28 Gauge shooters? I could use your insight.

[Matt Johnston]

For the last few years, I have been shooting a Mossberg Duck Commander M930 semi-auto, in 12 gauge. This is the latest in a long string of 12 gauges, Pumps, O/U, and Semis. I'm a big guy and have never considered shooting anything lighter. This last weekend I shot some clays, just 75 shots and my shoulder hurt for most of the week. Not just a typical bruise, I'm actually doing PT and accupuncture for my latest shoulder injury, so this felt like a setback. I've been rough on my shoulders with injuries from BMX, football, Skiing, and Mountain Biking.

All this to say I think I need to give up the 12 gauge. I started shopping for a 20 gauge, then got to thinking a 28 gauge might be better. I briefly considered .410, but I don't think I could feed the shells with my big sausage fingers. Jumping straight from 12 to 28, is bound to be an adjustment, and that's fine.

Will I hate it and be sad? Do any of you shoot 28 gauge semis regularly? I shoot clays, dove, and quail mostly. I typically shoot 100-150 rounds on clays, on birds it's typically less, only like 3 rounds on every bird I see

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[bwaldon126]

You won’t regret it. I’ve had a Benelli ethos 28 for a few years now. It’s my new favorite gun to shoot. I shoot doves, ducks, and pheasants with it. The benelli 28 compared to my beretta A400 extreme plus feels like a toy. Boss makes some wicked loads that are comparable to a lighter 12 gauge load and it kills shit. 3” 1 1/16 oz copper plated bismuth #5 . I’ve stoned a pheasant at 60 yards…. The only thing it doesn’t do is hunt spring snow geese, for obvious reasons. Yeah, ammo is slightly more expensive, but I have zero regrets.

 

[Tex]

This last duck season, my hunting group had a few members talking about moving off 12g to 20g- specifically for ducks but cross over into the upland season. For most of them, the younger guys, I think mostly looking due to social trends online sighting a lot of the common talking points (lighter gun, less recoil, so on so forth). Thats not to say there isn't merit or truth to those claims but Im personally not going to handicap myself. You might consider a Cynergy or try shooting one before moving down to 20/28. Try the one(s) with the odd recoil pad- it soaks up alot of the felt recoil.

Thats my unsolicited advice- but to your question, theres nothing wrong with 20g or 28g but clays and or upland hunting. Some of the best wing shooters I know murder the flock with sub gauges. Practice enough and you'll start establishing No Fly zones no matter what your setup is.

 

[Ron Dan]

For the last few years, I have been shooting a Mossberg Duck Commander M930 semi-auto, in 12 gauge. This is the latest in a long string of 12 gauges, Pumps, O/U, and Semis. I'm a big guy and have never considered shooting anything lighter. This last weekend I shot some clays, just 75 shots and my shoulder hurt for most of the week. Not just a typical bruise, I'm actually doing PT and accupuncture for my latest shoulder injury, so this felt like a setback. I've been rough on my shoulders with injuries from BMX, football, Skiing, and Mountain Biking.

All this to say I think I need to give up the 12 gauge. I started shopping for a 20 gauge, then got to thinking a 28 gauge might be better. I briefly considered .410, but I don't think I could feed the shells with my big sausage fingers. Jumping straight from 12 to 28, is bound to be an adjustment, and that's fine.

Will I hate it and be sad? Do any of you shoot 28 gauge semis regularly? I shoot clays, dove, and quail mostly. I typically shoot 100-150 rounds on clays, on birds it's typically less, only like 3 rounds on every bird I see

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I think your biggest fear is whether or not you’ll ever go back to shooting your collection of 12ga guns. All around, 28 is a blast. Even for turkey hunting you will likely find 28 to be tighter shooting and more fun. I’m excited to see what you end up with but this should be a cool transition for you. Keep us posted with what you end up doing.

 

[rjthompson8]

I love my Benelli Ethos 28. It is by far my favorite gun to bird hunt with. I really have not felt at a disadvantage in the field with it. The older I get, the more I enjoy the sub gauges. If you want camo, the SBE 3 is supposed to be pretty sweet. At 5 lbs., that Ethos is really nice to carry all day.

 

[wburns]

If you quail hunt mainly for uplands they are a good gun. I will warn you they can be harder to shoot because they typically are much lighter in weight which translates to easier to stop the gun instead of following through the shot. If you do your job right they will too. I will also say I don’t care for them much on larger birds. Especially for going away shots. They just don’t seem to work as well for me likely due to the smaller payload with less chance of the bb driving home in a critical spot. On crossers I don’t see as much of an issue when in the field. I do shoot a slightly tighter choke to try and make up for it. Others will say they have no issues and maybe so but that is my experience shooting the 28ga.
To be honest though I find the 20ga to be the best of both worlds for me. Light enough to carry all day, heavy enough I don’t have to worry about follow through. I use a 20ga for everything from sage grouse to scaled quail. I too have shoulder issues and when shooting heavy 12ga loads a lot it will bother me. The 20ga does not. I will also warn you sometimes the 28 can feel like it kicks harder than it should and this is due to the light weight of the gun. In a semi auto this may not be an issue possibly. I shoot SxS so a different beast all together. One other note. If you buy a cheap 28ga they are often built on a 20ga frame. This equates to a heavy gun that handles like crap.

 

[Matt Johnston]

Update: After several days of online shopping, reading reviews, and your helpful insights. I ordered a Mossberg SA-20 All Purpose Field, a 20 Gauge with a 26" barrel. I would have liked to have bought a Benelli or Beretta, but my discretionary purchases account took a $700 hit for a new watch last Saturday. I decided to go with the 20 gauge after reading some things about small loading ports on sub-gauge semi-autos. The drop from 12 gauge to 20 gauge also gives me somewhere to go if I feel the need to go even lighter in a decade or so. If I do eventually get a 28 or 410, I'll probably get an O/U to avoid any big hands/small loading port issues.


I'll post an update when I have had a chance to break in the SA-20. I'm told Mossberg suggests firing the first 50–100 rounds of high-velocity ammunition (e.g., heavy field loads, 1 oz or heavier) to ensure proper cycling. Thanks for the insights and advice guys!