A few of years ago I decided to use a 28 here in Montana, putting it aside only when it started to fail on bigger upland birds. It never did. Took a bunch of wild pheasants neatly at ranges out to 40 yards, and also some sage grouse, my longest kill 47 yards on a big male of six pounds or so. No problem at all on mountain grouse, whether ruffs or blues, and of course it also worked great on Huns and doves.
A 28 pointed right with an appropriate load for the game works very well out to the ranges most people can consistently take upland birds. I wouldn't choose it for 50+ yard shooting of wild pheasants, but that's a pretty specialized game. One thing many hunters don't realize is that as the bird gets bigger the more likely it is to be hit by multiple pellets.
