[Marshall Stanton]

Hey, when we're talking all kind of lethality in the scatterguns, don't forget split #4 buck crimped onto a piece of piano wire..... some kind of ugly!

Yep, I like the idea.... now, what about loading tools... you mention minimum of loading necessities, what would your suggestion be for this application, with what's available now?

God Bless,

Marshall

 

[Marshall Stanton]

As rightly stated, the "wilderness gun" should be approached with both bulk and weight of ammo considered.  As I've said before, the smoothbore is the best logical choice, and with the addition of a .22LR cartridge converter, an outstanding combination.  However, this may fly in the face of conventional wisdom, but for 80% of my smoothbore needs, I prefer the 20 ga.!  Other than waterfowl hunting, meaning all upland game birds, small game, etc., I prefer the .20 ga.  It is lighter, smaller proportioned, points and swings faster and has more compact and lighter weight ammo than its bigger cousin the 12 ga.  Yes, there are some amazingly effective 20 ga slug loads, multi-ball loads and all the benefits and attributes of possible projectiles listed earlier in this thread, but with the added benefit of making both powder, and shot go further while doing the same job.

In my book, "the twenty is plenty" to quote an article on the subject from some many years ago!

Just a thought to throw into the frey!

God Bless,

Marshall