Anyone else tired of shooting 12ga?

Tom Modin

Tom Modin

Well-known member
After burning about 4K shells down the tube of a 12ga this spring and summer I am bored with it. I will say my shooting has improved greatly in that timeframe. I have been considering a sub-gauge shotgun for several years and recently have seriously considered a two barreled 28 gauge to possibly be the best fit. I rarely if ever shoot at birds past the 20 yard mark. Rarely do I consider even shooting birds that are not feet down in the decoys. Anyone here shooting a 28ga as a primary duck gun?
 
I haven't thought about going all the way down to a 28, but I am seriously thinking about moving to a 20.
I too rarely shoot birds are the "edge of range" and adding a 20 semi or inexpensive O/U to the locker is tempting.
 
I've shot quite a few with the 28, but I wouldn't say it's my primary waterfowl gun. About ten years ago I used one all year except on sea ducks. IMO it's good in the circumstance you describe, short shots over decoys. We don't get a lot of those here so the 12 still rules.

The biggest problem is getting non-toxic shot 28 gauge ammo, unless you want to pay $ for hevishot (which I like) the best options become reloading with #6 bismuth, #6 ITX or #7.5 hevishot. Not a fan of bismuth although I have killed birds with it, ITX is a little better and you can't beat hevishot. Again just my opinion, but because you need a larger shot size in steel to maintain pellet energy, the pellet count is so small I don't care for it. It's all about pellet count, pellet energy and resulting pattern density. The 28 is a lot of fun, if you center a bird at reasonable range they fold up nice, keeping in mind that one pellet in the head is worth a half dozen in the body. Good luck with it and have fun.
 
Most of my life I have been a 20 ga. fan. When needed I will shoot a 12 but a 20 ga. load of Hevi will make a duck dead in the air. Setting limits on shots over the decoys is a great way to add to the experience and reduce cripples. Maybe less dog work but more recovered ducks. I do shoot a 28 but not hunting yet, mostly because of the lack of good non tox loads.
 
"[font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica][font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]Anyone else tired of shooting 12ga?"

yeah - but that is what the short tens are for
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Ditto what SJ posted. Pretty much the same experience.

I have used a 28 in the layout on occasion (hevi-shot) but the difficulty with finding non-tox loads is a limiting factor and I already reload for the 28. The one other limiting factor is related to chamber pressure which translates to lower velocity loads. I think the highest velocity I have been able to reload is about 1290fps. My thinking was that if I was limiting my pellet count with the 28 maybe I could make up the effectiveness with higher velocity - can't do it within recommended pressures.

While I still shoot a 12ga on occasion, my go-to duck gun for the past almost ten years has been a 20 ga, 3", SxS choked IC/Mod . With it I shoot Kent Fasteel 3", #4 and try and limit my shots to about 35 yds. That said, I and the gun are capable of cleanly taking birds out to 50 yds.

Initially I was concerned about excessive cripples with the 20 ga. vs the 12 so I moved my spread closer to my boat/blind. My success rate stayed the same and my cripple rate actually went down. Birds didn't seem to mind at all.
 
A guy on a Utah hunting forum I frequent has gone 2 seasons now shooting nothing but the 28, he reloads Tungsten shot for it and kills everything from teal to huge Canada honkers with it. Personally I am a 12ga guy but occasionally I will shoot a 20 semi-auto, #4 steel out of a 20 is a crusher over the decoys.
 
I believe I remember that guy. If I'm not mistaken, I have used some of his 28 ga recipes when he was playing around with Hevi-shot.
 
In North Dakota I shoot my 12 ga. and primarily use 3 in. black cloud bb's. for the rest of my season here in florida I use my 20 ga. Remington 1100. I buy Winchester shells by the case from Mac's in no. 6's cheap to shoot and deadly on ringers and teal. Best of all I don't go home with a headache shooting the 20 like I sometimes do with the 3in. 12's. Rich
 
A few friends and have used 20's; especially when the shots are expected to be close. They are a lot easier to swing on a fast moving woodie or teal. Plus a direct hit doesn't make the duck look like a piece of Swiss cheese! I stlill a Benelli 12 for average saltwater duck hunting, but I'm using std length shells instead of 3 or 3 1/2 inch. I may try my 12 muzzleloader this year; used to use it a lot on cornfield geese. I use a 28 for chukars or pheasants, but don't need to worry about nontoxic shot with them!

Sandy Allen
 
Tom, I believe that is a very normal thing that happens much more than you think. I got tired of shooting 3" or 3 1/2" shells and made a decision to use 2 3/4" Dove loads instead. I am finding it much more exciting to call back the ducks if they come in and I don't like the shot offered. If it doesn't work out, oh well maybe tomorrow. Another idea would be that all of this is really just factoring in a competitive spirit.

When I lived in Alaska back in the 60s and early 70s, I got tired of shooting Dall rams with my 7mm Remington Mag and had I not moved to Wisconsin in 74, that fall I was planning on taking the next ram with my 41 Ruger magnum with a long barrel. I studied sheep every summer trying to know as many traits about them that I could. Two of my rams were taken within 50 yards. One of them probably about 12 to 15 yards. Please remember that I preferred hunting solo and normally had the time to stay in God's Country for up to 3 weeks if I needed it. My longest hunt was 15 days.

Tom, best of luck in your decision making. There will be no doubt that the excitement level will go up a few notches.
Al
 
For me it's a ten gauge and then drop down to a twelve depending on conditions. I could see myself getting. a twenty in the future.
 
I read a lot of reviews and decided to pull the trigger on a turkish made weapon. I was sworn off of them for quite some time.

Yildiz 28ga. It will be used on dove and teal soon. Probably will get some use as a big duck gun on close quarter hunts this year.

I have an 11 y/o daughter that shows a lot of interest shooting a shotgun and this may make a nice little gun for her to shoot at some point.

Until that time, I am going to have fun. If I like the gauge I may upgrade and find a SXS in this gauge.
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Nice, I've been shooting nothing but s 20 for the last 3 year, and probably won't pick the 12 up again unless I'm chasin snow geese!
 
Tom,
I have never shot a 28 gauge but over the last 15 years I have been using a 20 gauge for both ducks and geese. One thing to consider is when using to hunt geese the preferred shot has been the Hevi-Metal #2 shot choked at an improved-modified. I do not live in Texas anymore but used hunted teal with #4 & 6s modified. As the season went on I would slowly get into shooting just the #2s for everything but mainly due to Snows and Specks. I switched over from a Remington Model 1100 20 to a Beretta A400 20 about 5 years ago. Still pack the Remington every once in a while but tend to hunt more days with the A400. Its light, smooth swinging with very little recoil felt. Not much of a difference in cost savings from a 20 to 28 gauge in shell price but supply and demand are much different. Make sure you buy ahead of time on the 28 gauge shells. In a pinch they can be hard to find if you need a box or two.


Regards,
Kristan
 
I have also gone the 10 Gauge route. Lots of fun shooting an Ithaca Mag 10 and the Marlin Super Goose on geese. The Mag 10 was the first semi auto designed specifically for waterfowl.
 
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