20 guage Grouse gun....

[ratherbefishin]

this isn't for  ''purist'' grouse hunting -but a ''truck gun'' for potting grouse on logging roads,with the chance of seeing a deer.I would carry #6 and a slug in my pocket should I see a deer[the reason for using 20 guage rather than the usual 410]
Question-would there be any serious disadvantage to cutting the barrel to 20 inches resulting in no choke?How would it  pattern at 25 yards with the #6-the average shot,and I have no special affiliation with blowing grouse apart or picking a lot of shot out of grouse breasts.Would the accuracy with the slug be improved with no choke-or would there be no effect?[before I ruin a gun-I'd like to hear other peoples experiance]

[Graybeard]

Cylinder bore is just fine at 20 yards in fact just about perfect for that distance. On skeet there is no reason one has to ever shoot a target at more than 21 yards unless you just chose to do so. For 12 and 20 gauge back when I still shot the big guns my preferred choke was cylinder rather than skeet or IC.

If you hold your shots to 20 yards that cylinder bore and #6 shot should serve you well. As to the slug I doubt it's gonna make any difference for better or worse really assuming you are speaking of Foster type slugs. If you mean the sabot types again it won't matter as they don't do that well in barrels without rifling anyway so it's gonna be horrible either way but the Foster types should do OK with our without choke.

[tn_junk]

I have a 20 gauge Handi with a youth barrel that fills the bill perfectly.
Modified choke and it will pattern Foster type slug good enough to drop a deer at 50 yards, which is the maximum distance i would try a shot with a slug.
Might want to think about that option. I picked the youth shotgun up at a pawn shop and mounted one of my full size Handi stocks.

alan

[ratherbefishin]

So,for #6 shot ,I could cut the barrel-but for slugs I should leave the poly choke on?If I did opt to cut the barrel-what would be the optimum length -would 22''be too short?

[NHNATIVE]

For the birdshot you will be fine. Personally in my 21 inch barrel model 12 20 gauge, I use 7 and a half shot but six will work. Just more pellets of sufficient size using the 7 and a half. My shortened model 12 has no choke and it is the gun I choose when my dogs need to see a bird drop. As far as the slug goes, I think cylinder will work fine. You're main issue may be point of impact or inherent accuracy of your particular shotgun. If it won't group one brand, try the rest. One may group real well, while other suck. Hope this helps.