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21 - 40 of 47 Posts
I hope the U.S. didn't switch to the metric system and nobody told me. I had to whip out the calculator to put things into an English perspective for myself and any other simple folk that might be reading this. :)

I would never consider using 5/8 oz of steel and what is the ballistic equivalent of #9 lead on ducks, and 33 yards isn't exactly sitting on the end of your barrel. The chances are not good at all that we are going to agree on that one for ducks.

While hevi-shot does have better ballistic properties than lead I have to disagree that #7 1/2 of anything makes for a good duck pellet at 50 yards. Oh, it will kill some but it will cripple more.

What I'm trying to say is---If you have enough pellets in the pattern (CONSEP) with enough velocity/energy to get the job done. It doesn't matter what size shell/bore it came out of.
And therein lies the rub. I don't think you do. Yes, I have patterned 7 1/2 and I have done so in 3/4 oz 28 gauge loads. Not only do I believe the pellet size is inadequate to be used responsibly on ducks but adequate pattern density is also gone well before you get to fifty yards. Switch to #6 and drop the distance almost in half and I'm buying it but #7 1/2 and 50 yards has gone a ways beyond reasonable in my opinion.

You are loading those hevi-shot cheap, but the Winchester steel I just bought at $6.10 per box gives me 25 for the same money as the 5 that you get with hevi-shot. My accomplishment won't elevate my status as high because it took me more gun to get the job done but my pile of birds will be several times deeper.

Skip
 
My reason for hunting with a 16 gauge instead of a 28 is completely diff. than the reasons most have given here.
My reasons are Quail are few and far between, I want to stack the deck in my favor a little, doves or planted birds are diff. Lots of chances and if there are a few losses no big deal.

But I agree with others here that if you cant hit it with a twelve your not going to hit it with a 28, except in the reason of flince from recoil that was mentioned. What the small gauge gives you is the ability to carry a very light gun in the field, and bragging rights if you do better than your hunting partner with a 12, Just dont tell your bud that his 12 with a full choke is a big handicap...
Mike
 
Personally, I think a 50 yard shot with anything is way too far. I limit myself to 30 and in. I have terrible depth perception on flying ducks and usually get yelled at because I didn't shoot when one was 20-25 yard. I never second guess a shot not taken. I don't kill a poke full of ducks each year but the ones I do get have been HUNTED not hail Mary'd. Sitting across the lake from a gang that is shooting at ducks that are two to three times over the tree tops just irks the living snot out of me. I think the shell manufacturers hype about being able to shoot ducks with their new whizbang shells wayyy out there has given a lot of nimrods the idea that they can get the ducks before anyone else.Another thing I hate is spinning wing decoys!
 
even turkeys with the 28 gauge and even the 410.
There is a bolt action mossberg 410 hanging above my left shoulder that was used to take a turkey. when I moved back to W.V. from Fl in late 92 my Dads health was failing . well the turkey population had boomed in the area ,and Dad mentioned he would like to kill a turkey. He also said the only shotgun He could shoot reliablely was a 410. I bought some ammo and started patterning loads. I decided remington 3" #6 would get the job done out to 22-24 yards. So after scouting and discussing it with Dad we set one morning around the ridge from where Dad lived . I called a fat little jake in and when he step out from behind a tree at 19 steps Dad put it on him best turkey hunt I ever had!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I didn't even shoot.

The guns and ammo industry would have us think critters are armor plated, others would have us think that small gauge guns defie the laws of nature like every thing else the truth lies some where in the middle.

I would not hesatate to turkey hunt with a 410. But I know how far I can kill a turkey with this gun, I am skilled enough with calls to get a turkey inside that range.and most important I have the self discipline to not take a shot one step farther than my set range. If I doubted any of these things I would not use that gun. what I do know is that if you can't kill a turkey reliably with a 12 ga. 3" shells you should look at you hunting techniques before looking at a bigger gun
Roy
 
plumberroy said:
The guns and ammo industry would have us think critters are armor plated, others would have us think that small gauge guns defie the laws of nature like every thing else the truth lies some where in the middle.
That follows what I said earlier. And within that range there are variables including but not limited to our reflexes and how quick we react, the density or sparseness of the cover we hunt, hunting pressure, etc. There's never any problem at the top end of that middle ground and it's only when we get closer to the lower end of it that we need to make sure the animal is getting the respect it deserves.

Bragging rights were mentioned. I think the desire to impress has more influence than many might want to admit and I won't pretend to be immune from it. Just because someone is shooting a gun with a smaller barrel doesn't mean they are the one that gets to brag. How many times have we seen posts asking for 1 oz 28 gauge loads either as factory loads or reloading recipes? That is an attempt to be able to use an inadequate or marginally adequate gun while attempting to get the ballistic equivalent of a larger one. Does that guy shooting 7/8 or 1 oz loads in a 28 gauge think he deserves bragging rights over the guy shooting 3/4 oz in a 20 or 7/8 oz in a 16 or 12?

