doublegunshop.com - home Forums Thread Like Summary - 28ga. field gun weight preference?

Would any of the active upland hunters here have an opinion on the maximum weight they advise in a SXS or O/U 28ga. field gun?

I'm not interested in hearing about 12ga skeet guns with 28ga tubes....

I have "classic" 28-gauges doubles that weigh in the five to five and three quarter pound range, but I shoot a couple of modern 28-gauges in the six and a quarter pound range much better and there is the problem. I have 20-gauges that weigh in the six and a quarter pound range from my 1913 vintage Fox A-grade to my Launch Edition RBL and the 20-gauge can handle a wider variety of loads. So, what is the point of the 28-gauge?

My Francotte 28 gauge with 26" barrels is 4 pounds 11 oz

Its not a rifle I don't hold it steady. Most of what I shoot are flushed and fly hard in any direction. So steady is not something I don't have time for. I've shoot both triggers before the gun is completely shouldered a times.

Go ahead and laugh if you want Brent. I am a grouse hunter and I can assure you there are scenarios in the grouse coverts where an opportunity for sustained lead presents itself (e.g., an old apple orchard or an abandoned farm field) just like there are occasional opportunities where a 3rd shot is possible (where’s my AutoMaybe), although rare.

Look at the Rizzini BR110 in 28 gauge. 6.1 pounds in all-steel, 5.7 pounds in alloy frame. Around $2K. The steel BR110 is available in multiple barrel lengths up to 32" on special order (I"m sure that would take a small eternity), the Light Luxe version (alloy) only in 28".

Bruce

Um, uh, 28 gauge as the thread suggests.
1 of only 42 grade 1’s in 28 gauge.

More than weight, fit is critical for any shotgun, and barrel length in lighter guns is almost as critical as well (at least for me). My Dickenson has adult dimensions and 28-inch tubes (& i'm thinking 30 would be even better). I'd love to see a discussion on sub-gage guns here, with the advantages and disadvantages laid out very clearly. I'm a big 12 bore fan because of its lethality, anything less IMHO is a compromise on that lethality but....weight (when carried all day) is a significant factor in upland performance by the hunter as well. For years now, I've found the 16 to be arguably the best compromise in weight vrs lethality in the uplands, but from using my little 28 for the last 2-years, I'm seeing good results there too. Ballistically, I see the 28 as being comparable to the 20, but with lots of weight advantages over the 20 (in both the guns and the weight of the ammo you carry).

My 28 ga. Merkel built on a 28 ga. frame with 28" barrels is 5 lbs. 7 oz. and works for me. However at 5 lbs. 12 oz., my 12 ga. Churchill with 26' barrels choked .003" / .011" gets the nod frequently.
Karl

I do not have a recommendation on maximum weight, but for snap shooting pointed grouse and woodcock in heavy cover, the lighter the better, IMO.

My Jeffery 28b weighs 4 pounds 5 ounces with 26” barrels, and I love it.

There's method to my madness. It's my only 28 and it serves as a sub-gauge gun at sporting clays shoots, with it's .410 and 28 ga. barrel sets. Then, in the quail and woodcock woods it's never for more than a half day at the time.

If I had to bust brush all day like some of you guys I'm sure I'd opt for a lighter gun. I know what it's like to struggle going from a 9 lb. duck gun to a sub-5 lb. .410. It's tough.

Wow. Try one-handing it.
JR

You guys don't get out in the field much.

Pardon me while I laugh at "sustained lead". On a grouse....

I'm not talking prairie hunting where you don't a have wall of honeysuckle or a cedar thicket to navigate just to flush a single quail that your dog has been on point for a dogs lifetime it seems for them. Or the flush of a grouse in a thicket of saplings no bigger than two fingers just to point at the hole you think you might intercept the bird with shot. No time for "sustained lead". If you've hunting ruffed grouse where I've hunted and tried "swing and follow" you'd walk out of the woods with dented barrels.

