28 ga for wild pheasants

[Small Bore Hunter]

I have been shooting #6 bismuth (1 oz) and 4 & 6's hevi shot (3/4 oz) for the last 2 years. Bismuth at decoying ducks and hevi shot in situations where they will not get down into the decoys. My A400 with full choke patterns better with the HS than with Boss. I got better results with the full choke than modified. I am not shooting after market chokes.

 

[Rubberhead]

This isn't a flame, although it may be a tangential and is certainly an unsolicited response...

My thoughts on "sub-gauge" hunting are that if I'm bothering to hunt with a 28 gauge, I'm going to hunt with it loaded like a 28-gauge. For me, it would defeat the purpose of un-safeing my 28 only to load it heavier than a standard 20 gauge.

Of course, the fun and beauty of shotgunning is that there are dozens of reasons and dozens of ways to break every self-imposed "rule".

Non-toxic shot requirements force a lot of rulebreaking. Traveling via airline makes for some serious rulebreaking. Getting a new gun - rulebreaking. Wanting a cool photo, yep, I'm breaking rules. Having the right look when uncasing a gun in a gathering might require a little rule stretching. Matter of fact, breaking shotgun rules may be more fun than following them.

BTW - I used a coupon code so you don't even owe me the 2¢.

 

[Small Bore Hunter]

I saw the other day where Apex was loading some 1 3/8 oz TSS #9 in a 28 for turkey loads. That's hard for me to understand putting that much shot in a 28. I need to go back and see what they can do with a 12 gauge.

 

[Flyway]

I saw the other day where Apex was loading some 1 3/8 oz TSS #9 in a 28 for turkey loads. That's hard for me to understand putting that much shot in a 28. I need to go back and see what they can do with a 12 gauge.

I load that same load and it could hold more...just sayin.
Foxtrot sells a 1.5oz 28ga load. I have some but haven't patterned them yet. Just got my barrel back from Indian Creek getting a choke made for it.

 

[Small Bore Hunter]

We sent both of our A400 to Rob Roberts and had forcing cones extended and some cerakoted to match. We did not get any special chokes because at the time they did not have one for a 28. We were going to wait until they did and send both back. Now Benelli has came out with a SBE III in 3" (we have an Elotos) we are waiting on one. What would be a good load for the 3"? I am a real fan of the 28 but don't want to overload it. Thx. Flyway.

 

[Flyway]

Most of my load recipes are based on turkey hunting and came from Hal Abbott and some came from Tommy Duliba. I don't load any 3" in the 28 so haven't gotten any info from either of them on that. If you need their contact info let me know.

 

[Small Bore Hunter]

Thx. I need to get some more reloading information before I proceed further.

 

[JP]

With HTL loads in basically all of the gauges, patterning is requisite if you want the maximum efficacy for the intended situation. Case in point, we found (in a variety of shotguns) the 1 ounce loading of HW-15 in #7's patterned as well (and, in a couple shotguns, better) than the 1 1/8 ounce loading. Sometimes, a whole lot more, ain't better.

 

[Dr Swane]

We sent both of our A400 to Rob Roberts and had forcing cones extended and some cerakoted to match. We did not get any special chokes because at the time they did not have one for a 28. We were going to wait until they did and send both back. Now Benelli has came out with a SBE III in 3" (we have an Elotos) we are waiting on one. What would be a good load for the 3"? I am a real fan of the 28 but don't want to overload it. Thx. Flyway.

Does the 28gauge a400 not have a factory lengthened forcing cone?

 

[Dr Swane]

With HTL loads in basically all of the gauges, patterning is requisite if you want the maximum efficacy for the intended situation. Case in point, we found (in a variety of shotguns) the 1 ounce loading of HW-15 in #7's patterned as well (and, in a couple shotguns, better) than the 1 1/8 ounce loading. Sometimes, a whole lot more, ain't better.

I agree.

I settled on a max load of 1.00oz tss in 28gauge. 7/8oz tss in the 28 will get the job done for most purposes and with a modified choke. That 1.00oz hw15 is a great option as well; and about $15 ($1.00 less per ounce) less per pound than my most discounted tss prices.