I haven't used a shotgun since I was in high school, and now that I have one I need some basic info.

I always just used whatever happened to be in the box that was in the back of the truck. :shrug:

Give me the basics on pellet size, weight, usage. Game / field / target / slug / tactical / etc.

and are those Aguila any good for home defense?

Home defense, 00 Buck. End.

Buy several brands. Pattern them on paper at various distances, and find the one your gun shoots most consistently. It's different for every gun, even same brand, sucessive serial numbers.

Then go shoot the hell out of that load, and make sure the gun feeds it 100%.

BB's get bigger as the number gets smaller. bigger shell means more powder.

For me, targets and trap get the cheap stuff. Its all generally the same, 2 3/4" lead birdshot.

I keep 00 buckshot in the mossberg for home defense.

Slugs are mainly used for hunting larger game or putting holes in shit that needs a big hole.

There are a million different variations out there and I'm not into hunting with shotguns so I cant go into the details but rule of thumb is bigger BB means bigger animal. Shoot a dear with a slug. Shoot a turkey with something like #4 and shoot smaller birds with something like #7.

Being a primary hunter over range shooter I can give you some insight to game loads.

What guage?

For 12 Guage theres a plethora of shot out there.

For quail/grouse/rabbit/trap I just use whatever is cheapest at the local wal mart usually. They carry Federals for quite cheap. I tend to use Winchester over them though as my gun has problems cycling the Federal ammo. I use shot size 8 or 7-1/2. Lead.

For chukar/pheasents/grouse/huns I use Winchester or Remington loads in the No. 6 size. Lead.

For Waterfowl it gets rough. The latest craze is dense non toxic shot such as tungsten, bismuth, and "Hevi Shot". There is still the standard steel loads. With the denser non toxic shot most people size down and use No. 6 shot or No. 4 shot for ducks. Problem is thatshit is spendy. If you feel like spending $25 for 20 shots go for it.

For standard steel I use Kent Fasteel. Its 1550fps and available in No.2 and BB sizes. It ejects out of my gun just fine and has good knockdown power. BiMart in town usually has a spring sale on it and we can grab boxes as low as $10 for 25 shells so we stock up.

For Geese I'll step up to the Kent BB size or my "skybuster loads" which are 3.5" Mag Remington T shot. Depends on if I'm pass shooting or decoying the birds.

Turkey I used Federal ammunitions this year. With turkey loads its all about how it patterns. Get yourself a turkey choke or run you full choke and go to the range with as many different brands of ammo as possible. Eash round patterns different in each gun/choke combo then the next. I have a good kill pattern out to 45 yds and I'm happy with that. I used size #5 as a happy medium. I could extend my range slightly with a #4 shot or have more pellets in the kill zone at a closer range with a #6 shot.

If I knew the guage of your gun and primary quarry I could direct you towards specific ammo, brands, speeds, lengths, and weight.:mr-t:

thanks for the info.

12 gauge, Winchester Ranger 120 (basically a 1200/1300 that can take 3" shells)

Dont forget if you plan on using slugs to get a seperate barrel with rifling in it. Might risk exploding your normal barrel, especially with a choke:eek:

You shouldnt have ejection problems with that gun being a pump. My semi being a 3.5" mag tends to not eject target loads when its mildly dirty and as of lately wont even fucking fire.

Also I've noticed the 3" Remington steel loads are actually longer than a Kent or Winchester shell once fired. Cause my gun to jam while ejecting them as they'd get stuck.

Grab some cheap as federal loads at wally world (usually cheap as tits and come by the case) and go shoot till your hearts content.:smokin:

You can get a rifled slug and use an imp. cyl choke (or no choke), or a rifled choke without replacing your barrel. I use two rounds of 00 buck followed by a slug, followed by two rounds 00 buck followed by a slug, etc. in my HD shotgun.

You can get a rifled slug and use an imp. cyl choke (or no choke), or a rifled choke without replacing your barrel. I use two rounds of 00 buck followed by a slug, followed by two rounds 00 buck followed by a slug, etc. in my HD shotgun.

True. I wouldnt use no choke though as your risk fucking up the threads in the barrel and wont be able to get a choke back in.

I would assume you would see a range/accuracyincrease with a fully rifled barrel or am I off base here. Smooth barrel is my field...dont know this rifling shit:flipoff2: I know it makes it go round!

I keep 00 in the hd shotgun...started taking it out every time to practice. last two times were different...first took a few 2x6's...straight through 1 3/4"s and blew the back side out. last time I went shooting I tried a 4x6, two pellets went in 3"s and the 4x6 was in 5 pieces spread out about a yard from where it was sitting. Want to try a 2x6 wall with sheetrock and insulation, the same as my inside and outside walls.

Both "tests" were done with 16" pieces standing on their own without any support...that was using 2 3/4" fedral 00 8 pellet and s&b 9 pellet.

Someone also noted a problem with fedral shells that the last one(first one loaded) in your mag will start to mushroom after they left it in there for 3 months. They intended to try other brands but never finished.

Look up a ballistics test if you want for different types of shells, I would step up to a lighter load if I hadn't purchased so much 00 already.

Power -
Drams equivalent is the amount of powder in a load.
The more drams equivalent, the more powerful the load.