Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns 28 vs 20 - and Semi or O/U ? What say you?

Grew up using a 20 Beretta Semi with 2 3/4 1oz 6 shot for primary load......modified choke.

How much does a 28 give up to a 20?

Use will be rabbits, dove, squirrel, and hopefully a Pheasant hunt if lucky.

Give up a little power and range but most aren't using them at 50 yards? You need to know your limitations with it. Economical wise my vote would be a 20 guage but something to be said about an over and under in 28 guage! Make an awesome quail gun!

Thanks for the reply. Excuse my ignorance, I assume a 28 OU would be a tad more petite, perhaps lighter, maybe easy to swing fast?

What's the concensus on BBL Length? 26 or 28? No doubt shells are easier to find with a 20, proper factory 28 loads are not inexpensive.

No odds are ranges would be most common to 30 yds, 40 at the outside on the bulk of any longer shots.

Anyone using SxS or mostly OU when using a double gun?

25% less shot. Which makes little difference on anything you center up inside of 25 yards or so, but patterns get thin quick past 30 yards.

Couple dollars a box more for shells.

True to scale 28's are very light and quick, but too light and quick to my taste. All of my field shooting is with 1100's and 870's, which weigh about the same as the 20 gauge frames they are built on.

28ga 1oz loads probably dont give up much vs. 20ga 1oz loads......

Over pointing dogs, I dont think it matters.

20 seems more practical. Buying shells, more availability and choices, usually. That said a light and svelte 28 is pretty sweet.

I’m far from a great wing shot but have found I connect more often with longer barrels. 28 or 30”.

Good info folks, appreciate you all !

Vintage Browning Superposed Lightning 20g's are great lightweight field guns.

The 28 gauge is a seductress. If built on a 28 gauge frame, it is a bit more petite and lighter. I shoot a couple at clays and hunt a fair bit with one.

In ballistics terms, it gives up very little to the 20 gauge, as for reasons not adequately quantified it seems to hit harder than it should with shot strings shorter than they deserve to be. I have found a 28 with good ammunition and a little choke to be very effective on game birds, including wild pheasants, to 35 yards (using 3/4 oz of shot).

However, I learned a long time ago that my shooting falls off pretty severely as the gun weight drops below 6#, so these days I have no flyweight guns, including the 28 gauge. There is no doubt that a 20 is more potent ballistically, and both gauges weigh about the same in my guns.

But there is a genuine cool factor - lithe, long barrels, small shells bumping in my pocket. My pet is a custom ordered o/u on a 28 gauge frame stocked to my dimensions with 30” barrels. It weighs 6# on the button and is a delight, my favorite shotgun. It goes out hunting more than any of the others, if that tells you anything. The 28 loses the logic argument, but wins my heart.

My last piece of advice is to buy a good 28 gauge reloader at the same time.

There is absolutely nothing to argue about in this response!

As far as barrel length I wouldn't go any shorter then 28" and 30" would be what I want.

A 1 oz load out of a 20 gauge will have a better pattern than a 28 with a 1 oz load
And a 1oz load out of a 16 gauge will have a even better pattern
And a 1 oz load out of a 12 gauge will have a even better pattern
A 1 oz load in a 28 is useless. It shines with a 3/4 oz. load
Patterns kill birds not load volume.

I have one listed in the classifieds I've been trying to sell. It's a nice gun, but I found a Pigeon Grade in the same configuration and don't need both.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...gauge-28-with-hartmann-case#Post15536890

The loading ports on most 28ga. autos and pumps are narrow if you have large hands. I have owned a high grade Browning Model 12 repro, a 1148, a Franchi and a 870. The 870 and the 1148 had the widest loading ports. High volumn dove shooting will wear your thumb out pretty quick and quick reloads are difficult with the small shells and the narrow loading ports on most 28ga. repeaters I have owned and handled. The Franchi was so light it was like carrying a BB gun. I used it as my field trial gun for a couple of years. I shot the 1148 on dove hunts for many years until another hunter wanted it much more than I did, That was a great little gun, but parts can be hard to find and it did not work well with Fiochi brand ammo which was a shame because that brand was the most affordable. The 870 was heavy for the gauge and the Browning was just too pretty to beat up while hunting. I have been looking for a side by side in 28 and trying to resist a very affordable O/U in 28 at a local gunshop. I love the gauge, but just can't seem to hang on to them.

I purchased a Beretta 686 White Onyx 28" barreled 28ga years ago. By far and away my favorite upland gun. Winchester super sport 7.5s at 1300 fps take care of my grouse/woodcock/dove shooting. When I go after bunnies and pheasants I switch to Fiocchi 7/8 oz golden pheasant in 5 shot.

Is it the most practical gun? Probably not.

Is the ammo the cheapest? Nope.

I have a gun safe full of things that arent practical or cheap and thats the fun of this hobby

I own and shoot a Benelli Legacy 28 ga. semiauto. I use this gun for everything but ducks and geese. With Fiocchi Golden Pheasant loads of 7/8 oz, and either 6 or 7.5 plated shot, this shotgun is deadly on birds pointed by my Lab. Weight is around 5 lb., a real joy to carry all day in the field. The Benelli is scaled to proper 28 ga. dimensions, not a 20 ga. simply barreled to 28 like many other makes. For doves, I go to 3/4 oz. trap and skeet loads, in 7.5 shot. If you have not tried a 28 ga. for upland game, you are missing out, IMO.

Bighorn-

Sounds like we think a lot alike in ammo choices for our 28s.

28 is good but I think 20 may be just ever so slightly better regarding range on wild birds, though it may be in my mind alone.I 've played with 20 gauges in SxS, O/U and auto. I've played with 28s in O/U and semi. I would go 20 gauge Benelli Montefeltro, but that's me.

I have several 28 gauges, a browning o/u, a wingmaster with the jackass remlock converted on it to the democrat heart attack no lock mod, and a BPS. Whenever we shoot clays...at the end of the day, the wingmaster gets the most work out. It's picked by most everyone over 12's, 16's, 410's and 20's laying beside it in the pick-up truck. It's just a nice match and pleasant to shoot.

If I could only have one gun...it'd be a 12 gauge. But this is America...so I need a 10 gauge eventually to add to my collection.

I've got a BPS 10Ga. I'll sell you cheap. It's ANIB.

I'm a 28 gauge fan.
When I was a kid, like many I started with a 410, the old man had a dandy 11-48 28ga skeet that I shot, progressed to 20, then 16, and of course 12. Always wanted bigger, bigger is better, right? Even shot an 1887 Winchester 10 ga for ducks and geese for a few seasons.
As a young adult, I always found myself going back to a 28ga.
Now, I shoot a Browning Superposed 28ga choked skeet/skeet almost exclusively for pheasants with #5s or 6s it's a deadly combination. 40 yards is not a problem.
I always seemed to make my best and most surprising shots with a 28ga.
Nothing at all wrong with a 20 or 16. I tend to take either out on occasion for doves or pheasants. But, nothing shoots like a quality 28.