What is the benifit of a 28 Gauge?

Like a lot of calibers, some people like to own them just to be a little different. Does anyone gain anything by shooting a 28 over a 20 or 16? Well, like all guns, it depends on who's pulling the trigger.

The 28 is said to pattern better than the 20 because of the way the shot stacks in the hull. The terms to look for are balanced load or square load. The .410 patterns relatively poorly because the shot is really stacked up higher than it is wide in the hull.

Of course, there are differences between the older paper hulls and the new plastic ones with plastic wads.

Time to go get a haircut. Later.

John

A 28ga built on a true 28ga frame is lighter and handier than a 20, with nearly the same capability. It isn't too much bigger than a .410, but is a whole lot more capable for most shooters.

There is a definite COOL factor when you shoot a 28 and do better than folks with a 20 or 12

A gun on a true 28 frame is smaller in size and lighter in weight - making all day carry a joy

There really isn't anything you can do with a 20 that you can't do with a 28, especially with some of the newer loadings

Besides skeet, small gauge sporting clays, you have an ideal bore size for quail, dove, chukar, pheasant over dogs, grouse and partridge.

You can carry a lot more shells in your pockets as well

I love the 28ga. I think it's more the gun than the actual Gauge. Shooting the sub gauge events are just flat out fun.

Like oneounce said, with the shells available and loads you can develope, make it quite capable for most any hunting.

I have a few friends who outshoot me with a 28 while I am shooting a 20.

It's all a matter of skill.
They shoot 1,000 28 ga shells on blue-rock for every one of my 20's in the last several years.

But the Snob Factor among the 28 ga guys is way off the charts!!

rc

That's not Snob Factor RC, it is just pure JOY.
IMO, the 28 is THE best bore size for teaching new shooters, 50% more payload than a 410 helps ensure some success on targets without the recoil of bigger bore sizes.

Upland hunting with a scales 28 SxS round action like an AyA is just a great experience

That's not Snob Factor RC, it is just pure JOY.

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No, they are actually snobs if you aren't shooting a 28 and singing it's praises in tune with them!

rc

The same could also be said about Ruger, Glock, and Mossberg owners....!

My cousin convinced me to try 28 gauge for our South Dakota pheasant hunts, once I tried it, and watched just as many roosters fall from the sky, I was sold. Now him and his buddies all shoot Benelli semi-autos, I prefer my Browning Citori, either way, it's all good.

I sold all my other shotguns and now have just the 28 gauge.

Been quail hunting with it too and dropped more birds than I ever did with the 12 gauge.

There are times though, especially with the longer shots on wild roosters in CRP grass, on windy days, when the 12 gauge guys rule the shoot. Sometimes there is no substitute for a lot of lead in the air.

I took a young man out for his first shotgun session. We had a 12ga SKB 600, a Beretta BL3 20ga, and a Verona 501 in 28ga. It didn't take long to gravitate to the 28. Recoil after 50 rounds was getting uncomfortable. The little Verona was a pure pleasure to handle and shoot.

"But the Snob Factor among the 28 ga guys is way off the charts!!"

Just because people treat us like snobs doesn't mean we are.

Not so much difference in effect but there is some "coolness" factor and a slight weight reduction IF the 28 is built on it's own frame size.
I went from a 20 pump to a 12 pump to a 12 auto to a 12 SxS in the decades of quail/pheasant hunting I did. When the bird populations dropped and we hunted game farms, I went to a 28 SxS since the umph of the big gun wasn't needed for planted birds.
If economy is a factor, finding affordable 28 shells may be a challenge. I wouldn't(couldn't afford to) take a 28 to the dove field to blast 3-4 boxes of shells.

Well, you could afford it if you reload for it - 28 and 410 really benefit from reloading - and with some folks reloading the 28 with 5/8 oz for practice, the lead goes a loooong way, getting 640 rounds from a bag of shot

"3-4 boxes of shells"

I might still take 2 boxes - one for me and one for the other folks to try. I didn't say I wouldn't show it off, I just said I wasn't a snob.

oneounceload said:

Well, you could afford it if you reload for it - 28 and 410 really benefit from reloading - and with some folks reloading the 28 with 5/8 oz for practice, the lead goes a loooong way, getting 640 rounds from a bag of shot

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Big factor when shot sells for over $40 a bag.

What is the benifit of a 28 Gauge?

Almost no one wants to borrow shells from you...

OP - go here and ask these folks - they'll fill you in

Gee - thanks. Now I actually WANT a 28 Gauge!

And they are the least likely of the six common gauges to have been "Bubbafied" into an assault shotgun.

^^^^ AMEN to that.........

What's the benefit? Walk in a gun store for the first time and buy a box of 28 ga. They will fall all over themselves showing you gun after gun because it's a sure sign you're a gun nut and only people with too much money buy factory ammo.

You can sell the box later if you don't actually own a 28.

It's sort of like borrowing a puppy to meet girls.

One of the best target guns I have ever shot belonged to a gun-writer friend of mine. He had this built, to his measurements, for Argentina dove shooting - it is a Perazzi MX-20/28 - a 28 gauge built on the heavier 20 gauge frame for high-volume shooting. Even with a 15"+ LOP. the way the stock is designed, it fits folks from 5'6" to guys my size - 6'3" . With its fixed .016 chokes (IM), it SMOKES targets at 45 yards with ease. It would make a great sporting gun, yet at 7.25#, isn't totally too heavy to carry hunting.

I would take one of those and this Beretta O/U I saw with double triggers that weighs 6# even for targets and birds and be quite happy with those two

When my father was alive, he was on blood thinners like coumadin/warfarin. The cancer was really wiping him out. He was shooting trap from a lawn chair. He decided he needed a lightweight, reduced recoil shotgun that wouldnt bruise him and bought a 28 gauge pump. I think he just wanted to add to his 870 wingmaster collection. When he passed, my brother got that 28 wingmaster, another brother got the 12 GA, and my son ended up with the 20 GA.