You can find a lot of 28ga OU's lighter than the Ruger--which is not light by 28ga standards. I once put an Army & Navy 12ga boxlock, 28" barrels, on a scale right after a guy put his Ruger 28 on the same scale. I beat him by an ounce. Something like my 6/3 to his 6/4.
You want a really light 28ga OU, the Browning Cynergy Feather comes in around 5 3/4 with 28" barrels. But the same gun in 20ga will weigh about 1/4 lb less (28 built on a 20ga frame). And therein lies the problem with a lot of 28ga doubles: because they're built on 20ga frames, the 20's will be lighter.
My Beretta 687 Silver Pigeon V 28ga, 28", came in just under 6#. If you can find one of the FAIR 28's (I. Rizzini) used--they also make the Veronas, but I'm not sure about weight on those--they're pretty light. Older, fixed choke Beretta OU's (BL series) can be quite light in 20ga, as can some of the older Franchi OU's, but you'll look long and hard to find either in 28ga. If you want something hardly anyone else has, the Zoli-Rizzini guns imported by Abercrombie back in the 60's are very light in 28ga. Mostly sxs, but I once saw an OU 28 that was right around 5#.
And while a lot of Citori models are on the heavy side, some are not. The Superlight Feather runs about 5 3/4# but that's in 20ga. Not available in 28. The 625 Feather is available in both 20 and 28. Like the Cynergy in weight: About 5 1/2 in 20, 5 3/4 in 28.
Last edited by L. Brown; 11/17/13 10:33 AM.
