B&P Upland Game 28ga 1oz 6 Shot – Great All Round Load

Description

If you were only allowed one 28 gauge shell for the whole season, this would be a defensible choice. The B&P Upland Game 28ga 1oz 6 Shot carries a full ounce of shot, a third more than the standard 28 gauge payload, in the pellet size that has always been the compromise candidate for mixed bag upland hunting.

• Six shot is the middle ground for a reason
• Full specifications
• Mixed bag days and walking country
• Honest notes before you buy
• The 28 gauge patterning question
• The bottom line

Six shot is the middle ground for a reason

An ounce of 6 shot holds roughly 225 pellets. That is a workable pattern, considerably denser than 5 shot and with meaningfully more energy per pellet than 7.5. The B&P Upland Game 28ga 1oz 6 Shot is the load that does not force you to guess right about which bird you will flush first.

Pheasant, sharptail, chukar, late season grouse. All of them are handled sensibly by the B&P Upland Game 28ga 1oz 6 Shot inside thirty five yards. It will not pattern as densely on quail as 7.5 does, and it will not hit a late rooster as hard as 5 does, and it does both jobs well enough that most hunters stop worrying about it.

Full specifications

• Caliber: 28 gauge, 2 3/4 inch shell
• Bullet weight: 1 ounce of lead, 6 shot grain
• Bullet: 6 shot hunting load
• Muzzle velocity: 1210 fps
• Muzzle energy: not published for shotshells ft-lbs
• Ballistic coefficient (G1): not applicable to shotshells
• Case: reloadable boxer primed brass
• Quantity: 20 rounds per box
• Part number: 25 rounds per box

A full ounce out of a 28 gauge hull is the notable specification here. The standard 28 gauge load is three quarters of an ounce, so the B&P Upland Game 28ga 1oz 6 Shot is carrying a third more shot than the gauge is usually asked to. That is what makes it a serious field load rather than a pleasant one.

Mixed bag days and walking country

The argument for the 28 gauge has always been carrying weight, and the argument against it was payload. A five and a half pound double with the B&P Upland Game 28ga 1oz 6 Shot in it gives up remarkably little to a 20 gauge and is a full pound lighter to carry over broken ground all day.

On a mixed bag walk where you might put up a rooster, a covey of huns or a grouse in the same hour, having one load that handles all three is worth more than optimizing for any one of them. The B&P Upland Game 28ga 1oz 6 Shot is that load.

Honest notes before you buy

Improved cylinder to modified suits most upland work with this load. A full ounce of 6 shot holds together well, so you do not need a tight choke to get useful patterns at thirty five yards, and an open choke will serve you better on close flushes.

Two limits as always. This is lead shot, not legal for waterfowl anywhere in the United States and prohibited outright on some public land. And a full ounce in a very light gun does produce noticeable recoil, so the B&P Upland Game 28ga 1oz 6 Shot is a field load rather than something you will shoot two hundred of on a clays course.

The 28 gauge patterning question

Shooters have argued for a century about why 28 gauges pattern so well relative to their payload. The usual explanation is that the bore to shot column ratio produces a short, stable column that deforms fewer pellets on the way out. Whatever the cause, in practice the B&P Upland Game 28ga 1oz 6 Shot tends to throw better patterns than the pellet count alone predicts.

Pattern yours anyway rather than taking that on faith. Shoot the B&P Upland Game 28ga 1oz 6 Shot at paper at thirty yards, draw a thirty inch circle where the density is greatest, and count. Ten minutes tells you your real effective range and whether your choke and this load agree.

The bottom line

For a 28 gauge that has to handle whatever gets up in front of the dog, the B&P Upland Game 28ga 1oz 6 Shot is the most useful shell in the line. You can read more about the bullet design at swiftbullets.com, or browse the rest of our stock on the MAG5 Firearms ammunition page.

MAG5 Firearms keeps the B&P Upland Game 28ga 1oz 6 Shot in stock and moving, and we are glad to talk through bullet choice before you order. If you are working up a load for a new rifle, a single box of the B&P Upland Game 28ga 1oz 6 Shot is a sensible place to start.