20 Gauge vs 12 Gauge for Turkey: Which Gun Should You Carry?

This question usually comes up twice: once when someone is buying a first turkey gun, and once when a parent is setting up a kid. The answer is different each time, and neither answer is “the 12 gauge, obviously.” Start at the guns and loads section if you want the whole path; this page is the head-to-head.

One note before the comparison. We do not sell guns or ammunition here, and we have not fired either gauge for this page. What we can do is quote what the load makers, the choke makers and a state wildlife agency publish, and be clear about what none of them publish.

The verdict

20 vs 12, side by side

Payload: what each gauge actually throws

Gauge is about bore size, and bore size decides how much shot a shell can sensibly carry. The cleanest way to see the difference is one load line in both gauges: Boss lists its Boss TOM turkey shells at 2 1/2 oz in 12 gauge and 2 1/16 oz in 20 gauge. That is the gap in a sentence — a 20 gauge starts with fewer pellets.

Fewer pellets matters because turkey shooting is a counting exercise. The standard, as Mississippi State University Extension publishes it, is “100 holes” in a 10-inch circle at 40 yards. A 12 gauge gets to that number with more room to spare. A 20 gauge gets there too, but it needs the right load and a choke that suits it, which is why the 20-gauge conversation is really a load conversation.

Recoil, and what nobody publishes

Here is the honest part: none of the load makers we read publishes recoil figures for turkey shells, so we are not going to print any. What is published is the payload difference above, and turkey loads in both gauges are heavy for their bore. A 3-inch magnum turkey load is not a gentle thing in any gauge.

What the choke makers do claim is that porting helps. Kick's says the “extended, ported section reduces recoil and muzzle rise” on its Gobblin' Thunder tubes, and JEBS sells its Head Hunter in a ported version labeled “Ported (Less Recoil).” Those are maker claims, not measurements, and ported tubes are louder at the bench. Hearing protection is not optional when you pattern.

Fit: the gun has to suit the shooter

A turkey shot is taken from the ground, often twisted around a tree, with the gun already up and your cheek welded to the stock for several minutes. That is a fit problem before it is a ballistics problem. A gun that is too long in the stock, too heavy to hold on a bird, or too punishing to practice with is the wrong gun no matter what the box of shells promises.

This is why the 20 gauge keeps showing up in the youth conversation, and why it is not only a youth answer. Smaller-framed adults, anyone with a shoulder or neck problem, and anyone who wants to carry less weight up a ridge all benefit from the same things a young hunter does. We work through what makes a gun suit a beginner on choosing your first turkey gun.

We deliberately do not print gun weights here. That is a model-by-model number, it varies by barrel length and stock material, and printing an average would be making something up.

What modern loads changed

Twenty years ago, this comparison had a simple answer, and it was the 12. Dense tungsten shot changed the arithmetic. Apex publishes TSS as “a 18.1 g/cc density tungsten alloy” against 11.34 g/cc for lead, and states the consequence: “when the density is increased, the shot size can be reduced without losing knockdown performance.” Smaller pellets mean more pellets in the same small payload — which is exactly what a 20 gauge needs.

The clearest evidence comes from the gauge below the 20. Writing about .410 shotguns, the NWTF reports that “a 13/16-ounce load of No. 9 TSS has about 295 pellets” and that such loads “averaged 125 to 150 pellets in a 10-inch circle at 40 yards” — above the 100-pellet standard, out of the smallest common shotgun. If a .410 can do that, a 20 gauge with TSS is not a handicap. Winchester's own product manager makes the same point about the .410 payload performing like a much larger lead load.

Lead has not been left behind in 20 gauge either, it is just narrower: Winchester lists Long Beard XR in 20 gauge in No. 5 and No. 6, against No. 4, 5 and 6 in 12 gauge. Which shot size belongs in which gauge is the subject of our guide to what size shot for turkey, where the table is cited row by row. If you are curious how far down the gauges this goes, see the .410 for turkey hunting.

The choke is not the same tube

A 20 gauge needs a 20-gauge choke. That sounds obvious, and people still order the wrong one, usually because they searched a model name rather than a thread. In our registry the published turkey exit diameters run 0.640 to 0.690 in for 12 gauge and 0.555 to 0.570 in for 20 gauge, and the thread pattern has to match your barrel too.

There is also less choice in 20. Kick's lists 19 separate 12-gauge versions of the Gobblin' Thunder against 12 in 20 gauge, and two exit diameters in 20 gauge (0.560 and 0.570 in) against up to six in a single 12-gauge thread. One quirk worth knowing if you shoot a Mossberg 500 in 20 gauge: Kick's does not name that gun on its own site, while Carlson's and Indian Creek both list it on their 20-gauge charts. Our 20-gauge choke picks go thread by thread; the 12-gauge field is in our best turkey chokes.

Whatever gauge you land on, Missouri's equipment page describes what you are after: “The most popular is an extra-full choke, which gives the tightest pattern. A tight pattern is important in order to strike the vital head-and-neck area.”

The three tubes, side by side

The two Kick's tubes are the same design in different bores, which makes them a fair way to see the gauge difference on paper. The Primos Tight Wad is the budget 20-gauge option: one exit diameter, chrome alloy steel rather than stainless, a 1-year warranty, and rated by Primos for lead and HEVI-Shot but not TSS. If your 20 is going to eat tungsten, that last line rules it out. Scoring bands are published at how we pick.

Range: the same answer for both

People reach for the 12 gauge because they believe it buys yards. Sometimes it does. It does not buy permission to take a longer shot. Missouri's guidance covers both gauges in one sentence: shooting at a turkey beyond 40 yards “is not recommended, regardless of which gauge shotgun is used.”

Your real limit is whatever your gun, choke and shell put in a 10-inch circle on paper. That is a morning at the range, not an internet argument — see how to pattern a turkey gun for the routine, and how far you can shoot a turkey for what to do with the answer.

Check your state before you buy shells

Carry a 12 if / carry a 20 if

Carry a 12 gauge if

• You already own one. A turkey choke and a patterning session cost far less than a second shotgun.
• You want the widest choice of loads and chokes — Kick's alone lists 19 12-gauge thread versions against 12 in 20 gauge.
• You shoot it comfortably from a seated, twisted position for three shells in a row.
• You plan to shoot lead, where the 12 has the broadest selection, including No. 4 shot.

Carry a 20 gauge if

• The shooter is young or small-framed. Missouri's conservation department names 20s as a great choice for young hunters.
• Recoil makes you flinch. A lighter payload you can shoot well beats a heavier one you cannot.
• You are willing to buy dense tungsten loads, which is what makes the 20 keep pace.
• You want less gun to carry and hold steady through a long sit against a tree.

Either way

• Buy the choke for your gauge and your barrel's thread pattern, from the maker's own fit chart.
• Pattern at 40 yards and count the holes in a 10-inch circle before you hunt.
• Keep your shot inside the distance that count supports, whichever gauge is in your hands.