The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Other Topics Shotgunning 1oz load for 28ga a bit excessive?Go | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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I have had zero wounded birds as well - like yesterday, when I didn't even see a quail during a two hour walk in the desert. Saturday all bets are off... | |||
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| one of us |
Excessive is a nebulas word. If a 10z load hurts you then shoot the 3/4 load, but can't imagine 1 oz. being excessive in a 28 ga. Ive shot 1 oz. loads forever for Blues in the mountains of West Texas, and for chuckers and Pheasants in Idaho..Never felt ashamed of it... I like the 3/4 loads over Bob Whites, but either one suits me. I just like the .28 ga. I feel the same with a 12 gage, high base or low base, 2-1/2 or 3/4 or even a 3", but I shoot a lot and I shoot big bore double rifles and bolt actions, maybe that's why its never been a question. Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
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| one of us |
I'm coming in late to this discussion but thought I'd weigh in. Prior to moving to Alaska I hunted eastern Washington, Idaho and Montana for several years with a closing working Brittany and a Beretta 686 Covey 28 gauge. Someone take a minute and kick me square in the posterior for ever selling that gun. I got distracted by SxSs for a while. But I digress. I hunted 6 days a week back then as my work schedule was 1400-2200 daily with Tuesday and Wednesday off. During the season I was up every morning at day break and out bird hunting. I could be in bird cover within 10-15 minutes form my house. In other words I got in a ton of bird hunting with a 28 gauge over the course of 5 years. I tried many loads, both factory and reloads in 3/4, 7/8, and 1 ounce. While the 7/8 and 1 ounce loads killed pheasants, quail, chukars and huns well, I never saw what I considered a marked improvement over the 3/4 ounce loads. I shot enough birds with each in enough different situations that I never found one killed better than the other. I did find on the pattern board the 3/4 ounce loads tended to have more consistent patterns with any given choke than the heavier and taller shot columns. I saw more flyers and generally larger gaps in the patterns with the heavier loads. Not that the patterns were all that bad, they just didn't have the same level of consistency the 3/4 loads showed. I cannot honestly say the pellet distribution difference was enough to cause many lost birds and never noticed in the field that I was missing or crippling any more birds with one load than the other. Of course it helped considerably that I was shooting over a close working dog who held point well and could reposition on running birds to stop them. It also helped that I'm a phenomenal shot  "...I advise the gun. While this gives a moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprize, and independance to the mind. Games played with the ball and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be the constant companion of your walks." Thomas Jefferson | |||
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I remember having an argument with Brister at the Greater Houston Gun Club. When he had nothing better to add, he said "Listen, I wrote the book on shotgun shooting"! I answered "You might have done that. But I do the shooting. And I bet you anything you want, with any shotgun sport you like, that you cannot shoot as well as me!" Bill Poole, our general manager, almost fell of his chair laughing, and saying "you cannot argue with the bloody Aarab! He has been practicing shooting off the back of a camel!"  | |||
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| One of Us |
I wonder how many of you have actually tried it. I have been using 1oz of 5s and 6s by RST at 1200 FPS on pheasant for a season. I use a Chapuis 28ga SXS custom 30” that was made for me. I’ve killed about 125 birds at various ranges including some pretty long shots. I honestly can’t tell much difference between this gun and my bespoke Verney-Carron 12GA also shooting an ounce. The biggest difference is that the 12GA is fatter and heavier. Quick, Cheap, or Good: Pick Two | |||
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Here in the UK 28 bores are now becoming lot more popular. You can buy from 14g-28gram loads for it by UK and Italian makers. IMO a 1oz load is not good and my best results from 22-25gram loads, plastic wad 7's. | |||
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To add to what Mart states, all the heavier 28 gauge loads buys you is a longer shot string. Remember a pattern board is only 2 dimensional. While it can give you valuable information on pattern and pattern consistency, it does not tell the whole story. Gough Thomas" book "Shotguns and Cartridges" talks in detail on pattern efficiency vs load - it is worth a read if you wish to be enlightened on the physics of this topic! | |||
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| One of Us |
I frequently use my 28 ga. double on dove, California and Gambel quail and find 3/4 of 7 1/2 to be absolutely perfect. I do hunt wild and game farm pheasant and use the Fiochi Golden Pheasant 7/8 oz load of nickel plated 6's and they are deadly to 35 yds. Never used 1 oz loads. | |||
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| One of Us |
You may be trying to make the 28 gauge into something it is not. The one ounce load is outstanding in a 12 or 16 gauge, a bit heavy in a 20 gauge. Too much, IMO, for the 28 gauge to be efficient. In a nice light SxS 28 bore the recoil will be excessive. I own and shoot a 2-1/2" chambered 16 bore Harkom SxS and shoot 7/8 (1165 fps) ounce loads in it. It kills very well on the (wild) chukars, sharp-tailed grouse, prairie chickens, etc. I usually load #7 shot, which is effective to 40 yards plus, and provides optimum pattern density in my open choked 16s. | |||
