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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Warning:  Never place a shotgun in the hands of a wild Finnish woman.
You guys would have laughed out loud today had you been here.  I
borrowed a couple of shotguns from the neighbor kid, a 10 year old, no
less, and decided that if he could do it, I could do it, too, after all,
I'm a big woman with an attitude. :)

First, I picked up a 12 gauge Winchester M59, 30? in barrel, fixed choke
(is that the same as a full choke?), auto action, single barrel, 6.5
pound shotgun.
I had birdshot #4 and buckshot 00
Distance to paper target was about 80 feet, as that is the approximate
distance that I would most likely be shooting from.
I fired the birdshot first and was surprised that the recoil wasn't bad
at all.  I could handle that-easily.

Second, I picked up a 20 ga Remington 870 Express Magnum, 28" single
barrel, pump action..yada yada...not sure about the choke on it.

After another few rounds of birdshot, I reloaded and fired again.  I had
trouble reloading this gun as it was hard to get the shells in.  This is
a major consideration for me since I often don't have good hand strength
from the arthritis and today was a "good" day.  If I have trouble on a
good day, I probably couldn't load it on a bad one.

Anyway, comparing the two shotguns, I actually preferred the 12 gauge,
not only because it was easier to load, but being slightly heavier, it
was easier to steady the weapon against my shoulder.  As for recoil, I
think the 20 ga Remington actually recoiled more than the 12 ga
Winchester, so I verify Gene's remark that a 20 can have more recoil
than a 12.  It wasn't an appreciable difference, and it wasn't a
significant difference with the birdshot.

Then, feeling proud of myself and obviously a glutton for punishment, I
loaded buckshot into the Winchester...lol..
Luckily I did not fall down, but it had enough kick that my 10 year old
tutor literally fell to the ground laughing.  I expected more recoil
with the buckshot, but IMO, it was like 3 times more, and I wasn't
expecting that.  I shot it once again, just to make sure I had the butt
on my shoulder properly the first time, and again the kids fell out
laughing.

I easily hit the paper plate targets with both guns and all loads.  The
scatter pattern was interesting to see, and on another day, I'll play
around more with distance to experiment with which loads scatter over
various distances.  Right now, my shoulder is swollen, maybe slightly
bruised, but I could still shoot more if I had to.  I just saw no sense
in pushing it to the limit, plus, I already owe the kid a couple of
boxes of shells.

The good part is that he left the 20 gauge here so that if I see the
hawk/falcon or whatever it is that is getting my chickens again, I can
now blast it out of the air.  If my shoulder isn't black and blue
tomorrow, I'll put more distance between me and the target and try it
again.
Just thought I would tell y'all about it...

Bev, leaning more towards the 12 gauge Winchester at present.



--
BevanRon of EarthNSky Farm   NW Georgia USDA Zone 7
34.498N 85.076W    Bev is Earth, Ron is Sky