This last Saturday our group of hunters lucked into a pretty good concentration of mourning doves here near the end of the Texas season. The day was very windy with thunderstorms in the area, but the doves were there, so we went after them.
Circumstances found one guy, who normally shoots nothing but a 12 gauge, without his shotgun, so another guy loaned him a 28 gauge Browning Citori. The 12-gauge shooter was grateful to have something to shoot, but expressed doubt that he could have much success with what he called "a BB gun in a tornado".
Well, he probably shot the best percentage he's ever shot and ended the afternoon with nearly a 15-bird limit, despite the howling wind gusts and being armed only with a "BB gun".
No one seems to believe me that I've long ago found that I can hit doves just as far away and with a better percentage with a 28 as with a 12 (I happened to be shooting a 20 on Saturday -- only because I had a wealth of aging 20 shells I needed to shoot up -- and did well with it.) But when it comes to game birds the size of doves, it seems to me that a 12 gauge is a handicap compared to a 20 or 28. My friend's experience seems to confirm this.
Posts: 13266 | Location: Henly, TX, USA | Registered: 04 April 2001
I use a 16ga Citori and 1oz of #7.5/8@1300. I am leaning heavily towards getting a 28ga. I used one a few years ago and it was a marvelous light weight gun that didn't kick the snot outta me and I scratched down quite a few birds with.
We Band of Bubbas N.R.A Life Member TDR Cummins Power All The Way Certified member of the Whompers Club
Posts: 2973 | Location: South Texas | Registered: 15 January 2008
All shotgun Gauges will be effective when the proper combination of shot size and choke are used for the game bird at hand, delivering enough energy and shot density to the target. But all of that is for nought if the target is not centered. A pattern that is achieved with a typical 1 1/8 oz load of a 12ga will give a shooter more success on the edge of the pattern than 3/4oz load found in a 28ga. I am a big fan of the 28ga and have seen it hold it's own as is proven in the great waterfowl pictures above. Perhaps the 28ga Browning just fit the shooter better or as most of have experienced one time or another he was having an out of body experience and every thing was going to drop out of the sky when he pulled the trigger that day. Enjoy your dove season
Posts: 1630 | Location: Vermont | Registered: 27 March 2006
I have 2 12 gauges but they almost never get used. The one 870 petty much for ducks but because I don't have another 20 I would want to see get dinged up. I have an awesome Auto-5 Magnum 20 that has been my go-to gun for quail and pheasant for years... The 28 would be hella fun fo sho...
I recently picked up one of the new Beretta a400 20 gauges - it is one slick little gun. The guys I hunted ducks with Sat made fun of me when I pulled it out of the case. They weren't laughing long. It had almost no recoil but did have a devastatingly accurate and life changing effect on the ducks. I passed on a couple ducks that I might have shot at with my 12 gauge, but otherwise had a most satisfying and successful hunt.
I love to bits my little old WJ Jeffery 410. Barrels are pitted, stocks a bit tatty, but it weighs just 41/2 lbs. it is becoming go to go gun for walked up type shooting, and certainly don't feel under gunned. I have dropped big cock pheasants, and duck at 25 to 30 yds stone dead. I just use the 9gm 2.5 inch cartridges but if you put the bird in the middle of pattern they drop. Yes I do hit more with my 12 bore AyA coral, but just the daintiness of the 410, plus a pocket full of cartridges ( no need for cartridge bags / belts etc) lack of recoil and noise is very appealing. Would I use it on wildfowl - probably not on the foreshore, but as a boy I did drop a very low flying Canada goose with my grandmothers folding army and navy 410.
Posts: 987 | Location: Scotland | Registered: 28 February 2011
