Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 410 or 28 gauge

I only shoot SxS's and never saw a reason to keep anything smaller than my 20's.

This is the main reason to get the 28. When your wife tires of hunting or shooting, you will have a shotgun you really like and think is cool!

We have mostly ruffed grouse here along with some blues and ptarmagin. When we go north of here there are lots of spruce grouse as well.

Would the 20 gauge with the 7/8 oz load have similar recoil to the 28 gauge loads using 3/4-1 oz of lead? I have never fired a 28 to know how it compares.

been a while since I bought 28ga. I tend to shoot more shotgun than anything and dollars saved on shells means more rounds of skeet and chineese trap I can shoot. Tryin to remember when I was buying both 28ga and 20ga shells. Seems I could get get the bulk 100rnd packs of 20ga for quite a bit cheaper. hence the 28ga if you reload comment.

cant see it being a big difference. I CAN see the gun being a bigger difference in recoil though. Have shot a couple 20gauges that were just abusive, wich really confused me, as a 20 just aint supposed to do that

if recoil is a issue, an your just shootin grouse...well 22lr works damn good

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Thought the 3/4 ounce loads in the 410 were supposed to make it the equal of the 28...


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"Thought the 3/4 ounce loads in the 410 were supposed to make it the equal of the 28..."

That notion is covered well, and debunked, in JB's very good article, "More Shot Please, Heavy loads for the .410" in the latest issue (Dec 2011) of GUNS magazine. John's experience gives a very good accounting of the 28 ga's abilities and also gives the .410 as much credit as it is due. This in the hands of a knowledgable expert, backed up by real world testing and facts.

There is a big difference in performance between the two.

Did not know that he wrote an article on this, not sure I can get GUNS magazine here, will have to check.

One can also shoot 3/4 OZ loads in a 20 Ga and there are some very fine 20s available....the ultra lite Benelli for example as well as Browning's feather O/U

IMO the 20 (for this reason) is still king of the smaller gauges as much as I liked my 28s!

oh....BTW....Winchester makes a 1 OZ load for the 28!

Wish I could give you a flat-out yes or no answer. Physics comes into play here and the 7/8oz 20 gauge should have similar recoil to the 3/4th 28 if the 20 weighs a little more-they usually do-and the fps of both loads are close.

However, you can get some extremely light 28Gauges-around 5.5lbs-that might have more actual recoil.

If you are dead set on a 28ga, a great option may be to look around and find a Browning Feather with the lightweight receiver in 28Ga. They are not the lightest 28 on the market, but still carry easy and make a great field shotgun. Lop can be a little long out of the box and you may need to cut it down for someone of smaller stature.

Shot a round of skeet with one in 28 last Sunday. Smashed targets and recoil was a pleasant bump.

Good luck.

The 410 remains a strange aberration. Why a 12, 16 , 20, 28 gauge, and then a 67 gauge--the 410?

No contest in favor of the 28.

I heartily concur with Denton, and you! I also think smaller shot sizes also make the best patterns in the smaller gauges too, for more pellet density in the pattern! (yeah duh, right? )

One poster said the 28ga is a "big performer" in a little shell - lotta truth to that comment. However I'd still start a beginner in a 20ga with carefully chosen loads.

Most 28ga shooters I know are expert wingshooters who have graduated to [expensive] O/U's or SXS's - although I once came across a bobwhite hunter in Florida, who was shooting a very old (and VERY worn) 60's vintage M1100! He bagged 3 quail with 3 shots. Scared the hell outta me as I didn't know he was near me until the covey rise and his shots.

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Rifle shooters get a dozen new cartridges every year to bridge the gap between Remington's latest 30 caliber short mag and Ruger's latest 30 caliber short mag.

We shotgunners have been cheated for so long.

Why can't we get a 48 gauge to bridge the tremendous gap between the 28 gauge and the 410 (67) ?

(Personally, would like Parker to bring back the 11 gauge too.)



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32 gauge

http://www.midwayusa.com/Product/15...n-32-gauge-2-1-2-1-2-oz-8-shot-box-of-25

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Can't we get a 3-inch 32 gauge magnum ?

Must we settle for a 2� inch 32 gauge ?

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The 28 gauge is far superior in performance to the .410. It is much closer to the 20 gauge than the .410. Just have a look at NSSA skeet averages.

That said, in my own experience, my 28s have gone down the road. My dilemma is that my shooting significantly falls off with a gun that weighs less than 6 pounds, the perfect weight for a 20. A sveldt 28 should weigh in the neighborhood of 5.5 pounds. As such, I simply load my 6 pound 20 with 3/4 oz handloads and I'm in even better shape than I would be if the same charge were in a 28.

But that light and long 28 sure is a temptress...

I bought a Fausti DEA SL 28-gauge side-by-side a few months ago, partly becuase it's the first really light 28 I can shoot well. I shot it as a test gun for an article, and somehow couldn't send it back!

It has just enough weight forward, due to the 28" choke-tube equipped barrels, even though it weighs 5 pounds 2 ounces, even lighter than advertised!

I shoot my CZ Bobwhite .410 SxS better than my 28 ga version. I also shoot my Beretta 686 combo gun better with the 20 ga barrel set than the 28 ga barrel set. This is both at gun down skeet, and in the field. That said I like the 28 ga and will still continue to look for the perfect AYA or Grulla SxS that really fits me.

The little CZ .410 impresses me every time I hunt with it, as it fits me and kills short range birds pointed by our Vizsla just fine. This has included a limit of pheasants on opening day in SD a few years ago (crossing shots only) and ruffed grouse in BC this fall. I know Micheal McIntosh called it a "piss-ant" cartridge, but it is sure fun to shoot and hunt with if you are really capable of constraining yourself to the right shots.

Note that I am not a gun writer but have shot a lot of birds in a lot of different western states plus BC. Having a good bird dog and a shotgun(s) that fit are two things a man should have and cherish equally with accurate rifles.

Pen raised quail in Georgia (the only kind left), fall well to the diminutive .410