28 guage rooster shooters?

CloseRange

CloseRange

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I'm new to this site. Also I'm new in another sense, in that I just ordered a 28 guage over/under. Definitely I'll be using this 28 during dove and quail hunts, and perhaps during pheasant hunts as well.

As my UPH handle implies, I'm a firm believer in disciplined shot selection. Make each shot be as easy as possible, which means restricting myself to taking shots inside 35 yards using an open choked gun.

For 45 years I've had great success on all bird species using a 12 guage side-by-side choked Imp Cyl/Mod. The 28 guage I'm getting comes with five choke tubes, two of which are Skeet, and I'm really excited about those skeet chokes. I'm a pretty fair shot on birds with my double gun, so a 28 guage O/U with skeet choke (at least in one barrel) should work good for me in many circumstances.

Still, I can't fight down a nagging worry that regardless of choke selection I might be undergunned if I go afield this fall using my 28 on roosters. Any comments by owners of 28 guage shotguns who use their gun on pheasants (or tried but later switched to larger guage) will be appreciated.
 
I've got one and have killed pheasant with ease. It's not my go to phez gun, but they work fine. You'll hear from Bob on this one. He's our resident 28 ga guru.
 
Just for you Jim, CR, A 28 will kill pheasant like a dream. If you are true to your name the 28 is your dream gun. There is a phenomenon, where Pure 7 shot (not 7.5 shot) and an IC choke really do a number on pheasant. It is impossible to change the laws of physics. But you will swear that combo hits harder than anything you have ever seen. I shoot my 28...7 shot bottom, IC choke. 6 shot top light modified choke. 7 shot is very hard to find you may to reload them to get them. Let me know and I will give you the recipes website. Or you can check them out on Hodgdon Website and Longshot is the best powder. There are some made in UK and those places. But those are not true 7 shot they are 6.66 shot........Bob
 
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I carry my 28 quite often when combo hunting and I agree with those above. Funny that Bob mentioned the "7" shot. I stumbled on this "crazy" load quite by accident and have found the same thing....wow, it really hits hard. I reload my 28's to get it.

I pass on quite a few shots on ringnecks when carrying the 28 since so many don't give a good view of the vitals. I find that I have the most luck with a crossing shot as the vitals are exposed. When a true crossing shot presents itself, the 28 will kill the bird with easy. I normally pass on true 6 o'clock shots.

Good luck!

Point!
 
I, too use a 28 on occassion; I also prefer #7 shot. I choke my O/U Imp Cyl & Full (don't have an Imp Mod tube). Put the bird in the shot string, bird goes down. Enjoy.
 
Thanks, guys, for your replies; I appreciate getting them. If all goes well, my new shotgun should arrive around mid-week. Immediately I'll begin using it during the dog training I'm doing with a friend; we both have new pups that we're working on concealed chukars.

Yes, I'm true to my UPH handle in that I prefer close-in shots. Lots of reasons why, but the main one is that I began wingshooting at age 7 using an old Springfield .410 side by side. I hunted with this double until I was 18 years old, using it on doves, quail and prairie chickens. And I killed my first rooster with that .410 Limiting myself to close range shots became a deeply ingrained habit.

My favorite uncle, who took me along on hundreds of bird hunting trips, eventually became convinced that I could hit birds consistently. At which time he began letting me use one of his shotguns every time we went out. It was an AYA Matador side by side choked Imp. Cyl./Mod. After hunting for so many years with a .410, shooting birds with his lightweight 12-ga. Matador was almost like stealing. Some years ago he gave that AYA to me as a gift, and I still use it. Jeez, who wouldn't?

Because my youthful habit of conserving ammo by taking only close-in shots has never left me, I naturally got curious about a 28-guage after reading a Jim Carmichael article in Outdoor Life magazine. The idea has been rattling around in my head for maybe 20 years. This year I devoted four months to surfing the Internet for information on 28s and...well, here I am, about to get one.

An article I read on 28 ga. ammo, written by Bill Hanus, mentions the #7 size shot (not 7 1/2). Mr. Hanus is pretty high on that #7 pellet size. It does seem hard to find, though. But even if it were a common item, the fact is I don't yet own a reloader with which to re-manufacture my own shells using that particular pellet size. So for a while it'll be store bought shells.

