Yesterday I was out picking up my duck stamps and to purchase a box of steel shot at Field and Stream, which too my surprise No steel shot. However, equally surprising was the multiple shells of 1oz loads in 28 gauge. (AA, Rem....).

Have I missed something into days shooting trends?

I enharrited a case of 1 oz 28 gauge shells, AA white box, and have been slowly giving them away. (A little concerned in running them through my 28s).

You are not concerned at running steel loads through your 28? Wouldn't a problem with 1 oz loads be the same sort of problem you might have with steel?
I can't say I would honestly consider using my lone 28 on ducks, I consider it more of a bluebird day grouse and woodcock gun. I have never considered the possibility of using steel, or, a 1 oz load in a 28, either.
As to 1 oz loads in a 28, if they are out there, it would suggest that someone is buying them. It isn't me.


Best,
Ted

Over on the 28-gauge Forum guys are talking about 1 1/16 ounce loads and 3-inch guns and shells --

http://28gasociety.forumer.com/topic/2354802/Wheres-the-3-inch-28-gauge#.V_pVieArKUk

Which to me seems crazy.

Say let me clarify, steel Shot is for my 12. (Not my 28 gauge).

Observation is all the 1oz loads for 28 gauge shells.

Somebody must be buying them. They wouldn't be there if that weren't the case.

Glad to hear a 12 is bearing the brunt of the non-toxic steel shot. I can't imagine a 28 loaded with steel to be effective for much.


Best,
Ted

Krieghoff 32 40+ years old



PLUS Hevi-shot $3 a cartridge

http://www.mackspw.com/Item--i-ENV8212S

As shown by the above post Europe long ago made 28 ga 3in. I have not seen American made 3in 28ga ammo, though I have seen 3in 28ga in a cartridge collection

I had an O/U 28ga Italian guild gun marked 3in.

The 1 oz 28 ga load is ok for heavy modern built 28ga guns, but nonsense for older and superlight guns.

The 28-gauge 1 ounce load was loaded in the US, at least for a while, a number of years ago. Jack O'Connor writes in the Shotgun Book.

In the late 1950's, Federal Cartridge Company kicked over the traces and loaded a 28-gauge magnum shell with 1 ounce of shot. The other companies followed suit.

I expect that the 28-gauge "magnum" was 3-inch.

There's an increasing number of hunters using 28 gauge for turkey hunting with 18g/cc shot. The loads I've seen for the 28 have ranged from 1.25 oz to 1.5 oz. I know of a couple guys using o/u guns in the 28, but most are using semi-auto. I haven't heard of anyone using a 28 gauge sxs, but there is probably someone doing it.

Of course, all of these guys are using modern guns that can handle the loads. All the loads are pressure tested and within SAAMI specs. I use a 20 myself.

No, it was/is a 1960 follow on to the 2 3/4 inch Magnum 12-gauge (1 1/2 ounce), 16-Gauge (1 1/4 ounce) and 20-gauge (1 1/8 ounce) loads introduced in 1954, put up in the, since WW-II, standard 2 3/4 inch 28-gauge case.



Earliest ones the paper cased shells in the box upper left.

For the first thirty years of the Twentieth Century our North American 28-gauge ammo was either 2 1/2 inch with 1 3/4 drams of bulk smokeless powder pushing 5/8 ounce of shot --







or 2 7/8 inch with 2 drams of bulk smokeless powder pushing 5/8 ounce of shot. I've yet to ever find a box of these.

Then along about 1931/2 Western Cartridge Co. added a 28-gauge load to their high velocity, progressive burning powder, Super-X offerings of 2 1/4 drams equiv. pushing 3/4 ounce of shot out of the 2 7/8 inch case.



During the 1940s the 2 3/4 inch 28-gauge case was introduced and by the time WW-II was behind us the 2 1/2 and 2 7/8 inch 28-gauge cases were gone. In their January 3, 1961, catalog, Western Cartridge Co. added the 28-gauge 2 3/4 inch Magnum with 1 ounce of shot to their offerings.

IMHO using 1 1/16 oz. or even 1 oz. loads really defeats the whole idea of the 'easy to carry', 'easy shooting', 'smaller upland bird' gun. I mean really, why bother? Why not just shoot a sixteen or a twelve gauge????

