Should I get a 28 gauge?

[Shell Shucker]

I own a 28 ga (Citouri) and I love it. It is built on a 20 ga frame, as are most 28 ga guns, so the wieght is the same. Recoil is "snappy" with factory AA ammo. Recoil would probably be less in an Identical 20 ga with Winchester "Feather" ammo. 28 ga ammo is expensive! "Feather" 20 ga ammo is cheaper than 28 ga AA ammo. Standard 20 ga ammo is less than half the price of 28 ga.
I own a 28 ga and like it. I have yet to see the balistic "magic" some people associate with it. The 20 ga is MUCH cheaper to shoot. Most 20 ga guns are physicaly the same as 28 ga guns. 20 ga low recoil factory ammo is available. 20 ga reloads that mimick 28 performace are easy to assemble.

 

[jaysouth]

I have a Remington 870 in 28 ga that I love for quail hunting and opening day of dove season.

when I was seriously shooting skeet, my favorite was briley 28 ga tubes in a Berestta 682. the gun with tubes inserted weighed almost 10 pounds. Sweet swing with almost no recoil.

If you can live with the increased cost of shooting a 28, it sure is sweet.

 

[45auto]

IMHO, people buy a 28 gauge as a small bore shotgun to make shooting more interesting and challenging...except the 28 gives you much better hits and longer ranges than the 410...for example.

It's a great combination of small bore and "big hits".

The 20 gauge is not "small bore" IMO.

 

[News Shooter]

As much as I would love a 28 I can't because my clubs only allow steel shot

 

[ArmedBear]

The answer is "probably not, unless..."

...you get a real 28 gauge gun, not a 20 Gauge with smaller bores, like many of them. Ruger, Beretta, Guerini, etc. make real 28's with appropriate size, balance and weight to the gauge. (Actually, the Ruger 28 is the only Red Label on my "consider" list due to the excess bulk and heft of Ruger's 12 and 20.) I'd skip Browning, SKB, etc. and get a 20 in those. The same gun with a bore that's .065" smaller is just the same gun that doesn't care for larger shot sizes, and costs more to shoot.

...you already have a 20 Gauge in the type/size gun you want (I got a 20 Gauge 26" Ithaca SKB O/U in good shape but not too pretty to hunt with in the rocky, steep, barbed-wire and cactus high desert. Cost me 500 bucks. The 28 feels the same, weighs slightly more and is much harder to find.) A 20 Gauge O/U is easier to find used in good hunting condition for a decent price, and once you have it you may forget wanting a 28. Or not, but you won't regret having the 20.

...you want the gun, not the gauge. A 20 Gauge O/U is a fine hunting gun, totally different in overall feel and utility from a receiver gun, especially in the brush. If I sold off guns, the pump and auto would be the first to go, and I probably wouldn't miss them for a moment. I wouldn't go looking for an 1100 in 28. But if you find that a particular 28 appeals to you when you hold it and shoot it, then get it.

...you're a clay range showoff who just wants to prove he can hit stuff with a 28. Then you don't care about frame size, etc.

Remember: you can always load 3/4 oz. in a 20, and it will pattern well. And you can get the hulls for free, unlike the 28's.

All of that is my opinion. YMMV. But it's also where I've put my own cash.

 

[berettashotgun]

Should I have got a 3rd wife? Hahahahaah

About the same.
Have the 1100 sporting 28 - LOVE it.
Bought 10 or so cases of ammo before I got the gun.
Justified.
It carries EXACTLY like my friends 20ga 1100 - same frame.
I hit more dove with it than most around me do, using 20's and 12's, but the same it true when I use my 20 or 12.
Against the same guys who tear me up at the stands.
Sweet revenge for the public whippin they give me
Autos or O/U's- all about the same.
If you reload, get the 28 - if not - stay away.

 

[ArmedBear]

Autos or O/U's- all about the same.

Not in the brush. In heavy cover, I'd change that statement to "12 or 28, if it's four feet long, it's all about the same. Frustrating."