By far the most pheasants I've killed when using the 12 ga. AYA Matador got dropped by light field loads (3 drams, 1 1/8-oz., 7 1/2 shot) sent through the Imp. Cyl. barrel. That same I/C barrel has also dropped quite a few roosters inside 30 yards using number 8 pellets (Winchester AA Target loads primarily); this was when both quail and pheasants inhabited the farm I was hunting on.

Just to get familiar with which shots I can and can't take on birds using my 28, I'll need to pattern the gun, see what the sheets look like at various distances with different loads. There are many articles on this subject, but I'd rather find out for myself.

Good to hear that you guys have enjoyed success hunting roosters with your 28s. With pheasant season still months away, what I'd really like to find right now is some farmers who are agreeable to someone coming out who can rid their farm of pigeons that have been crapping all over their parked tractors and pickups. I'd always rather shoot an actual flying bird than waste ammo on clay pigeons or stationary sheets of paper.
 
28 ga. will take pheasants no problem.

I use winchester 1oz. of #5's.... not one pheasant got away with this load!

I use imp cyl. on bottom and mod. choke on top...I use this on all upland game...works great for me.

Enjoy your 28er !!!
 
I still haven't patterned my Ruger Red Label on paper yet, but using it last Friday during dog training I gunned nine pen-raised flight-capable chukars. So at least I've confirmed that the gun does go off when its trigger gets pulled, and it kills chukar-size birds with no sweat. (Size-wise, to me a chukar looks about halfway between bobwhite quail and prairie chicken.)

Most of these training birds hold tight and must be nudged with your boot else they won't fly. But once they flush they move pretty quick, especially aided by a gusting 25mph wind. So I had to get on 'em fast, which is where the open chokes came into play.

For all birds, Tube #1 (Skeet) was loaded with a Winchester AA-HS Target Load, 3/4-oz. of #9 shot. Tube #2 (Imp. Cyl.) carried an Estate Super Sport Competition Target Load, 3/4-oz. of #8 shot. These two brands represented the first shells bought for my new gun. I'll use this ammo during dog training, then come dove season switch to high velocity loads (approx. 1300fps) and stay with HV loads until the end of pheasant season, regardless of shot size.

I filleted the chukar breasts, coated the pieces then deep fried them. Wow, good stuff; I can hardly wait to try that same cooking method on quail and pheasant!
 
I use the 7/8 oz Fiocchi shells in 7 1/2 for wild chukar, but have also used 3/4 oz handloads in true 7's. Both work well. In late season, I sometimes used the Winchester 1oz loads. Wild chukar have almost no similarity to game farm chukars, and are very hard birds to cleanly anchor, and very hard to recover if not killed outright. I have killed a few wild pheasant, but mostly game farm pheasants with the Winchester 1oz load in #6, and that would be my choice for wild pheasants in a relatively heavy gun like the Ruger.
I have patterned the 1oz loads and in my experience there is no truth to the often repeated claim that the 3/4 oz load is magic, and the 1 oz load is cursed. Both are just loads, and have good and bad features. The 1 oz load will have some recoil in a light gun. The 3/4 oz load will be pretty sparse at 35 yards if the bird is not well centered. I think 35 yards is a little too far for an improved cylinder choke and 3/4 oz loads on wild pheasants.
 
Thanks, Bob, for the reality check on chukars. During just three training sessions where I've shot the pen-raised "softies", even they are impressing me by how much hammering they can absorb.

A person can read lots of stuff about which load works good for this, which load is good for that: it's all very interesting. So this will be another "learn as you go" deal. Still, whether it's pen-raised or wild I hate wounding a game bird, so I'm already thinking that 3/4-oz. #9 loads for pen-raised chukars is going way too light. Planted chukars take flight literally at your feet, offering mostly straightaway chances where the bird's body shields its head and neck no matter how dense the pattern?

Deeper body penetration with larger pellets seems the solution in this particular training setting. Matter of fact, I was online looking at Fiocchi HV 7/8-oz. loads in #7-1/2 shot when your post arrived mentioning that very thing.

I don't own a reloader yet. One's in the future, though, given all the great comments on pure #7-size pellets posted in this and other threads. Haven't yet found any factory #7 loads for 28-ga. despite weeks of looking.

I lived in Boise six months last year, house-sitting and dog-sitting for my son while he was away on job assignment. During that time his two dogs and I hiked almost 300 miles on the Ridge-to-Rivers trail system. I don't know enough to comment whether that excellent trail system fairly represents typical chukar habitat, but if it does then I can't imagine anyone successfully hunting wild chukars without a good dog skilled at finding wounded birds in dense brush.
 
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