Will 28 ga shells ever be as cheap as 20 ga shells?

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Will 28 ga shells ever be as cheap as 20 ga shells?

That's the question. They cost so much more, but *should* in theory cost less. Yeah, I understand whey they're not, but strictly on materials basis, they should be.

I really like the idea of a Beretta A400 or Benelli Legacy in 28 ga, but cannot justify the cost of ammo, so I will continue to pursue my dream upland gun instead (keep looking for smokin' used deal) - a Benelli Montefeltro Silver in 20 ga. Odd thing is that in 28 ga, the Legacy is the better choice for a really pretty gun, but in 20 ga, the Montefeltro Silver is the better choice. Can't remember now why I decided that - I believe weight was the reason.
 
That's the question. They cost so much more, but *should* in theory cost less. Yeah, I understand whey they're not, but strictly on materials basis, they should be.
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The "economy of scale" factor is far more important than the "materials cost factor"

Tooling and assembly line time costs with a tiny niche caliber/guage can't be defrayed without the volume of sales associated with the more popular calibers/guages.

If material was the deciding factor, then .410's would be the cheapest shotgun shell......
 
28ga

If you realy want a 28ga buy a reloader cost is nominal and you will get the feeling of loading and shooting your on hunting and skeet loads i do and love it i have a Browning citiroi 28ga love the gun . gud luck
 
I bought a Beretta Silver Pigeon I for my wife in 28 gauge, and she loves it...and I love it (just don't tell anybody that I shoot anything other than 12 gauge!!!). The gun just doesn't wear you out, and it is a point and click experience. You will not find any 28 gauge in the cheap shell department, but the price of 28 gauge seems to otherwise be basically on par with the other gauges in the competition and higher quality hunting loads. There seems to be less selection, but what is available is excellent stuff.

Oh, and I agree with the previous poster - regardless of gauge, reloading is the way to fly especially in the less popular calibers.
 
i shoot a remington 870 in 28ga and a remington 1100 sporting in 28ga and i have a mec 9000g loader, the wads cost more than 12ga. but after that it cheaper than loading a 20ga. when i started loading for the 28ga a friend sold me 600 once fired rem sts,s hulls for 30.00 to start with. a friend is ordering a ton of wads and he,s going to get me 1500 one once wads for the 28ga for hunting. i have been useing the winchester 28ga one once #6,s factory shells for hunting and it dumps ringnecks dead at 35 yrds if i do my part. eastbank.
 
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Most of us, that shoot much 28ga - reload.../ and MEC makes some great machines ( I use the 900-HN hydraulic )....but for casual shooting the Grabber is a real good press as well...or the 9000-GN which is the manually activated 9000 version...

But don't overlook the fact that you can reload 3/4 oz in a 20ga shell very easily as well...so balistically, its the same ( 3/4 oz at 1200 fps ) is exactly the same if it comes out of a 12ga, a 20ga or a 28ga...

My 28ga and .410 O/U's are identical to my 20ga O/U --- because all 3 guns are the same model ( Citori XS Skeet ) and Browning built them all on the 20ga receiver..so they all handle and swing identically...and stock, they are about 7.5 lbs with 30" barrels.../ but the Browning pump gun, the Hunter model, is still made in a 28ga as well..( and 12ga and 20ga and .410 )...and its a lot of gun for the money...

and my semi-auto of choice, Benelli Super Sport in a 20ga....cycles 3/4 oz loads at 1225 fps with no issues ( so its a 28ga load as well )...and with a 28" barrel its only 6.2 lbs so its a nice upland gun as well...
 
Will 28 ga shells ever be as cheap as 20 ga shells?
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If the day ever comes when 28's are selling at the same rate as 20's and 12's then the prices will reflect the actual cost.

While it takes less raw material to load them, production lines have to be shut down and resources diverted away from much more profitable 12's and 20's to make them.
 
I looked at my cost spreadsheet this morning....and even with shot at $ 44 for a 25 lb bag....my 28ga reloads, 3/4 oz of shot, are at $ 3.93 for a box of 25..../ so its really worth investing in a reloader, if you want to shoot a 28ga.
 
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