[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

See poll.

Anyone here actually ever hunted pheasant with 28 ga? What barrel length? Success?

[Larry Ashcraft]

I dunno. I like a 12 ga for pheasant, and I've seen 20 ga used to good effect. Some of those roosters get a bit far out there, and I like 1.25 oz of 4's or 5's on those long shots.

I have a couple of 28s, and I'm pretty good with them, but for Kansas roosters, I'll take my 12 ga Citori, with a no 6 in the lower barrel and a 4 or 5 in the top. YMMV.

To answer the question, no, I've never tried a 28 ga for pheasant. A better shotgunner than me might have good success, but I won't be trying it.

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

That was gonna be my next ?? - 4, 5, or 6 shot? I kinda like the idea of 6 shot IC or M first bbl, and 4 shot IM second bbl. But I'd probably take your advice and run with at least a 20 ga. - gonna try to go to Kansas for pheasants soon. Do you use 2.75 or 3" shells?

[ArmedBear]

Gauge means nothing to the target. Shot is not a single projectile.

The bird has no idea what gauge shotgun you used. The few pellets that hit the bird are what matter. A #4 pellet going 1000 fps will do the same thing to the target, no matter what gun it came from.

Bigger pellets hold more energy at range. That's why pheasant hunters use #6 to #4 as Larry wrote.

The reason for a larger gauge is not because it hits harder, but because you can load it with more pellets and still get a decent pattern. Also, a larger bore will pattern better with larger pellets, since they can arrange themselves more evenly in the wad.

Consider a wheelbarrow full of large rocks vs. one with gravel. The large rocks in the wheelbarrow have a lot of spaces between them, and they don't flow if you dump the wheelbarrow. Gravel flows almost like liquid. A railroad hopper car full of large rocks is a lot like a wheelbarrow full of gravel, and with enough space to work with, the big rocks flow like gravel when you dump them.

A standard 28 Gauge load of #4 is 101 pellets, and I'm not sure how well that big shot patterns in a small bore. It most likely doesn't pattern as well as you'd like, and increasing the payload will just make that worse.

A standard 12 Gauge load of #4 pellets is 151 pellets, and you can load a good deal more in a 12 Gauge and still get a good pattern.

So, 28 Gauge is not too light. A pellet is a pellet is a pellet, and 1200 fps is 1200 fps. But your pattern will either have insufficient density at longer ranges, or you'll have to choke it down too much to use it at closer ranges and you'll wreck the pattern.

There's no reason a 28 wouldn't work at close range, but I was out pheasant hunting Sunday and those things flew straight away and fast. There weren't many close shots.

I think 16 Gauge is just MADE for pheasant.:)

[ArmedBear]

WRT barrel length, that depends on the gun and how it swings, and how the birds are flying. You know what you like better than I would.:)

3" 20 Gauge isn't known for good patterns. I wouldn't be that excited to use it with #4 shot.

IC/M should work fine. No need to overthink it.

Also, some people seem to like #5, because, in theory at least, it keeps enough pattern density to make it useful all the way out to where it loses too much energy, whereas the #4 gets too sparse before it loses energy. YMMV. I don't know.:)

[koja48]

I voted a little light, but I do use one in the early season in areas where the birds hold fairly tight & I've had good success. Plenty of pellets & power (I favor 6's), but with the shorter shot string, you need to be on the bird, as there's less room for error. The rest of the time, I use a 20 . . . both over/unders . . . I don't like packing a 12 anymore & have no desire to buy a lighter model.

[TAB]

I use a 410 lever action...

[mio]

a little light for my taste but worth a try i suppose. probably just depends on how well you shoot.

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Very helpful, ArmedBear; thanks.

The following is kind weird to me: The .410 bore is same as saying 67 gauge. So it would appear that 28 ga is much, much, much closer to 20 ga than 67 ga is to 28 ga. We're talking a difference of 8 guages between 20 and 28 but 39 guages between 67 and 28, making the 28 ga exactly 600% closer to 20 ga than .410 is to 28 ga. But yet, when you look at them, the 28 ga looks "just a tad more than about 1/2 way in between". I think I'll relegate 28 ga to quail and dove, and rely on 12 and 20 for something as big and tasty (don't want to let any get away) as a pheasant - not to mention expensive to hunt with an out-of-state license.

