By Randy Wakeman

If we are looking at standard field gun weights coupled with common target loads, the answer is clear. For starters, let's look at a 6-1/4 lb. 20 gauge firing 7/8 oz. 1200 fps loads.

The 7 lb. 12 gauge has about 34.7 percent more recoil than the 6-1/4 lb. 20 gauge when using 1-1/8 oz. loads. and still has about 18.5 percent more recoil when using 1 oz. 1250 fps load in the heavier 12 gauge.

Switching over to my favorite 20 gauge dove load, 1 oz. Winchester AA 1165 fps shown above, the result is 20.3 ft. lbs.: ever so slightly less than our 7 lb. 12 gauge using the 1250 fps 1 oz. load.

Let's go pheasant hunting with Remington Nitro Mag 1-1/8 oz. 1175 fps loads out of our 6-1/4 lb. pound twenty gauge.

To finish, we look at a popular 1400 fps 1-1/4 oz. 12 gauge load out of our 7 lb. 12 gauge.

We find that our heavier 12 gauge has a whopping 45.6% more recoil than our lighter 20 gauge.

It does depend, of course, but as a broad generalization with common target loads (take, for example, what is allowed in American Skeet), 20 gauges do kick markedly less than 12 gauges. While I used 6-1/4 lbs. as the 20 gauge weight, there are certainly much heavier examples, the same goes for 12 gauges. The most popular 20 gauge factory load is 7/8 oz. 1200 fps, the most popular 12 gauge factory load there is, is 1-1/8 oz. 1200 fps. Those are the most popular, most used, and therefore the most available loads in the U.S. I cannot remember a time when I didn't have a few cases of each on hand.

With heavier payloads, 20 gauge loads do tend to have lower 3 ft. instrumental velocities than 12 gauge loads, and 1-3/8 oz. "Super Pheasant" genre 12 gauge loads are becoming more popular as well. I would not have guessed that a typical 1-1/4 oz. 12 gauge load would have 45.6% more recoil than a 1-1/8 oz. 20 gauge load, but there it is. Yes, 11% more pellets, but over 45% more recoil. It may well be a bit more of a difference than that, with lighter wads and lower powder charges at play with the 20 gauge.

This extends to the most common pheasant loads, for the classic 1185 fps 1-1/4 oz. 20 gauge load develops about 30.2 fpe when shot out of a 6-1/4 lb. gun. Using the common 1400 fps 1-1/4 oz. 12 gauge pheasant load from a 7 lb. gun develops 36.4 fpe: 20% more recoil. To bring the 12 gauge load down to the 20 gauge levels of 30 fpe takes a 8-1/2 lb. 12 gauge shotgun.