Well of course the oft stated "Fact" of the 28 & 16 ga's being somehow Ballistically more effecient is Total, Pure, Unadulterated "BS". This is usually accompanied by the stated reason being they shoot a "Square Load". the author then insults ones intelligence by givig the definition of a Sq Load as being either the equivelent wt of a round ball which fits the bore, or that the length of the shot column in the bore is equal to it's dia. Now it don't take a rocket scientist to divide 16 by 28 & figure the wt of a 28ga round ball is .57oz, or just over 9/16oz, far short of the normal 3/4oz (.75oz) load. Hercules/Alliant supplied us with a chart in their handloaders guide showing nominal column length in the various gauges for 1oz of shot. The 28ga is listed @ 1.21" & it's bore dia is .55", then .55/1.21 = .455oz or just over 7/16oz, even lighter than the round ball definition. A shotgun bbl is a piece of pipe to guide a fist full of shot. The bigger the pipe the more shot it will throw effeciently. All the gauges simply take their place in the line-up. The 28ga is way ahead of a .410,the 20 a little better, the 16 better still & for most purposes the 12 best of all. For normal use the 10 is generally too big, being a specialized gun at one end, as the small bores are on the other end.
