Is a 28 Gauge enough

Y

yournodaisy

New member
This year I'm going to pheasant hunt for the first time. I have a few 12 ga guns...but my question is...I have a sweet O/U in .28 gauge. Is this big enough for pheasants and if so..what loads are the best. Thanks in advance.
 
Fiocchi Golden Pheasant has a 7/8oz 28 gauge load in 5 & 6's IIRC. Some folks says it isn't enough, but if you realize that it is not a 60 yard pheasant gun, you have good dogs, it should do fine
 
it is not a 60 yard pheasant gun
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I went on a hunt with someone else's dogs a few years ago and took a lot of long shots. Went back a year later with 12ga Remington Nitro Pheasant loads. They work great at 60 yards. Not so great at 15yds which is where most of my shots were that day as we had a pointer. A 12ga with an ounce and a half makes a mess if the whole pattern connects. If you hunt behind a pointer that is much good a 28 gauge will probably work well, although I would prefer a 20. If you have a poor dog or it isn't a pointer and you are taking longer shots you may be disappointed.
 
Dusting the clays isn't necessary, you really just want to break them
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We may have a regional difference in semantics, here. Where I shoot, "dusting" a target means hitting it hard enough to get a little dust off the target, bit not hard enough to see a broken piece. It is scored as a missed target. On the other hand, "smoking" a target means hitting it so hard that there are no pieces left -- nothing but smoke. A smoked target is most often seen at Skeet's Station-8.

I recall, in the mid-80s, when world Skeet champ Al Clark was looking for sponsorship from a cigar company. They were going to have "Smoke 'em" on their team logo.
 
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A friend was fond of a little 28 gauge SxS from a boutique maker. It cost as much as my first house. Over his Springers, he took a series of holdover preserve ringnecks without needing the second barrel. I did close to the same with a fine little 12 gauge and good loads. My friend admitted he did well with the little 5 lb 28 ONLY when he left his bigger guns alone and used only it and a featherweight 20 gauge Darne.

Up to 30 yards, the 28 will work on ringnecks. IF,and only IF, you can keep your shots within that and have shot the 28 enough to familiarize yourself, then use the 28 in good conscience.
 
Under ideal or close conditions the little 28 will work. If they are flushing ahead of the dogs which is common then you will wish you had more gun. Remember on a close flushing bird you can always wait a second or two (easier said than done) before you drop the hammer on your 12 ga. Early morning when they are holding better OK for the 28 ga., later in teh day when they are more likely to jump ahead of the dogs, carry the 12.
 
i use a 28ga rem 870 express i bought at walmart at close out for 189.00, it has a mod. fixed choke and i use win. one oz. #5,s H S pheasant loads and regular one oz. #6,s with good effect out to 30-35 yrds. it thinks its a 20ga. eastbank.
 
28 g

Not ideal, but my sister (who is a much better shot than I, better eyesight) used a .410 quite effectively on pheasants when we were young, you just don't try the longer shots.
 
For preserve birds over pointing dogs the 28 gauge will do very well. Not so well on wild birds with flushing dogs where the shots are much longer.
 
I have heard dusting used to describe turning the clay to dust. Don't shoot so much clays that I am 100% positive on the jargon though.
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Maybe there are regional variations but in my parts "powdered, crushed or ink balled" are the terms used to describe a target turned into powder. "Dusting" means you took a little dust off the target but there were no visible pieces and it's counted as a lost bird.
 
Maybe there are regional variations but in my parts "powdered, crushed or ink balled" are the terms used to describe a target turned into powder. "Dusting" means you took a little dust off the target but there were no visible pieces and it's counted as a lost bird.
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I'll add "smokeball" to the list above and also agree on "dusting" a target - visible dust, but no pieces are seen - lost bird
 
My friends, while we're drifting off topic (Does the 28-ga pack the punch to bag the birds?), let's not forget to mention how seriously you get ripped-off feeding a 28-ga factory ammo!
 
Yes the 28 packs the same punch as a 10ga. Simple physics a #5 pellet @ 1250 fps is the same in knockdown power regardless of the Ga. The difference is you are launching 3/4 of an ounce of shot compared to 2 oz in a 10 GA so the pattern density is the difference. Not the power. If your 28 has sufficient pattern at the ranges you shoot at birds it is just a good as any other gauge. I use my 28Ga up to 35 to 40 yrds on grouse woodcock and pheasants.

Mwal
 
My friends, while we're drifting off topic (Does the 28-ga pack the punch to bag the birds?), let's not forget to mention how seriously you get ripped-off feeding a 28-ga factory ammo!
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Yes the 28 packs the same punch as a 10ga. Simple physics a #5 pellet @ 1250 fps is the same in knockdown power regardless of the Ga
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Bingo....besides, Zippy - high-quality pheasant loads from the likes of Fiocchi all seem to run about the same price - give or take, about $15/box. While that sounds high, it isn't like, (in most instances), you'll need more than a few boxes, compare to a skeet or sporting tournament
 
While that sounds high, it isn't like, (in most instances), you'll need more than a few boxes, compare to a skeet or sporting tournament
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Let's not forget the ammo required to get hunting proficient with your 28-ga. It's much easier to put the requisite number of equal energy pellets on target with mwal's 10-ga than it is with a 28-ga. If I didn't reload, my 28-ga guns would see little action.
 
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