doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com 20 GA vs 28 GA IS THERE ALOT OF DIFFERENCE ?

I went on a whitewing & quail hunt late in the season with a friend that brought his 28 ga SxS choked IC & Mod shooting 3/4 oz shells and a 20 ga SxS choked IC & Mod shooting 7/8 oz shells.His reason for bringing the 20 ga was if the birds were flushing farther away he would switch to the 20 ga.

From your experience is there a noticably difference in the performance of the two guns for shooting dove and quail ?

Thanks

I have used 28GAs on both wild quail and dove quite a bit. For quail, I haven't notice a difference between the 28ga and the
bigger gauges. When shooting the 28GA (w/ target loads) at higher flying dove, I noticed more birds I shot would hit the ground still alive. When I switched to high brass loads, that all stopped.



Adam

Very little, if any, difference when used for quail and dove.

From the standpoint of strictly dove & quail & comparing the 3/4 oz vs the 7/8 oz loads the major difference will be noted at the Check-Out Counter if you shoot factory. If you reload there is some advantage to the 20 as well in a more readily available line of components & empty hulls. This is not to say there is a scaricity for the 28, just more for the 20.
Personally if one has a desire or need to shoot heavier loads than 3/4oz I would always pick the 20 over the 28 & yes I am aware the 28 has been loaded up to 1oz, but "WHY" has always been a mystery to me.

The 7/8 oz load (vs 3/4 oz load) can be used in one or a combination of three ways. It can be used to make a larger pattern via more open choke. It can be used to make a denser pattern via same choke. And, it can be used to maintain the same patern density with larger shot. The 1/6 increase in shot weight/pellet count can be significant if applied in a mannor that will be effective for the particular shooter. It is not so significant as to be noticable to all shooters.

If I think I need a bigger gun (more pellet count, greater distance, etc.) than one of my twenty-eights provides I will jump right up to a sixteen or a twelve. I rarely even take out a twenty anymore - a twenty-eight is just so much nicer to shoot and will perform as well as a twenty for my specific purposes which just happen to be ruffed grouse, woodcock and skeet.

The difference in pellet count for 7/8oz vs 3/4oz for shot sizes #7 through #9 is about ½ size. That is 7/8oz #7½ has about the same coumt as 3/4oz #8 etc. #7 is not always easy to find & as shot gets larger it takes more to compensate, 1oz #5 has a similar count to 3/4z #6. As to increased shot count from a heavier load taking a choke giving similar patterns for both & using same shot size the heavier load should give an effective increase in range approximately equal in proporyion to the sg roots of the charges. Thus the 7/8oz should have abount an 8% more effective range than a like choked gun firing 3/4oz.
From a pure ballistics standpoint in shoyguns the advantage will virtually always lie with the gun having the biggest hole down the bbl, "Until" that size makes it unweildy.
There can be many reasons for shooting a 28 & I would not in anyway want to discourage anyone from shooting & enjoying one. The cold hard facts are though the 20 will allways be a slightly more effective & versatile gauge.

I have 2, a Paahkeh, and a CZ. I often shoot the CZ when there is a bit of snow on the ground, and the birds are holding close. It kills roosters! The Parker, as I think I have commented on before, was "Borrowed" by my brother about 16 years ago. It's always coming back "as soon as the season is over"..I cant compare it with a 20, as I dont own one.

I've shot my share of doves and perdiz with both the 20&28 gauge, perdiz are not quail, but comparable on the 20 vs 28 debate.
I would think there's a slight difference, which is not really an issue when hunting for hyper-abundant perdiz in SA. That small difference will be much more noticeable if hunting in a place with less or very few birds, or/and with much hunting pressure, where every single shot counts....
For doves I have found a really advantage in the 20 when there's lot's of wind.
This being said, I've shot the 28 gauge for doves 90% of the time.

I am always amused at the comments that a smaller gauge with a smaller shot charge will perform just as well as the next larger gauge and a larger shot charge. That line of reasoning would, by extension, say that a 28 performs as well on game as a 20, and a twenty performs as well on game as a 16, and a 16 performs as well on game as a 12, ad infinitum. If all that were true then a 28 would perform as well as a 12. Oh, really?

I'm in the court with 2-piper on this issue. He stated that the twenty will always be a slightly more effective and versatile gauge (than the 28). I agree, and would go further in saying that the next larger gauge will always be slightly more efficient and versatile as long as handling and target acquisition does not suffer. A larger bore will most always pattern better with the same shot charge than the smaller. Better patterns mean increased range capability, as long as pellet energy and pattern density are adequate for dispatch of the bird. The bigger question is, can a shooter UTILIZE the increased efficiency, small though it may be.

Fact is, we have a wonderful choice of bore sizes to use at our chosen sports, and we should use whatever we enjoy most, as long as it is efficient at dispatching game and not increasing the likelihood of wounding birds.