doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Why a 28 gauge?

I use a 28 when a .410 is just not enough gun. And the goons I hunt with don't try to "borrow" my shells.

Yes, and the 32 is just the ticket for me when the 28 is more than enough.

There is a certain attraction to obscurity. I believe for most people that like the 28 gauge there is a transition period that gets them there. A few people might have one for their first gun if they come from a bird hunting family but otherwise the vast majority of us started with either a 12 or 20 as a first and maybe even tenth shotgun. Eventually many people want somethiing different. It could be double guns with unique designs, hammer guns, guns with damascus barrels, smallbores, or something else. Each person will have their own reason. The first few doubles I bought were 20 gauge guns and I could and still can do everything with any of those guns that I can do with my 28 gauge guns. For what I hunt, where I hunt, and how I shoot the opposite is true some of the time. If I could shoot nothing bigger than a 28 gauge and kill birds efficiently and effectively every time I hunt I would never choose anything bigger. I would say the same thing about the .410. I like carrying and shooting the smallest but efficient gun possible.

I enjoy using my Parker 28 GA 2- barrel set for quail, huns and dove. For larger birds, I'm happy with my 16 GA #2 AyA. I load all brass hulls for both guns.

I don't think either of my 20's (Ithaca Classic Doubles, William Sumners)--both at a bit over 5 3/4#--kick any harder with my 3/4 oz reloads than would a 28ga of the same weight with the same load. And you have to be careful with the "weight" thing, because as noted in above posts, many 28's are built on 20ga frames--which makes them heavier than the 20. My most recent example was when I had Browning send me a 28ga Cynergy Feather, which weighed right at 5 3/4 with 28" barrels--and which I shot quite well. I picked the 28ga rather than the 20ga, because the latter weighs about 1/4 lb less--and I thought it might be TOO light.

All of that being said, according to statistics from LODGH (the Loyal Order of Dedicated Grouse Hunters), the 28ga has really caught on with those who chase woods birds in the last 3 decades or so. Back in 1983, only 1% of those who submitted data to LODGH used the 28ga. 30 years later, that number increased to 13%. Thinking on why that happened, it occurred to me that the 28's available back in the early 80's would have been either skeet guns, or else the occasional vintage Parker or Ithaca (both VERY expensive guns!) Since then, the Spanish have sent a lot of 28ga sxs our way, and several thousand Parker Reproductions were made in that gauge. Not to mention other 28ga doubles with their barrels 90 degrees out of line (OU's). Most grouse and woodcock hunters are interested in light guns, and they now have far more choices in the way of scaled frame 28's than they did 30 years ago.

As noted earlier, there are certainly plenty of light 20's, some well under 6#. But if you like a 28, there are also plenty of those well under 6#. So . . . why not? And the shells do have that cute thing going for them.

Well, I guess that answers my questions, People shoot them mostly because they're fun to shoot, and that's a good enough reason.
The same question could be asked about my favorite gauge, the 16 gauge. Once while shooting skeet I was asked why I like the 16 so much I answered that it was a beautifully patterning gun and it was lighter than the 12. He answered that he could find a beautifully patterning 12 that was just as light and the 12 was more versatile and the shells were cheaper and easier to find. I had to grudgingly admit that he was right, but I still enjoy shooting the 16.
I do have a 16 with 30" barrels that weighs a shade under 6lbs., that would be hard to duplicate in 12 gauge.
Pete

I think my father bought the gun with a second purpose in mind. If I had gone down the rifle path and had no interest in shotguns he would have ended up wit a dandy quail gun. He would have bought me a rifle to replace the unwanted shotgun. He did this when my brother first wanted a Superposed then later found out he could not shoot it as well as his old pump gun. He decided to "trade" it in on a deer rifle. Dad kept the Superposed and I think that gave him the idea with getting a new quail gun by buying me it first. Sorry dad that did not work out.

While I certainly didn't start my bird shooting with one, one of my best days ever at Doves was opening day of the 1973 Washington State season with my Model 12 28-gauge Skeet Gun, down near Zillah.

GregSY,
Love that Walnut cracking comment.oh yeah!
Franc

I'm really surprised that no one mentions Brister's book & research on the subject. I always thot it gave honest credit for the gauge's cult like following.

Skeet [NSSA] has a specific 28ga. event as does Sporting Clays [NSCA]; both of those events help to keep the gauge alive & viable. Cost of factory ammo reflects that isn't "everyman's gun" anymore than a .410 is today.

They can be light, delights to carry in the rough and seemingly kill in a manner disproportionate to their bore. Its a fact. Brister went to a lot of trouble to find out why and published the results of his findings.


FWIW, 28 gram [1oz.] 28ga. loads wore out/broke a number of model 1148 Remington's used by bird hunters. I've a friend whose father broke [the receivers developed cracks] two of them using those rounds when they were made by Federal. His guns got a LOT of use.