The Gun and Gauge Selection Debate

By: Paul Giambrone, III

Life continues to change and evolve for me and my family. My wife and I just had our second child, Craig David Giambrone, on May 8th of this year and we successfully moved back to Louisiana and are settled in our new home. After taking some time off to be with the family and help my wife recover after Craig’s birth, I find myself back on the road again. Currently, I am in the air as I am writing this article so that I can spend the next 48 hours with my family before departing again for another clinic, followed by three weekends in a row of shooting tournaments and giving lessons. I certainly do miss the family when I am away, but hey, I also love doing what I do and wouldn’t change any of it! Since I have been back on the road for the last month and a half, some common questions keep coming up and I want to get them addressed. It involves gauge selection and gun selection. Questions like, should a shooter shoot the 12 gauge in doubles and the 12 gauge event, or just doubles and shoot 20 gauge for singles? Should they just avoid the 12 gauge altogether? Should they have a separate gun for the 12 gauge or shoot their over and under for everything? The short answer: Shoot what you have the most confidence in. In our sport with the targets at close range, all of these questions have little impact on whether you hit the target or not. Your fundamentals and how you point the shotgun determine if the target is dead or lost, not the questions listed above.

Let’s start with the first question about the 12 gauge in doubles and singles versus just singles or avoid it altogether. My question to this shooter is: What do you have more confidence in, your 12 gauge or 20 gauge? Don’t start quoting averages or scores either, I’m asking about your confidence level, not your scores. Realize that when you shoot either, there is little to no difference whatsoever besides recoil and confidence. If you have more confidence in the 12 gauge, my recommendation is to shoot the 12 gauge. Even if the 12 gauge loads are 7/8 oz loads (same as the 20 gauge). If that gives you more confidence because you see a bigger shell going in the chamber, by all means, shoot 7/8 oz 12 gauge loads. Same applies for any other 12 gauge load. If you have more confidence in your 20 gauge due to less recoil and barrel jump or whatever the reason, shoot the 20 gauge. However, my feelings are when it comes to hits and misses that there is no difference between the 2 gauges in our sport because of the close yardage. I think that a shooter that misses a shot with their 20 gauge would have missed it with a 10 gauge 2 oz load with a cylinder choke and #9 shot size. If you don’t put the gun in the correct direction, the target isn’t going to break. Likewise, I feel that a shooter that breaks a target with a 12 gauge 1 1/8 oz loads would have broken the target had they shot it with a 20 gauge 7/8 oz load, IF they take the identical shot. If you truly feel this is wrong, maybe there is a problem with your 20 gauge equipment. It is possible, but not likely, that you could have a tube problem where the forcing cones were not cut properly or the choke was cut incorrectly causing the pattern to shoot in a different spot than your 12 gauge. However, all else equal, there really isn’t a difference between the two gauges in skeet due to the close yardage. Well, there is about a 6 inch difference. That 6 inch difference isn’t the pattern size either… it is between the shooter’s ears. That is why I suggest to my students that they try both gauges and go with what they are most comfortable with. There is no wrong answer here, it is truly the shooter’s choice!

This leads us to our next topic about whether or not to shoot the 12 gauge through the same gun or have an automatic for the 12 gauge (to reduce recoil) and an over and under for the other gauges. First off, realize that in our game confidence is just about everything (if I didn’t make that point clear in the first couple of paragraphs). If you have confidence in your gun, more than likely you will shoot that gun well and consistently. If you don’t, you most likely won’t perform well. It doesn’t mean that you CAN’T shoot well, it just means you most likely won’t because you don’t think you can due to lack of confidence in your equipment. This is why I shoot my Kolar gun because I have the utmost confidence in my gun. It is one of the most, if not the most, reliable guns in the business and the service is excellent if something does go wrong. This topic is still up to the shooter, but I do say proceed with caution if you decide to go with two different guns. If you have the same gun for both, you will have the same sight picture looking down the gun and you will have the same weight and balance (assuming you have a set of barrels for the 12 gauge and a matched weight carrier barrel with the tubes for sub-gauges). If you shoot the 12 gauge through the same barrel that you have tubes for, you need to look into getting some kind of barrel weight to put on the bottom barrel when shooting the 12 gauge so the weight and “feel” are the same as when you have the tubes in the gun. Having the same gun for the 12 gauge and sub-gauges would be my recommendation (two sets of barrels to make the weight of each match each other and have the same sight picture down the gun). Barrel sets qualify as having two different guns as well. Yes, I know they are “cool” and can be a collector’s item, but that doesn’t give us the same consistent “feel” and look down the gun. Why do I feel that two guns and barrel sets aren’t the best way to go for competitive shooters? Well, look at the top shooters on the All-American teams. Very few shoot two different guns and none of them shoot barrel sets. Is it impossible to do this? Of course not! There are SOME shooters that can shoot two different guns well, but the majority of the top shooters stick with one gun, and about 1/2 of them don’t even shoot the 12 gauge (I am included in this group that doesn’t shoot the 12 gauge). Another thing to consider with two guns is that means things are twice as likely to break (gun repair), two separate maintenance bills and not to mention getting both guns to fit you the same way is a challenge in itself. My belief has always been to keep the game as simple as you can to minimize variances. I think this helps us build consistency we all desire.

If you have any questions or comments, please email me directly at info@gsclinics.com and visit breakmoretargets.com for more information. Please check the website for upcoming tournaments and clinics in your area. Keep in mind that GSC is now in the New Orleans, LA area. GSC is available to teach in the New Orleans area all year-round and is now offering ALL INCLUSIVE lesson packages for shooters that would like to travel to me. Please call or email today for lesson availability.

Tip of the month: If you find yourself on the fence about any of these topics, my advice is to try it all! Give everything a fair chance and see how you do with all of the scenarios listed above. Once you find that combination that suits your confidence the best, stick with it. That is your winning combination, whatever it is!