What are the various gauges for shotgun shells used for?

Is 10 gauge used for ducks while 20 Guage is used for Doves? What would 410 ever be used for?

What are the various gauges for shotgun shells used for?
With the exception of the .410, the gauge of a shotgun refers to the number of lead balls the diameter of the bore that will weigh 1 pound. With the advent of modern ammunition, the overlap in usage of the various guages is greater.



10 gauge guns are now used primarily for goose and turkey hunting. The advent of the 3 1/2 inch shells for the 12 gauge has diminished the advantage of the 10 gauge over the 12 gauge for these species.



The 12guage is the most popular and is at its best for waterfowl and large upland game such as pheasants. It is also the guage used for (both American and International) Trap Competition and International Skeet competition as a larger bore with the same shot charge results in a better pattern.



The 16 guage is intermediate between the 12 gauge and 20 gauge and its application to hunting covers the application of both of those. It has lost popularity, but it lends itself well to shotguns with better handling quatities of fine side by side shotguns than the 12 and so has had some resurgence in popularity. It is not used for American Skeet, which has contributed to its decline in popularity - the 4 gauges used in American Skeet are the 12, 20, 28 gauges and .410 bore.



The 20 gauge is very popular for upland game and is a popular youth gun. The 3 inch 20 gauge shells now available provide performance close to that of the heavy 2 3/4 inch 12 guage shells. Because of their popularity, 20 and 12 gauge ammunition is less expensive than the larger 10 gauge loads and the smaller 28 gauge and .410 bore loads.



The 28 gauge has been kept alive by its use in American Skeet competition. It is an underappreciated gauge that is very close to standard (2 3/4 inch) 20 gauge performance. It is an excellent gauge for small game birds such as quail and doves.



The .410 bore is a popular starting gauge for young shooters. However it is in reality an "experts" gun as revealed in the results of competitive Skeet shooting where the High-Over-All championships are usually determined by the scores with this gauge (and it is the gauge used in the "shoot-offs" to break ties for the High-Over-All and High-All_Around titles).



The effectiveness of a shotgun relative to gauge is strictly a function of the larger gauges being able to launch a larger shot charge. After leaving the barrel, the shot does not remember the gauge from which it was launched and the effectiveness of the shot is dependent on the size of the shot, the composition of the shot (lead, steel, tungston, etc), the velocity of the shot, and the number of pellets striking the game bird or animal.
Reply:10 gauge best used for Deer if you can find the shells not many around. 410 slugs are in walmart I have bought them recently. 12 gauge is most popular shells available in many styles 4 or 6 shot for small game 71/2-8 for birds. pick up info at good book store. luck
Reply:The guages are a measurement of the size of the shell. A 10 gauge is the most powerfull and goes the farthest. It would be a good goose gun because geese are generally higher up. 12 and 16 gauges are good duck and deer guns. A 20 gauge makes a decent duck gun, but is better for squirrels. A .410 gauge is the least powerful and is a great gun for youth. I started on a .410. It's good for squirrels and I was pretty good at dove hunting with it too. The barrel length also makes a big difference. A shorter barrel throws a wider pattern. A longer barrel throws a tighter pattern and can reach farther with more accuracy.
Reply:410 is a great rabbit gun. It also can be used as a slug gun if you have a proper barrel. However, I found it very difficult to find slugs for a 410.
Reply:shooting things of course. :)

Apart from the other suggestion the 410 with slugs actually sees a bit of use in Australia for animal culling and destruction. Primarliy as handgun hunting is outlawed and a sawed off 410 barely recoils and can be manouvered easily with one hand. Hogs caught in traps, shooting buffalos with head shots from moving vehicles, pretty much pressing it near their head on the run. Fisherman also use 410 slugs for large sharks, won't penetrate into the boat are a few uses
Reply:i don't know much about 10 GA. but a 12 GA. can be loaded with 1 1/2 to 3/4 of a oz of shot, a .410 can be loaded with 1/2 to 7/8 of a oz of shot. this will effect how many BB are in the air and the recoil, most all shotgun shell will only shoot at a speed of 1150 to 1450 feet per second. So a .410 can shoot as hard and with as much shot as 12GA depending on the load.
Reply:I know alot of people who hunt ducks with a 20, 16, or 12 gauge. Most young hunters start out with a 410 to get them used to the heavy recoil of a shotgun. There isn't much power behind a 410 shot, although not too long ago a co-workers 8 year old son shot and killed a deer with a 410. Granted the deer was very close. I personally use a 12 gauge for hunting duck, dove, squirrel, geese, and deer. There is a profound difference in the type of shot you use for each animal. I really don't hear of many people using 10 gauges except for goose hunting. My suggestion would be to go with a 12 gauge...



The gauge refers to the size of the barrell, not the size of the pellets. The number on the side of the shell for the respective gauge refers to the size of the shot. A 000 (or triple-aught) is the largest size shot. I usually use 4's for duck hunting, and 8's for squirrel hunting. The higher the number, the smaller the shot in the shell, meaning more bb's in each shell.
Reply:more or less correct. a 10 is use for heavy birds- geese, ducks and turkeys. a 12 can also be used for that, but use a 3.5 in. shell with heavy loads. these shells made a 10 almost obsolete for birds. 12 can be used for doves, but use a lite load in 2.75 in., a 20 can be used for doves, using a medium load. .410 can be used for close range rabbits, snakes, and squirrels.
Reply:They have different uses, but they can be very interchangable. Most people use a 12 or 20 for most of their hunting with a shotgun becuase the 10 and 16 are rare and the shot pattern on a 410 isnt very good because most are full choke which holds the pattern from spreading like it should with flying birds. The doves and quail, pheasent are all hunted with 12s and 20's and the goose and ducks are also normally hunted with 12's and 20's. The 10 and 16 Gauge dont get hutned with too often but some hunt turkey with a 10 becase it can hold bigger shells that will send out more pellets into a kill zone. The .410 is actaully not the gauge of the shotgun, the gauge is like 67 and 1/3 of something like that. It gets called the 410 because its easier to say than im gonna get out my 67 and 1/3 gauge and go shoot some whatever. It doesnt get used too often when bird hunting because like i said, the pattern isnt the best out there. Like all the other gauges, it shoots slugs and they do get used for slugs. I shoot coyotes with slugs but not too often because a have a rifle for that. Some states only allow shtoguns with slugs, like my state, so i have to hunt deer with a 12 gauge.



I hope i write that so you can understand it right!
Reply:10 and 12 are used for bigger game and 20 and 410 are used for smaller alot of people ushally get their kid a 410 or a 20 their first two years of hunting then they move them on to somting bigger.Also all the diffrent guages are used for trap shooters(sporting clays)and to join certain legues you will have to use a 28guage or a 20 there are many diffrent legues and many diffrent guages.
Reply:the 12 and 20 gauge shotgun shells are really the only ones you would ever need. use the 12 gauge for ducks, medium game with the slug barrel, and turkey. use the 20 gauge for small game.



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