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I counted 203 #6 pellets in one load of 7/8oz. Hevi-Shot.

How many pellets of #2 steel were in the 1-1/8oz. 12ga. loads I used last season? It wasn't enough, and they weren't going fast enough.
 
Skip: will be the first to say hunting with small gauages is the domain of people with a lot of self discipline when people go above the top end of middle ground to make up for lack of skill because they can't get it done with middle ground guns and ammo that worries me. recoil flinching and sky busting cause cripples too I feel the same way about, claims of 80 yard shots with heavy guns as you do with 50 yard shots with a 28 ga.

by the way 35 yards is the absolute max I will shoot with my 28's and I like 30 and under more
 
Roy, you and everyone else that stated it are absolutely right. More gun, more shot, or more velocity are not the answer to poor shooting skills. If someone can't shoot or doesn't know the limitations of their weapon a helping of punishing recoil isn't going to fix it.

All this talk of 28s is getting me excited. A week from Monday I am going to blow the dust off one of my old 28s and head out for the first hunt of the season.

Skip
 
The Snipe Hunter said:
Roy, you and everyone else that stated it are absolutely right. More gun, more shot, or more velocity are not the answer to poor shooting skills. If someone can't shoot or doesn't know the limitations of their weapon a helping of punishing recoil isn't going to fix it.

All this talk of 28s is getting me excited. A week from Monday I am going to blow the dust off one of my old 28s and head out for the first hunt of the season.

Skip
I dusted off the sinle shot and went out and shot a few clay birds last week a week from monday is the first day here for squirrel, dove and goose I am not big on goose but will shoot at a few doves then wonder into the woods for a tree rat or two
 
Speaking of goose, we have a season for them in Florida this year for the first time in over thirty years. I haven't decided yet if I will shoot one if given the opportunity. Can someone recommend some good 28 gauge loads for geese?

(please ignore that last statement, sometimes I can't help myself)

By the way, low water levels should not be an issue either this year. We have gotten 22" of rain so far since yesterday morning. Nope, that's not a typo with an extra "2".

Skip
 
Thats a couple of nice pictures of large birds being taken with 28 gauge shotguns,NV Guide.

Just wondering what 28 gauge shotguns you are using in the pictures.Would I be right in saying Remington 1100 and Remington 870?
 
NV Guide said:
I guess there are some good 28ga loads for geese.
You are right about that. What does a swan weigh? I thought a Canada was big but the swan dwarfs them. There's no denying that the little guns are working for you. What is the load you use in the 410 for geese? When I tell people I hunt with the 2 1/2" 410 many don't believe it will work. The 4 oz birds I shoot with it are not at all tenacious to life. They drop when hit. I get roughly 300 #9 pellets in a 1/2 load. Thankfully I can shoot lead. Choked IC/Mod I get good even patterns yet still have adequate density to better than 20 yards.

Skip
 
I dont know seems a bit under kill to me. The right tool for the right job. Taking a 28 gauge out and smacking some Quail or even pheasants and Doves, but large game I sort of question. They look dead to me in the pix's but I would have a hard time believing it was instant kill. At some point we need to think of the game and not our ability with a sub gauge.

Part of the responsibility of the hunter is to do the best we can to take game as humanely as possible with least amount of suffering from our prey.

A .410 as deadly as it may be is good for taking jacks at 10 yards or a survival gun, not geese at 40 yards. It also looks in one photo that an auto some one is holding has an extended magizine tube.

Just a thought
Mike
 
aya16, it is most definitely about the game. On the swan hunt all birds except one were dead when they hit the water. My son didn't hit his swan solidly (too far back) and had to retrieve it about 100 yds away.

Snipe, the load for the 410 is 255gr #9 hevi @ 1150fps. #9 works well. #71/2 is more effective but really scrubbs the bore. They are all loaded in 21/2 shells.

What looks like an auto with an extended mag in the geese pic is actuall an 870 with a skeet weight on the mag cap.

The day after our swan hunt another friend went out with his 410.

Image


I will tell you that this swan came in really close. Less than 20 yds.

Before you decide that #9 hevi wont work, go out and shoot some. You might not believe yourself.
 
You guys can do what you want and Im not giving you a hard time. But to me its like shooting a deer with a twenty two rim fire, It would kill but why would some one want to?

The 28 gauge is a sweet little gun for upland, I think, never used one. (I will for doves this year) But the 410 is just to me way to small for anything, even though it will kill. I still dont understand what the bennifit is over say a twelve or a twenty in a blind.
I mean you dont have to carry it around, or worry about weight.
Its extreme to me, but I still think its a push with a twenty eight or a 410 unless you smack em in the water close up.

It isnt the only choice people have to hunt with, we have 10-12-16-20-28-410 even 32-24. so is it just a choice thing? I still dont get it.

also using number #9 shot for hunting seems a little under too.
unless the shots are real close. The 9 loses to much energy far out. Energy needed to penatrate to the vitals, again unless its head shots, but on away birds how do you get head shots?
Mike
 
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