I use a 410 lever action...

Have you actually used this as your gun of choice on a pheasant hunt?

[TAB]

yep. last year, 1st time out with it. 1 shot, bird fell like a stone. Used number 4 shot...

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Nice! :)

[moosehunt]

Where did the 67 gauge idea come from? A .410 is in essence a 36 gauge.

A 28 gauge works fine for pheasants, provided you recognize the limitations. One must be willing to pass the longer shots--30 yards is a realistic max for the 28 ga. You will have a smaller pattern, so you must be "on" a little better. Either a 28 ga or a .410 will take pheasants just fine, but they really are "experts" guns--and at least the 28 ga is a lot of fun. I can't personally speak to the .410. Just don't expect to fold roosters at 45 yards with the 28 ga. As the other lad said, a pellet is a pellet, but the 28 ga has a lot fewre of them and they are are pretty sparse beyond about 30 yards. I'd recommend #6 shot in it; larger will generally give real poor patterns. Have fun!!!

[ArmedBear]

So it would appear that 28 ga is much, much, much closer to 20 ga than 67 ga is to 28 ga.

That's true. A square 20 Gauge load is 7/8 oz., whereas a square 28 Gauge load is 3/4 oz., a mere 1/8 oz. less.

mooshunt- they used to call the .410 a "36" sometime, but it's actually a 67 gauge.

The problem with a .410, apart from the limited payload, is mainly that larger shot can pattern erratically, per above.

[TAB]

Thats very true, you have to pick and choose your shots. Just like any other hunting. I go bird hunting to be with family and freinds, not to kill a bird. Does not matter to me...


You should have seen the looks at the club when I pulled it out... got lots of questions like " your not going to use that 30-30 are you?"

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Where did the 67 gauge idea come from? A .410 is in essence a 36 gauge.

A .410 is 67.5 gauge:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotgun_gauge

A 36 gauge would be between .500 and .510 bore, not .410 bore.

[moosehunt]

I ain't interested in a pissin match, but a .410 is definately not a 67 gauge. That would be something like a .25 or .24 bore--don't know exactly, but way smaller than a .410. It isn't very hard to calculate, but I'm not up to checking on the volumetric weight of lead, i.e. weight per given volume. If someone does that, then the gauge calculation is easy. I'm nearly certain it's 36 gauge, but admittedly, wouldn't bet my life on it. I do know it's no where near 67 gauge.

[ArmedBear]

A .410 ball weighs .237 oz. There are 16 oz. in a pound. Gauge is the number of balls of a given diameter in a pound.

16 / .237 = 67.5

[ArmedBear]

I go bird hunting to be with family and freinds, not to kill a bird.

Nothing wrong with that. But then why use a .410?

A nerf gun would do as good a job of not putting a pheasant on the table, for cheaper.:)

[TAB]

no what I mean is if I get one great. If I don't get one... great.( generally speaking I get one)

[moosehunt]

Well sir, if that's all a .410 ball weighs, you're sure correct and I damn sure apologize, but are you sure about that weight? I sure thought a .410 ball weighed more than that. If so, I double apologize and I definately owe you. And where did the 36 ga terminology that has been used for years come from?

[ArmedBear]

I wasn't trying to win an argument, just trying to show something, as follows.:)

A square load for a .410 would be under a quarter ounce of shot. That means that a regular .410 1/2 oz. load will pattern about as well as 1 3/4 oz. stuffed into a 20 Gauge, which is to say, not so well. And that only holds true for tiny shot. #4 or #5 patterns can be expected to be worse.

I would caution against overestimating the .410 It's a specialty shotshell designed to be as small as possible, not a replacement for a 20 or even a 28. There's a reason that the common gauges are common for hunting and clay shooting: they're optimized for something other than the smallest shell.

[GooseGestapo]

I've never had the pleasure of using the 28ga on pheasant, but I surely shot a lot of ducks back when lead was legal.

At the behest of John Olin who owned Winchester at the time, Winchester developed the Super-X 1oz loading for the 28ga explicitly for it's use on Pheasant. Particularily, the #6-shot. With copper plated "hard" shot, it patterns extreamly well.

