No secret I am a fan of the 28 ga.
kudu,PJR, Trapper and others have shared what I have shared and still do about the 28 ga.
I prefer a gas gun to teach new shooters, favorites are the 1100, Beretta, Browning Golds - usually in 20 ga.
28 ga in 1100 : I have used this for kids, new tyro shooters and even for the older folks. Great Gun for someone whom has had surgery of some type and many times Doctor's orders on the amount of recoil the shooter is allowed.
I'm talking detached retinas, back, neck, shoulder surgeries.
Many a "kid" got that 1100 in 28 ga, and many still use that gun. Sure they may have grown up and gone onto other platforms and gauges...but many still use them to teach...
In one case - I was on that last dove hunt a 90 y/o grandpa went on - and he used grandson's 28 ga 1100. And yes the fellow could shoot and did fell doves.
Get a reloader.
One cannot put a value on a kid, much less anyone being able to participate in shooting safely and/or being to shoot comfortable again.
I know too many people from this board that have changed their minds about the 28 ga and wondered why they did not consider one sooner.
I used a 3 bbl Citori set in competition...sure did use them 28 ga bbls a lot. In fact I often shot all 3 gauges using the 28 ga...had to use the .410 for the little critter event.
Been a few folks that due to whatever illness or surgery - the only gun they could use if need be other than a .22 rifle was that 1100 in 28 ga.
Comforting - like Cooper says...not always comfortable.
Bruised wallets recover just fine...
I used to buy NIB 1100 for $159. Meaning guns hold value a lot better than some things one spends money on.
I paid something like $49 for my first MEC reloader, similar one today is about $109.
I paid $4800 for a one year old Malibu back then, with 11k miles on it.
The 28 ga I wanted at the last Tulsa show, was a model 12. $4800 for that one. I forget what these sold for new back when they came out.
28 ga guns are Great - Period. I like all the platforms, I feel a few more offerings in single shot versions need to come out.
I have no idea the number of 28 ga shells I have fired. I used to shoot about 20k of these a year easy...
There is a 28 ga 870 pump that has been back to Remington once for going thru, this one last count figured - 300k rds. We call it the "money gun" - it has amongst extra stuff, a trigger group without a safety.
Legal? sure - just like release triggers - just inform the RO and SO.
Gun still running, still breaking , busting and felling... teaching and some lessons are wallet flushes of others...*ahem*.
See the gun gots its nickname for winning money, especially shooting doubles. Excellent patterns, hard hitting as 28 gauges are, and the shooter does not get fatigued from the weight of the gun or from recoil.
This is important when long runs are made in shoot-offs...especially when shoot-offs run into 5 boxes. You read that right 5 boxes in a shoot off. There was Big money on the line ( and side bets were rumored ) $2000 a lot of money when a one year old Malibu sold for $4800 at the time.
