Low pressure 28 gauge
 

Well after two years of waiting Turnbull sent me a email that my great grandfathers 28 gauge was finished. They said chamber walls were thin but it be ok for low pressure. I have mostly AA 28 gauge hulls but think I have some cheddite and FIO. Any recipe is welcome

Thank you

Jeff

The Fiocchi RO-28 wad works well with 3/4oz in either Chedite or Fiocchi 2 1/2" hulls. What powders do you have?

I really just about have them all. I hoarded just a little

Jeff,
Unique, 20/28, Longshot, Green Dot, Herco just to name a few. Go online to the Alliant and Hodgdon websites. Plenty of recipes there. Also check out the 28 ga.Society website and Trapshooters.com reloading forum. You can glean a lot of tested recipes from these sites. Unfortunately the 28 is not a "low pressure" gauge but you can find loads around 10k psi. Keep your loads under 1200fps and stick with 3/4oz and you should be fine. Congratulations on the funnest gauge to shoot.

I load 28 with 20/28 exclusively, but have tried 572. I wasn't impressed, and it wasn't nearly as clean.
One of my 28s is a 2 3/4" gun, the other a 2 1/2" gun, so I load them all in the shorter length.
I am using a 9000 press, and can load either Fiocchi or Cheddite, but get better hull life with the Fiocchi hulls. The press requires a minor adjustment between the two hulls, so almost all my loads are Fiocchi.
My most consistent load is 13.5grs of 20/28, RO-28 wad, and 3/4oz of chilled 7.5 shot

That's my load too, 13.5 gr 20/28 but it is in short supply in the marketplace. I load whatever hull I can find, just adjust my 9000 press to accomodate.

Thank you I have all of those. On a side note I’ve been crushing the ducks with your old 16 gauge

I had a Francotte 28 that weighed about 4 1/2 pounds and was punishing with factory 3/4 ounce loads. I loaded 1/2 ounce loads without changing the powder charge that I was using for target loads. I guess I filled the shell with a thin wad. These loads worked very well and didn't recoil at all. My 28 gauge powder has always been Unique.

Great. I guess I trained her well. Keep the tradition going.:)

Jeff,
Another good resource I neglected to mention is the reloading forum on Shotgunworld.com.

You mind sharing that recipe?

Whatever the Alliant book shows for Unique to duplicate a Winchester target load. Probably a Remington wad. My 1/2 ounce loads with the 3/4 ounce powder charge sounds and performs just like the 3/4 ounce load. It must be very low pressure but the powder seemed to burn just fine. This load would probably be safe in a gun with a cardboard barrel.

See attached pdf for pressure comparison based on factory load data for 2-3/4” hulls and 3/4oz lead shot.

-Above comparison is for AAHS 2-3/4” hulls. apologies for the omission.

Attached are my loading cards for 28ga AAHS hulls 3/4oz lead at 1200fps based on Hodgdon and Alliant data. You will need to verify from their data and take note that I interchange Cheddite primers with the Winchester W209 primers; there’s likely separate entries and data for each of those primers. But this data should give an idea of what to use for lower pressure and lower velocity load. No 20/28 to be found.

Thank you Chris

I recently had a load tested with blue dot.. because ive got a bunch and it was commonly featured in older manuals but with different components. Pressure was in the 7-8K range and fairly consistent. It is not "clean burning" by any stretch, So i stocked up on unique (thanks to some friends) and use it for 5/8 and 3/4. I wouldnt classify the unique as low pressure though, at least in 3/4oz.

Aaron, the 28 gauge is normally loaded to a higher pressure than larger gauges. Unique is a perfectly suitable 28 gauge powder. A slower powder like Blue Dot is about the only way to lower pressures in the 28 with the exception of lowering the shot load. I'm sure you are familiar with "Burning Rate" charts which will help you to select powders.

Mr Elder was concerned about the integrity of his barrels, apparently on the advice of a known gunsmith. Thus, I offered my experience with Blue Dot. I believe the blue dot was in favor for thinwall tubesets at one time.

Care to share the pressure testing results with Blue Dot? Who was the tester? A dirty powder is no big deal if the results of testing are in your favor. I would like to read about the Blue Dot being the hot lick in tubes. I don't remember reading that before. Please tell us about your grandfather's 28 gauge. What make is it? Fluid steel or Damascus?

00 frame 28 inch 28 gauge. Vulcan steel VH measures .027 wall thickness last 12 inches of barrels

Also in notes from Turnbull

REPAIR
Raise multiple dents in both barrels, best possible. Will not be able to bore polish or strike out remnants due to remaining wall thickness in barrels