I remember this because none other than Jack O'Connor wrote an article in Outdoor Life magazine regarding its use on pheasant. He particlularily liked it; kinda like using a .270wcf w/130gr bullets on Elk. (Elmer recommended a 10ga w/modified chokes.......).

I was in Jr.High school at the time and was very impressed. (I owned a Mossberg M500 pump in 20ga at the time, and had just started reloading with a Lee loader.......). I from that point on wanted a 28ga. I now own 2. But, I much prefer the .30/06 to the .270..... go figure!

However, for ducks these days, I prefer a 20ga with bismuth 4's. A few "heavy shot" 6's for cripples....

For early season or in calm winds, with 4,6's or my favorite, #5's, the 28ga is superb due to it's lighter weight and no "cheap" shells loaded for it. (perhaps the main reason for its excellent reputation). I do however, load my own. Winchester AA wads for 3/4oz. loads, a Remington for 7/8 abd 1oz. loads.

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

GooseGestapo, thanks very much;


At the behest of John Olin who owned Winchester at the time, Winchester developed the Super-X 1oz loading for the 28ga explicitly for it's use on Pheasant. Particularily, the #6-shot. With copper plated "hard" shot, it patterns extreamly well.

Is the Winchester Super X copper-plated?

[1911 guy]

I use to hunt with a fella who used a 28ga on just about everything but deer. That shotgun hit a lot harder on birds and squirrels than it had a right to. I'm sure his selection of shot size and skill with that little double had a lot to do with it, but the gun was capable. Pheasants, dove, squirrel and rabbit all went down to Oland and his little 28ga.

[koja48]

3 splendid roosters & 4 quail with my 28 this morning . . . birds held fairly tight, dog did exceptionally well (as always . . . at least one of us is consistent . . . should have been a few more quail). Covered a lot of ground, harvested a couple more birds than my partner with the 12, and the weight of the shells in my vest was considerably lighter. I LOVE the 28!

[Redseal]

I have used a 28 gauge for several years and with a I/C can reliably drop Pheasants out to 35 yards. Do yourself a favor and check out a book by author Bob Brister.."Shotgunning, The art and science". this book will explain any questions you could possibley have about gauge/patterns. Granted...my dog's are trained to work close and most of my shots are 15 to 25 yards however I can drop rosters out to 35 yards so I would not hesitate to recommend a 28 gauge.

[Dave McCracken]

I've seen a 28 be absolutely deadly on preserve holdovers in the hands of a master shooter. That was over close working,superb dogs.

On wild birds, I think the 28's a trifle light for most folks. Putting an insufficient amount of pellets in something that will suffer is not recommended.

My favorite ringneck load in 12 gauge is 1 1/4 oz of 5s.

[Dksimon]

as long as you use the proper shells a 28ga should be just fine. Everytime I take my 12ga out pheasant hunting my dad says "Why do you need a gun that big, by the time i was your age i had killed more grouse with my single shot .410 than i could count"

[Davek1977]

as long as you use the proper shells a 28ga should be just fine. Everytime I take my 12ga out pheasant hunting my dad says "Why do you need a gun that big, by the time i was your age i had killed more grouse with my single shot .410 than i could count"

Theres likely a lot of truth to that statement. In my teenage years, shooting a limit of sharptails on the family ranch got....well....boring it could be done so routinely using a 12 gauge (shot a limit in under 20 minutes once...best day to date). I thought I'm "handicap" myself a bit and break out Dad's ol' Western Field .410 pump gun. WEll, let me assure you it wasn't much of a handicap at all, and was a nice alternative....it was lighter, and killed grouse just as dead if I did my part. Not so sure I could be as successful today with it, but thats my fault for not shooting anywhere near the amount I did when I was 10thru 18, living at home, with a target range in the backyard and a clay shooting area behind the shop!

[GE-Mini-Gun]

28 is the only thing I use and on occasion the 410. I love the hunt and being outside with the dog and watching him work, he’s never been trained and stays within the limitations of the gun (40 yards)…terrible with pointing/holding the bird, however he’s great with the retrieve and I know his “tells”, so very few surprises. If I get something great if not that’s just as good. Over the years I’ve shot more birds than I care to remember and I’ve missed the same…sometime I think the dog wonders why I didn’t shoot…seems to look at me like “WTF…you think I’m doing this for my health?”