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| One of Us |
The downside of a 1 oz load for a 28 is that it recoils more, and it can beat the gun up more. I've used 28 ga 1 oz loads at times, and they work well. I've done very well with them...but my dad is much more recoil sensitive than I and really dislikes them- can't shoot them worth beans. Yes, a 3/4 oz load is balanced for the 28. It works well. With #9-#7 shot it shoots very well on suitable game. With #6-#4 shot I want more pellets than 3/4 oz. Ordinarily, that means using a bigger gun; but if I'm going after grouse and have a chance of a pheasant, I will often grab a few 7/8 oz #6's for the off chance, and if I can shoot duck I will throw a few 1 oz loads in 5 or 6 along as well (assuming lead or equivalent bismuth loads.) If I'm going after bigger birds I tend to grab the 20 or the 16 on upland hunts. 12 ga is for duck, rare goose and occasional pheasant. 10 is for waterfowl pass shooting/ big geese or cranes. In essence, if you have multiple guns and are blessed with being able to pick based on what you plan on doing, you can specialize your uses. With modern shells, hulls, and pellet choices, really you can hunt anything with a 10-28 ga and tailor your ammo instead of the gun (although why anyone would carry a 10 bore after grouse or a 28 after high flying canadas is a good question...) | |||
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Nash Buckingham felt the 410 and 28 gauge shotguns were too light for hunting. | |||
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| One of Us |
I only shoot 12 gauges now days, and for everything but pheasant, I shoot nothing heavier than 1oz loads, and usually 7/8oz loads. I can achieve less recoil with my 12 gauges than with the 28ga., and still get the nimbleness of a 6 1/2 lb shotgun. Might be different if you’re strictly a sporting clays or trap shooter, but I’m primarily a bird hunter and I prefer either cylinder Bore or Skeet Bore in all ny shotguns to include pheasant guns. JP Sauer Drilling 12x12x9.3x72 David Murray Scottish Hammer 12 Bore Alex Henry 500/450 Double Rifle Steyr Classic Mannlicher Fullstock 6.5x55 Steyr Classic Mannlicher Fullstock .30-06 Walther PPQ H2 9mm Walther PPS M2 Cogswell & Harrison Hammer 12 Bore Damascus And Too Many More | |||
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One of my favorite writers was Michael McIntosh, and was an expert on chokes, and he preferred very open chokes on all shotguns as a result of of the modern plastic shot wad. I have to totally agree. Reduced recoil and better shot spread for bird hunting. JP Sauer Drilling 12x12x9.3x72 David Murray Scottish Hammer 12 Bore Alex Henry 500/450 Double Rifle Steyr Classic Mannlicher Fullstock 6.5x55 Steyr Classic Mannlicher Fullstock .30-06 Walther PPQ H2 9mm Walther PPS M2 Cogswell & Harrison Hammer 12 Bore Damascus And Too Many More | |||
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I only shoot 12 gauges now days, and for everything but pheasant, I shoot nothing heavier than 1oz loads, and usually 7/8oz loads. I can achieve less recoil with my 12 gauges than with the 28ga., and still get the nimbleness of a 6 1/2 lb shotgun. Might be different if you’re strictly a sporting clays or trap shooter, but I’m primarily a bird hunter and I prefer either cylinder Bore or Skeet Bore in all ny shotguns to include pheasant guns.[/QUOTE] +1  | |||
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I guess different strokes for different folks. I'm primarily a waterfowl guy, and with the advent of nontoxic shot I really went for faster speed, but I want pellet count as well. I tried that with lead, and it really worked well for me as well then. For close flushing birds a Skeet or IC choke works great, and it also works well with steel and the tungsten/iron stuff for most waterfowl shooting, at least in my case. For late season pheasant (about the only time I go after them except on game farms) they tend to flush far and I want a modified or full choke with 1.5 oz of #4's. Your school of thought with lighter loads seems to have its advocates, but it just doesn't work so well for me. I want my birds DEAD in the water, and multiple pellet hits is what that takes. Maybe I'm just not that good of a shot... but I tend to drop 1-2 birds out of a flock most times, so I'm not horrid either. | |||
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I am primarily a bird hunter for the past 35 - 40 years. I am focused on the setters I run in the Western US on wild upland birds. My shots are usually inside 25 to 30 yards and an open choked, sub 12 gauge SxS does it for me. If birds flush at 40 yards, I just don't shoot. I am not out to kill a maximum amount of birds, just out to have a maximum about of happiness with the dogs. I know that a lot of younger bird hunters are into firepower, high fives, and dead birds on the tailgate. I have out grown that phase. So heavy, fast, "magnum" loads are not part of my game plan. OK, just not my deal. | |||
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| One of Us |
A 1 ounce load is a 16 or 12 bore load. My opinion is not based on speculation. I've shot thousands of pigeons with 3/4 28 bore 7.5 shot loads at ranges to 50 yards and when the pigeons hit the ground, they bounce. I can't really talk about pheasants. I don't hunt them. I think the 3/4 ounce 28 bore load is very close to perfect for dove, quail, pigeons, huns, sharptails, etc. That's my experience anyway... | |||
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The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Other Topics Shotgunning 1oz load for 28ga a bit excessive?
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