Evidently you assume the only wild bird hunting in thick stuff is in the grouse woods, and that we hunt woodcock down here in cow pastures or soybean fields.

But, I guess that's understandable coming from a professor who is so egotistical to believe he saw the very first coyote to set foot on all 310 square miles (198,000 acres) of SRS, when we had been trapping them for several years just two miles away.

For hunting I prefer 6 pound guns in the uplands, even in the 12. Much below that I just don't shoot them well. More than 6 1/4 pounds is a bit more than I want to carry at the end of the day.

For clays I have dropped down to 7 pounds to 7.5 pounds as my sweet spot. If I go above that it messes me up for my hunting guns. And as I get older it seems to take more "work" to get those big pigs moving for the second shot in tight windows.

I shot a grouse this year with sustained lead through tall pines as it was quartering away from me, typical gray ghost steak but I had good glimpses of it. I did miss it however.

Many of my shots at grouse are typical shoot the streak and swing through but not all of them. I hunt a flusher and even though the dog on the ground the most this year just turned 2 I could usually tell when he was birdy and was prepared. Have been hunting ruff for more than 50 years now.



6 pound 16 ga. Iside is my go to grouse gun. And all around gun for hunting although have more than a few others in the 6 pound range.


My first thought as well. I have two B. Rizzini 12 ga. Vertex, 32" Competition 16 and 20 ga. 32" BR110 Sporter. Obviously my B. Rizzini guns are all clay guns but I wouldn't hesitate to pick up a field Rizzini. Of any type. ~June of next year I will likely do a custom order for a BR552 16\20 combo for hunting they come in at ~6 pounds. In the meantime I use Battista's brother Isidero Rizzini (the I & R in F.A.I.R.) guns for hunting. I am waiting to hear back from the director of Italian Firearms Group in Texas for the total on a custom order 16 ga. Iside with the specs I have given him.


Pretty much the same place I am at, although for the 16 ga. I don't even own a 20 ga. hunting gun. Wait I do have a 20 ga. Ithaca 37 UL in the safe. But haven't shot it in years it is just too light and I don't shoot it well. Many of my friends shoot 28 ga. and have been trying to talk me into one. Just can't bring myself to do it from a logical standpoint. I do have several 20 ga. SxS guns for clays. Because if you are going to give me a 3 or 4 bird handicap for shooting yellow shells I'll take it. Shooting feathers I don't want a handicap, of any kind.

Yup. It's becoming a real favorite. Whomever sleeved it did an excellent job. Perfectly regulated as well.

Yesterday, I came upon a 20-30 acre patch of doghair popple that was bordered with spruce and fir. Looked pretty perfect for grouse, so Gus and I serpentined our way in. It was almost entirely one handing the gun (6# cashmore) and pushing aside saplings with the other. I was thinking of this thread the whole time and how fun it would be to watch Stan with his 32" barrels fighting through this...

Anyway, we came out the other side with two grouse on two flushes and three shots. Had to use the poke and shoot twice on the first bird. Anyone that thinks he is going to "sustained lead" in a popple thicket, ain't been in a popple thicket.

But that big gun would sure be good for beating off those scary coyotes (and wolves!), so there is that.

My phone tells me I covered 39.1 miles of grouse country in the 3.5 days of hunting. I'm happy to have carried the 6# Cashmore while leaving the 7.25# Greener behind. A 5.5# sidelock 16 or 20 might be even nicer - if I can find one I like as much as that Cashmore.

Here’s a mid 30’s NID that grew up “down south”.
Quail don’t you think?
5 lbs 13 ounces

another NID 28ga for your viewing pleasure.

https://www.gunsinternational.com/g...intage-firearms-inc.cfm?gun_id=102047488

Interesting .......that you fantasize that way. However, nowhere have I ever said I'd try to use 32" barrels in heavy upland cover.

No trouble at all shouldering my 4# gun. I'm 6'2" and about +/- 230#'s.