doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com 28 gauge. A viable hunting option????

Mike Yardley is currently shooting a pair of Beretta 28-bore o/u guns - predominantly driven pheasants and partridges.

The last time I watched him shoot, he killed five good, driven pheasants for five shots and then sleeved his gun.

Sir Joseph Nickerson famously shot admirably with a trio of Purdey 28-bore over/unders.

This suggests that in the right hands, a 28-bore is a viable tool for killing driven game at normal ranges, but Mike shoots with tight chokes and, when called for, loads of up to an ounce. An ounce is all I ever use in my 12-bores.

I personally do not share the fad for small bores, believing the 12-bore to be the best suited to taking most game and providing more choice and better value in vintage gun buying.

However, if you wish to shoot game at normal ranges with a suitably loaded 28-bore, the evidence suggests that it is a reasonable thing to attempt and since this is a matter of personal choice, why not- and good luck!

The gauge matters very little. An appropriate shot charge through an appropriate choke is what matters. After that, the question is: does a smaller than normal/average/recommended shot charge through a tighter than normal/average/recommended choke(tight enough to produce a lethal number of hits on the target with the reduced number of pellets) make a pattern of a size with which you can be reasonably assured of hitting the target. I assure you that Mike Yardley and Dig Hadoke can be successful with smaller patterns than can most shooters.

Shot charge weight, shot size, choke, and target area are bound at the hip. Ask yourself if you have the skill to ethically shoot at a living target with X/8 oz shot which will allow y% of the aiming error of the normally recommended charge.

Is your daughter a better shooter than you are JAS?

I'm not sure, she has only shot trap two times. At the turkey shoot she put me out twice, but she shot after me. We were in Sweden visiting Relatives in Tjorn in Sept. It was a wonderful experience. Hope to return for a moose hunt with them.
jas
ps. The first time she broke one clay out of 25.

One more time, as to the math. (.615/.550)²=1.25. Thus proportionate to bore dia a 1oz 28ga load is ballistically similar to a 1¼oz 20ga load. With longer shot charges efficient wadding becomes increasingly important to keep shot deformation at a minimum. 1¼oz loads in 20ga are put up in 3" cases. The 28ga standard was cut from 2 7/8" to 2 3/4" some yrs back, so to the best of my knowledge attempts of loading 1oz 28ga loads are all done in 2 3/4" cases. Space for good wadding becomes very limited. From a "Practical" standpoint unless your desire is for a gun of around 5¼-5½lbs, firing a 3/4oz charge, "All" advantage lays with the 20ga.
If, on the other hand, anyone enjoys walking the coverts with their 8½lb skeet 28, & handload it with only 5/8oz & it serves their purpose & they enjoy it, then walk tall & proud, it's no one elses concern. You wil though never convince me it is actually a "Better" set-up.

I'm currently infatuated with 20ga guns. Although I can see why some would find the 28ga attractive, I just don't see a practical advantage in going down from 20ga. It seems to me that there are many times fewer 28ga vintage guns than 20ga and even the 20ga guns are much rarer than 12 or 16ga. I can buy cheap ammo for my 20ga modern load capable guns. I do have some .410's when a steep challenge is what I want, so I'm just not all that keen on the 28g for those reasons.

I dunno chuck....I have personally never needed much reason to buy any gun! You wouldn't limit yourself to brunettes and blondes if a nice redhead showed up would ya?:)

You are Welcome JAS

You are Welcome JAS

I live in Gothenborg, it's near.

Chuck,
20 makes a hell of a lot of sense, and always has. The 28 makes lots of sense, too-for the gun builders that charge more for a gun in this gauge, ammunition makers, retailers, etc, you get my point.
I think a lot of 20s actually are too light, and would be better suited at 28 gauge at that weight, say, less than 6 lbs. M. McIntosh spelled out that his 28 was to weigh 6 lbs when he bought it, and a lot of 20s don't weigh that. I think that is where Gene Hill's famous (but, foolish) "20s are bitey" comment came from. Had he tried a heavier 20 ga. gun, lighter loads, or both, it may have made him a believer in the gauge, too.

You can find 12, 16 and 20 at my house of all different types, save autoloaders (for heathens). Using a 16 on real, wild pheasants last Friday, I had a big, tough old bird that took a centered hit of English 5s from my 16, which broke both wings, and penetrated both sides of his heart. He still ran like hell, and my little English Setter spent enough time and energy in pursuit that, when it was over, she laid down with the bird pinned under one paw in the corn and panted, unable to retrieve the bird to me (it was warm). Use enough gun. For late season wild pheasants, (reading this board I am begining to think real, wild pheasants are endangered, with all the talk of pen raised birds, which, is NOT hunting, not even close, which is what the original question was, I think) I don't think that gun is a 28.
Maybe grouse. Maybe woodcock. If you like spending more money, for less.
Best,
Ted