What is the best choke for rabbit hunting

[bellmorekennels]

Dinsdale, thanks for info, it does seem the bullets are very close in size to a 20 guage,yet cost double per box. Have always wanted to reload, but never really did it, may be a new hobby for the off season, is it hard to do for a beginer?

[New York Hillbilly]

I use my 12 gauge/improved cylinder/6 shot on cottontails and 12 gauge/modified/5 shot on hare.

[Dinsdale]

Dinsdale, thanks for info, it does seem the bullets are very close in size to a 20 guage,yet cost double per box. Have always wanted to reload, but never really did it, may be a new hobby for the off season, is it hard to do for a beginer?

Shot shells are not hard to do. I used to do 20's when I shot lots of clays and sold the press when I got into more rifle/big game stuff. Easier than rifle as the press is progressive and loads don't need to be to a high degree of weight accuracy.

If you read around to other forums where 28's are discussed, almost everyone is using a MEC press for them. Wad selection varies a bit, and everyone likes the STS for practice, then reloads them (or they order new hulls) The Winchester AA's are liked too....but there is a certain kind.....what they are after is 5-6 reloadings.

A local shop has ordered me in Rem. STS #8's or 9's for $8/box(10/case) and free shipping if its on a bigger order of 12'/20's if I buy the case....I use them for practice and some small game.

Able ammo has a good selection including some non toxic waterfowl loads.....hold onto your hat if you think regular shells are expensive.....LOL...... Midway has OK pricing/selection too.

Because its a fairly unusual caliber for here, they run more. Down south they are a quail/dove round and run a tad cheaper in local stores.

I have some very rare 28 slugs by Remington that I am saving for a coyote......they are mid 80's production. I have an unique smooth bore barrel I/C that has full sights made for either birds or boar....Brenneke Europe makes a slug round but they don't import them yet; maybe this year as Taurus was supposed to introduce a 28 capable hand gun like the 410 Judge.

Give me a couple days I will PM you some links to relevant discussion on shot shells....files are on another computer.

[Pygmy]

The 28 gauge is really a sweet small game gun. I have had two over the years, a Spanish side by side and a Rem 11-48 with a Cutts Compensator.

As far as I could tell, they kill about as well as a 20 gauge, and that includes pheasants.

The ammo cost is a problem. I loaded 1000s of rounds for 12 and 20 gauge over the years but never got around to buying a 28 gauge conversion kit for my Mec, mostly because I never shot competitively with the 28.

Nowadays you can buy promo loads for the 12, 20, and even the 16 so cheap that it is hardly worth reloading, at least for hunting, and I don't shoot skeet and trap anymore. . I buy my .410 ammo by the case mail order. They are not cheap, but still half the price of 28s.

I have a few 28 gauge slugs, but I'll never shoot them. They are Remington Express in green paper casings, probably made sometime in the 40s or 50s.

I do my small game hunting with a 20 or a .410 nowadays, but I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for the 28.

[Dinsdale]

Tune up work plinking around the shop with the O/U.....

And the Single;

I shoot starlings at a local dairy barn a few times a year when they rotate the herd out for cleaning during the day between milkings with the O/U. Plenty of targets most times.

[Pygmy]

Dinsdale...I see that you appreciate fine wood on your firearms...

Nice to see in this day and age when you see so much plastic and stainless steel..

Been there, done that with the starlings... They can be almost as challenging as doves.

I guess they OK to eat, also, but I have never tried them..

Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie ?...

[Dinsdale]

Hmmmm....never ate them....just dug a hole. LOL

I'll ask some English guys on another board if they hunt them there for food or sport.

I own some tupperware stuff too,all has its place......but nothing feels as good as fitted wood, especially on a shotgun :<)

[Pygmy]

Yeah...As much as I like nice walnut and deep blued metal, I must admit that plastic and stainless has its advantages, especially in the duckblind in snotty weather and on wilderness hunts where your rifle gets SOAKED every day, with no good way to dry it off...

STILL... Game was killed efficiently for many years before weather proof finishes were available, and life is too short to hunt with an ugly gun...<<grin>>..

[bellmorekennels]

Dinsdale, those are beatifull guns!!!! Nothing like the feel of a nice shotgun on a cold freshly snow covered morning, with fresh tracks to get the blood flowing!

[Pygmy]

Any of you ever used the shot that is shaped differently? It is supposed to not drag hair and feathers through with it.

No Doe, I haven't tried it, nor have I paid much attention to it.. It may be the best thing since puncture proof toilet paper, but it seems kinda GIMMICKY to me.

Also, is it even loaded in lighter loads suitable for small game ? The loads that I have seen advertised are all heavy magnum non-toxic loads designed for waterfowl.

They would seem to be overkill for upland game birds, rabbits and squirrels, both expense wise and performance wise.

Edited October 29, 2011 by Pygmy

[Guides ForHire]

misjudging yardage

picking your head up off the stock

not following through

those are the top reasons people miss rabbits or anything for that matter shotgunning, far on beyond what choke was used.

when in doubt use a Mod. aim for the head not the whole rabbit or hare.

[thehunted]

20 gauge with turkey choke #8 shot works great

[Early]

Improved choke for me...#6 shot mostly...#5 when hunting in heavy brush or with the 28 or .410.

[CharlieNY]

I hunt cottontails over my 2 beagles and have been hunting bunnies with beagles for over 45 yrs. I prefer a 20 ga. with a modified choke as the best all around choke. I like to stack my rounds with the first 2 rounds being low base #6 and the third round being high base #6 in case the bunny is in thick cover or is a long shot. This has worked the best for me for the type of rabbit hunting I do. When I hunt snowshoe hares, I use the same modified choke but load strictly high base #6, and this has also worked out well for me.