I'm heading for northern NH on Wednesday to put some miles on my Danners. Over the last 2 weeks I have been patterning my 28ga. in preparation. Finally settled on 3/4oz of #8 in the right and 7/8oz of #7-1/2's in the left. Wasn't impressed with the 3/4oz. patterns at 30 yards.

The gun is .010 and .013. and 5lbs 12oz.. After a session on the pattern board with 7/8oz., no way I'm shooting 1oz..

Call me a split tail or just gettin old, but that's my story and I'm stickin to it.

Never had a desire for a 28 that weighed more than 5½ lbs using more than 3/4oz shot nor a .410 weighing in excess of 4½lbs using more than ½oz shot.
Am in full agreement with DAM16SXS, if you want more than that why not just get a "Shotgun" & forget the pea shooter.

Gents,
I tried 1 ounce out of my 28ga baby framed Merkel........once!
Never again! I'll stick to the 3/4 ounce as the gun was intended to shoot, an absolute pleasure with that.
Karl

I made the mistake of shooting a box of Winchester AA sporting clays loads through my 28 ga Benelli Legacy. Surprising amount of recoil. Then again, the gun only weighs about 5 lbs.

Learned 75 years ago that I shot better with less recoil, hence 7 X 57 biggest calibre rifle and 12 for shotguns, ranging to no lower than 20s.

Assuming you started at the same age I did, Oh King of Canucks- I'm 75 and started with a Stevens Walnut Hill at age 10- thanks Grandpa-I like the 7x57, as did Jack O'Connor, but also the 30-06 and .35 Whelen, and shotguns- 12's with lighter loads, except the steel shot waterfowling shotguns- mainly Model 12's--both 2&3/4" and 3" versions- No 10 gauge or 3.5" 12 magnums for me, and I use RST 1 ounce loads in my LC Smiths-- @0 is Ok, but the .410 should be banned from the game fields, as was the thought of the late Nash Buckingham as well. Recoil and a poorly fitted gun- equal flinches and poor accuracy as a result. I use a .243Win Sako BA L579 with Leupold scope for woodchucks, haven't yet tried it on a hedgehog- but I'll wager a 6 pack of Molson Golden a .55 grain Hornady Moly-Tip .243 in the boiler room of a hedgehog would produce quite a splatter-

I was pleased when JOC referred in a column to the 7mm as a woman's gun because its recoil suited me to a T. He referred same column to my CZ Brno as the perfect saddle gun, reporting on a hunt with the Shah and praising the Canadian Industries Limited 139-grain cartridge at 2900fps. Mine was built in 1950. Aside from the 22s my only other rifle is Ruger .250 Savage. Recoil is bane of any shooting as surely as too much sun and cigarettes will kill you faster than a bullet.

Because it is great fun to take a limit of doves with a .410, and still shoot a good average. Why?? Just because I can. And, if 1 1/8 oz. of lead 6s will kill a 1 1/2# wood duck cleanly, 11/16 oz. of lead 8s will most certainly kill a 5 oz. dove cleanly.

All my best, SRH

The 1 oz 28 gauge loads do kick in a light gun for sustained shooting. But if you are going to walk a lot and shoot very little (wild quail in parts of the South, grouse in most areas), it's a package that is very handy. There are plenty of days when you'll walk miles and may only pull the triggers twice.

I never use more than 7/8 oz. for quail even when I am using a 20 ga. It worked perfectly even on Gambel's in Arizona, for me. I can see how grouse might need a bit more lead. Never shot one, but it's definitely a bigger bird.

SRH

As I recall the 20ga was originally loaded with 3/4oz. It was later upped to 7/8oz & then with the introduction of slower powders the express load of 1 oz. When Winchester re-introduced the 3" 20, but now in the form of a Magnum the load was 1 3/16oz which quickly went to 1¼oz. According to Jack O'Connor the mod 21 which introduced this Magnum loading of the 3" 20 weighed 7lbs. My thoughts then, as well as now, was if I am going to carry a 7lb gun why should it not be a 12.
My reasoning is similar on the small bores, I have no qualms with anyone using whatever floats their boat, but they are simply not my choices. One thing I will not cede to anyone is that using inferior equipment makes one a better "Sportsman". I enjoy muzzleloader shooting. I have killed both quail & rabbit with an I Hollis 12ga caplock double.
That did not automatically make me a better sportsman than someone else using an 1100 Rem semi auto. Sportsmanship is in ones mind set, not their equipment.
All down through the years I have had both limited time & finances to apply to my desire for hunting. I have always thus desired to make the best possible choice of a gun within my affordability for the game sought. This has primarily fallen with in the 12-20 range & I apologize to no one for my choices. They suit me & my abilities well.

