload is much less than a 12or20ga. Just over a half ounce of shot makes reloading pretty affordable.
If you can’t kill geese with a 20 gauge quit skybusting. Plain and simple. 20 gauges work great for ducks.