Mossberg 500 12g vs 20g questions

[familywgn]

Hey all, I ws at Wally mart last night and noticed that they have Moss 500's in 12 and 20 gauge. The same price. 100 bulk shells are the same price too. After handeling both, I like the compactness and shorter barrel of the 20g.

Would a 20g make for a good first shotgun?

Am I really losing that much power when compared to the 12g?

Will a 20g still allow me to hunt small game, doves and quail?

How about turkey?

Outside of all the speciality ammo made for the 12g, and I thinking of makeing a bad decision?

Thanks for all you help

[Te Anau]

Would a 20g make for a good first shotgun?
Absolutely!
Will a 20g still allow me to hunt small game, doves and quail?
Sure.

[Lavid2002]

Youll be fine with the 20 Ga.
The big difference is size
Size of....
Varietly of loads you can purchase for the 12 ga>20 ga
Recoil is greater on 12 ga
Prices can be bigger on 12 ga due to the ammount of shot used in the larger shotshell.

But YES you can bsolutley use both of them for dove, quail, turkey etc... even home defence. Mossys are awesome. Either one would be greaat.

[hogdogs]

As previously stated... YES! Given equal make, model and barrel length you will feel noticeably less recoil with a 20. That means faster more accurate second shot followups. I use a mossberg 20 gauge 500 as my only home defense firearm. I have a couple other guns (both just .22lr) to grab but only if unable to grab my Mossy... I use an 18.5 inch cylindrical bore for everything from mice to moose... well I never hunted alot of meese:D But seriously the smaller slug (1/8th ounce lighter) and a lighter payload of buckshot have never had me accosted by a mad deer for being under gunned!:rolleyes: The BG will be equally dead from a slug or buckshot as well... As for doves and clays the cyl. bore and short barrel do limit my range and POI on flyers but I know this and try to get the first shot in and let my buddies go after the longer range shots with their 28-30 inchers!
Brent