Anyone got any pictures of birds and there 28. Help me make a decision

28 ammo is more expensive and difficult to find.

Charlito
What brand is it

IMHO. If you are undecided, I would suggest you not get a 28. They are for a really dedicated quail, dove, grouse, smaller game hunter. They're a super little gauge gun. I've owned 3 different ones and traded them off but not because I didn't like them, someone just offered me more $'s than I could turn down. Buy one only, if you are a experienced upland bird hunter and want to look the part. I would then go with a sxs, english stock, double triggered in the lightest wt. that I could locate. They aren't cheap.
If you don't fit this category then buy a light wt. 20, shells are easier to find and buy a 28 later when you become addicted to bird hunting, like me.

No pics...BUT, a 28 ga. is a sweet shotgun, I own two..A Remington 1100 semi-auto and a Mossberg Silver Reserve O/U...Money can't buy them from me...You can get the ammo at Cabela's, Texas Outdoors, any shooting range, and some Academy stores...This caliber will kill birds as effectively as larger bores and will not wear your arm out after a couple of boxes a day. They are the perfect gauge. That said, I also own a few 12's, a couple 16's, and a couple of .410's. When I duck/goose/pheasant hunt I use the 12's (danged steel shot rules)...for everything else it is the 28's first the 16's second. And I grew up shooting 16's exclusively. Oh yea, they are slightly higher to purchase/shoot than other gauges...but you will never notice the increased cost after the first year. Plus, if you reload, they are really cheap to shoot. Hope this helps.

I say go for it, fun shotguns. Ammo cost is the least expensive part of bird hunting/bird dogs, never found it or availability to be a problem. If you shoot a lot of clays with it I guess it might be a bigger factor.

Hey Blanked if you're not certain you want one get a tube set from Briley for your 20, if you have one. A lot less expensive than a complete gun. I have a Beretta o/u 20/28 combo. Just bought last summer, I reload so shells aren't a problem and it is fun to shoot. By the way, I see you live in Magnolia, Carters has the Weatherby 28 auto on sale

Yep I am a SXS double trigger strait stock guy. Have 2 of them in 20. Ugartechea is my gun

Pat F. Is that the gun you had on upland journal.

It is a Renato Gamba Principessa. I think a Uggie 28ga would be hard to beat, they are a lot of gun for the money IMO.

You can't be taken as a serious bird hunter if you don't own a 28 ( tongue firmly planted in cheek). I'd say get one. If you get one, make sure it's on a true 28 frame. What's the point of converting a 12 or 20 with tubes just to shoot a 28 shell? Same goes for the 2 barrel sets. In those guns, the 28 actually weighs more. Lastly, don't shoot 1 oz loads. Might as well stick to a 20 if you do that.

Entry level, hard to beat a Ruger Red Label in 28. They have a cult like following. You can even find them with a English stock. AyA, Merkel and Arietta all make nice SxS versions on 28 frames.

Here's a pick of one of my 28s:

Rizzini makes a small action 28 also if you want to spend close to $5K. All I was suggesting was ways to shoot a 28 without spending a fortune and see if he likes it. I can tell you I shoot a 28 fairly well so going to a better gun sized proportionally is in my future.

They do make a 24 gauge, never tried one , a 28 is perfect enough for me.

An additional comment - two most common statements regarding the 28 gauge are cost and availability. I think both are over stated. Yes, 28s are more expensive than 12s or 20s. If you're shooting a palet or two a year, you're likely a reloader anyway. If you're shooting 8-10 boxes per year (still a lot for an active bird hunter) you'll spend an extra $40-50 per case. To me, that's not even a rounding error in the grand scheme of things. Availability - if you're traveling out of state 1000+ miles (blanked - I know you do), I'm counting that you'll have more shells in your vehicle than you'll be able to shoot on a given hunting trip. I don't think either "concern" is really anything to be worried about. In today's marketplace, there's a Cabelas, BPS, Dicks, Academy, Walmart, Gander Mountain, Sportsman's Warehouse, Scheels, and countless gun shops, etc for Houston to MT, ID, KS, etc - you can find about anything you need reasonably priced on the way to your destination.

Now a 24 gauge creates a valid argument of cost and availability being problematic.

I love my Ruger Red Label 28. Absolutely perfect east TX woodcock gun.

I own two, a Beretta Silver Pigeon and a CZ Woodcock.
Love them both. To me the best upland quail gun there is. Light weight, swings fast and has all the knock down you need for quail.
I also use the Beretta for Pheasant and Dove and I shoot a lot of skeet with it.

And about the ammo.....I reload for about $3.00 per box.

Go for it.

the Berretta 20/28 is a great gun.

It's funny you mention Pheasant with 28ga...I recently saw some 5 or 6 shot in Cabelas, as I was trying to help him get outfitted for a surprise Christmas gift pheasant hunt.

I hunt a place in Kansas, (shooting preserve type hunt) that I thought maybe I should use a 28ga. to see how it works on pheasant...not sure about the wild birds though...normally you need all the gauge you can get with them.

The reason I have my doubts. When birds numbers are low like they are I want to maximize my chance at hitting them. Moving from a 20 to a 28 doesn't help obviously.

Performance difference in minimal out to 30 yards. After a long day with few contacts, a 5 1/2 pound gun carries so much better than a 6 1/2 - 7 lb gun.

Agree 100% spent years carrying the O/U in the pic then 5 or 6 years ago got introduced to the Franchi Fenice 28 gage next to it. Lite as a feather when compared to the O/U and what few birds I get down I can't tell any difference in dropping power out to normal quail ranges. Did I say lite as a feather.

For whatever it's worth, Academy carries the Yildiz brand shotguns and they have a light as a feather 28 gauge O/U for around $400.

I've got a reload recipe for a AA hull that loads 7/8 oz.
I use copper plated no. 5 shot. Throws 'em at 1275 fps.

We generally hunt over dogs in heavy cover and cold weather, hopefully with a little snow. Those birds flush plenty close enough to knock 'em down with a 28.

When we row hunt in the Panhandle, I use a 20 ga. more.

And both of these guns are in the 5.5 to 6 lb range. Light and lean.

Made a quick stop at Cabela's today to buy rifle shells. Ran across target load AAs. $3 more per box for 28 gauge shells. Not much in the grand scheme of things.