+1

I've not noticed a lot of 1oz loads for 28, though likely I'm just not observant. I do recall first seeing them several years ago at a quail plantation in Georgia. The guy using them gave me some crap for using a big gun (my AyA 20ga shooting 7/8 oz.), implying it wasn't sporting. Go figure!

There seems to be an odd mind set amongst some shooters (specifically driven birds) that I don't get.

A couple of years ago I was picking up on a high bird shoot in Wales. The team of guns prided themselves on using only 20 bores and 28s, it was "more sporting".

On one drive off a biggish hill (Salopian might know it, "The North Pole") two such were flank guns using 28's. I picked twentythree birds of which seventeen were runners; the three dogs had to sweep a lot of difficult cover over some big distances, and so did I. i doubt we found all of them.

The beaters on the hill radio'd down and asked if I was warm enough now and did I know my big yellow dog was three parishes away?

The fact is that these guys were seriously under gunned, and didn't care; it buffed their egos to claim some sort of faux superiority. Sporting my arse.

Eug

1 oz. is a lot to stuff down a .550" hole.

Much like the extra 1/8 oz. in a 1 oz. 20 vs. 7/8's, I'm guessing most of the extra shot goes someplace other than the traditional 30" circle.

Relying on the fringe area of the pattern is poor form.

Indeed, a 1 oz. load is perfect for a 16 gauge. The shot goes where it's useful to the gunner.

I have shot a great deal of 1 oz loads through my custom 28 ga. Arrieta. I sure can notice a difference in the recoil. Most of my normal shootings is the light shot.

I have killed a couple of pheasants with it. (1 oz)

But mostly quail and dove at the 3/4 ounce

John Boyd

28 Bores have drifted in and out of my life...My Dad gave me a 28 DHE Pahkuh when I was about 11 or 12 . I still have it..I have had Remingtons, a 28 870 that I couldn't miss with, Several Spanish Doubles, An amazing Cz/Huglu that my daughter stole from me...A Remington skeet gun that killed several million doves, that I got from Robert Stack...BUT I never fell in love with them..At age 81, have settled into a nice light Brit 16 Bore and a Lefever G grade 12...And (don't tell anyone) A CZ semiauto Black plastic steel shootin duck killer

I'm learning the 28 yet again (3/4-ounce loads for me please!). Use has to be limited to be effective, but they certainly are effective in the right circumstances.

The first Parker I bought in mid 60s was a VHE 28 gauge skeet gun with 26 inch barrels and it was a deadly bird gun for me. Bobby

one of my long time friends and customers recently consigned his custom made 28 gauge ithaca nid repro to me for sale...this is an interesting gun from several perspectives...it has extra heavy weight barrels, which causes the balance of the gun to be forward of the hinge pin...which makes for a very nice swinging gun on the skeet range...also, this gun was specifically designed for released pheasant tower shoots, where heavy one ounce loads are needed for humane kills...the gun weighs 8 1/2 pounds... and as such does not beat you up the way a lighter gun would, after a 100 rounds or so...

Maybe you can find a NFL linebacker who wants a double 28. Few others would have any interest in an 8 1/2# 28 Ga. S x S.

SRH

My first shotgun given to me was a Winchester model 12 in 28 ga., Skeet, with a case of 1 ounce loads when I was 11. I loved that gun and the 28 like it was magic. With that gun I killed more quail, dove or ducks than either of my older brothers did with their A5 or model 12 12 ga.

We hunted ducks over decoys, in a narrow creek, off a river mouth about half a mile from the Chesapeake Bay. With it I took canvasbacks, black ducks, mallards and countless smaller ducks. It was not often the cheesie had to chase down one of my wounded birds like he did for my brothers. They would just claim I missed cleanly. I think a combination of tighter chokes and heavier shot loads makes up very little for better pattern placement and not sky busting so much.

