What is the difference between a 12 guage shotgun and a 20 guage?

Answer 1

A 12 gauge shotgun is determined by the fact that 12 solid balls of lead will fit into the bore of the gun and thus these 12 solid balls of lead will equal a pound. Likewise, it takes 20 solid balls of lead fitting into the barrel of a 20 gauge shotgun to equal a pound. 10 solid balls of lead that equal a pound fitting in the bore of a shotgun would make that a 10 gauge, like wise a 16 gauge and a 28 gauge. There have been 8 gauge guns but an exception to all this is the 410 which is not a gauge but a caliber. The caliber of a 410 shotgun is .410 or there a bouts. Some research on your part will help you understand more if your desire but you can see that smaller balls make gauges with larger numbers and therefore, a larger number gauge like 20 will shoot shells that are smaller in diameter than those shot in a 12 gauge.