Baby Bores & Sub Gauges Galore
Just when we thought the recent .410 ascent had reached its pinnacle, with baby bore shotguns thriving in single shot, pump, and semi-auto, along comes a new charge with 28 gauges preparing to take center stage. Mossberg’s SA-28, from the international series of gas-driven repeaters, offers not only a Tactical Turkey, but Field and Bantam variants, too.
What’s more, recent years have given rise to the Magnum 3-inch 28-gauge, with companies including Krieghoff, Beretta, Benelli, and Franchi cashing in for hunters. Who would have thought of the upland-favorite 28 as a waterfowl gun? Not us, but here we are in a very real conversation, especially when the once lowly 28 is paired with the correct ammunition.
Related: 2023’s Best 28-Gauge Hunting Shotguns
Low in recoil and light-carrying, both .410-bore and 28-gauge shotguns have been gaining in popularity at a meteoric rate, and the 28 is rushing into 2024 with new fervor, while the .410 continues its well-above-average sales. Buyers will find budget friendly options, premium high-end doubles, svelte repeaters, camo-clad hunters, prime grade walnut-stocked classics, and everything in between. These smaller bore diameters are setting the tone for shotgun news.
Specialty Shotshells
If you wonder where the popularity of all these specialty shots (tungsten, bismuth, coated blends, and stacked combinations) comes from, see the section above. As more shotgun manufacturers and hunters turn away from the larger gauges, magnum length chambers, and heavier recoil, the sub-gauge renaissance booms. Just count the number of manufacturers building 10-gauge shotguns versus those touting .410s.
To make the smaller bores more relevant, extend their effective ranges, and add to their knockdown power, ammunition companies are furnishing customized shotshells loaded with pricier, albeit already-proven specialty shot types.
We were doubters until practicing, and eventually hunting, with the Stevens single-shot .410 partnered with Federal Premium TSS rounds. Clean, one-shot gobbler harvests out to 30 yards were no problem, along with zero recoil. The ammunition is what made that kind of range and performance a reality.
Enough talk of small bores. Specialty shots are equally as impressive in the gold standard 12-gauge, 20-gauge, or even 16s. Bismuth has long been recognized for its capabilities in older classic shotguns, but it’s growing increasingly more available. Specialty shot is now common to find on the shelf where once lead and steel held all the space.
Related: The Bismuth Business – Hunting with Bismuth Shotshells
We won’t get into the benefits of each type of specialty shot, as we’ve covered that in articles past, but suffice it to say those willing to drop some coin on these loads will notice a positive head-to-head difference in the field, and the options for these rounds continue to expand in 2024.
Turkish Takeover
We spend plenty of quality time writing about American-made firearms, but it’s no grand secret that overseas-built guns offer some serious value. For the last handful of years, and even more so entering 2024, it appears the country of Turkey is now home to the majority of budget-minded – and even some higher-priced – shotgun manufacturers.
Of late, we’ve pulled the trigger on scatterguns from TriStar, Mossberg International, Weatherby, GForce, Retay, Stoeger, CZ, and Stevens originating in that locale. To be clear, not all the shotguns offered by some of these gun builders are made in Turkey, but many are.
We’re not here to complete a study on quality, fit, and function, but rather, to point out that more and more manufacturers are filling their budget end of the spectrum by leveraging a growing number of Turkish facilities. At one time, the word “budget” was associated with junk, but that’s largely no longer the case.
While we certainly wouldn’t rank some of the gun labels above as our first choice for reliability in critical tasks, many of them are surprisingly capable, practical, attractive, or all-around impressive. A few that have piqued our interest of late: Mossberg SA-28 Tactical Turkey, Tristar Bristol side by side, Stevens Model 301 single shot, and Retay’s Gordion. Love it or hate it, there’s no denying the Turkish rollmark is becoming more common every year.
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