The only time my father told me not to shoot my 28 at game was the day I came home with two Cananda geese. He thought, and rightly so, that I was under gunned for geeses and would wound more if I used it again. But that day was one of those weird days you get on the marsh. We had fog on the water up to maybe five feet then clearing to clouds that were about 20 yards up. You could not see the creek or much above 20-30 yards up but could look level for a mile in any direction. Birds would drop down out of the cloud cover, within easy range and pop right back up into cover. I heard geese and started calling them as a lark. Two dropped into view and I made a perfect true pair double at about 15-20 yards. All head and neck shot which killed them like Thor's hammer. When I skinned their neck out there must have been thirty pellets in each. But back then, when a father told you not to do it again that was the end of my using a 28 for geese. And he was right. So since lead is frowned upon for ducks I'll pass on those 1 ounce loads because now I understand recoil and know a simple 3/4 or max 7/8 ounce load will take whatever I need with the 28.

Anything but doing what logical if you need that type of load and going to a 12 gauge.
I think I'll start cooking up a 22 rimfire Magnum, Magnum, Magnum(Hell we'll just call it the 22 Magnum3 that I can use for elk hunting. Anyone in the market for a nice used 300 Winchester ??
Jim

Every now and then I see a dove shooter using 1 oz. loads for doves and I wonder why not just use a 16 or a 20? I can see the utility and versatility of a 3" 28 gauge for shooting steel shot and switching loads for all other game and using the 3/4 oz. lead load. I won't bite on it, however.
Gil

Say guys, very good points of view and lots of insight. I see and understand why the one ounce loads. Just don't see using them in my little 28s. I gave away that case of 1 oz loads to a complete stranger shooting skeet with a auto loader (1100) in 28.

The guy and his friends seemed perplexed, but after I told them how I inherited them, they were all to happy to take them off my hands.

Just find it interesting that a major sporting goods store carries more 1oz loads in 28 than 3/4oz loads.

Shoot straight. And take a youth hunting/shooting.

I have shot various models of 28 gauge guns for hunting for years and have found the 3/4 ounce load to be more effective than the 1 ounce load. In 20 gauge I find the 7/8 ounce load and 1 ounce load to be similar in effectiveness but the 7/8 ounce kicks less for me so I use it. Riprap

Nice to see your post Riprap. It's been a while since we've seen ya'...Geo

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Pretty sure one of those 1 oz loads would dismantle my 4 1/2 lb london gun!!

I know it doesn't look like much (world's smallest hen pheasant), but it was the first decent wing shot I've made in a while (w/3/4-ounce, 7 1/2s). Wrecked my L4 disc this Spring and it's been hell to get going again. Eat less and walk more is the motto of the bad-back folks, and I find walking far easier with a gun in my hand. It's even better when you get to pot a leftover bird or two at the local pet & shoot.

That holds true for us bad ankle folks as well Lloyd.

Back from my NH trip. 3 solid days in Pittsburg. 7 flushes, 1 miss, 1 dead without a dog. The proprietor of the cabins we stayed in, said the bird flushes were way down. All in all it was beautiful weather, great company, foliage in it's peak with lobster and other seafood a plenty. We are already planning next year.

Oh, 28ga WC Scott with 7/8oz #8's. I'll be using the same setup next year. Light weight and short barrels. What a treat. My cousin was using his Ruger O/U 20ga.. He carried the Scott for a couple of hours and... he's looking for a new shotgun for next year.

Bill:

If that's the stream between the Lower Connecticut Lakes then I've flyfished it (successfully, I might add). Beautiful country, no question! Always wanted to hunt it, but haven't quite made it back there yet. I've got family in New Hampshire who needs to learn how to properly use his J. Graham & Sons 20 BLNE. Yes, lugging a 5 1/2 lb scattergun will spoil you.

Lloyd,
That is EXACTLY the stream in the pic..
I thought it was interesting that there is a stretch called the trophy area. Fly fishing only. The bottom pic is the second Conn lake.

We went up to Scott's bog toward the Canadian border and there were Canadian Jays. We were walking along a stream and my cousin pointed at one in the tree. It flew down and sat in his hand!
Very cool.