48al 28 gauge

[madmax]

i shoot international and american skeet with an o/u but am still stuck with my old 870 for hunting. i hunt squirrel, rabbit, grouse, woodcock, and dove in that order here in virginia. i hunt mostly on wmas that are very heavily wooded, and with the exception of a few squirrels most of my shots are well within 25 yards. i recently shot a round of skeet with a 48al in 28 and loved the fit, and feel of the gun. very quick and lively. does this gun hold up well?, if possible i would rather buy used as external condition does not matter much, becuase it will get torn up anyway. i would only be shooting a dozen rounds or so of skeet a year with it, and a box or two a year of hunting loads. anybody know the new vs used price of this gun in the dc area?

[birddog]

mad max .. I'm checking on this for another guy so I'll get back to you when i find something out.

the gun should hold up real well. Just like any other gun, keep her clean and in check and you should run into minimal maintenance at worst with it.. just depends on how much you use and abuse it. Franchi started out making these John Browning long recoil versions (48AL) shortly after W*** ended .. so they've stood the test of time!

cool little number isn't it!! I'll get back to you hopefully with some usefull info.

[madmax]

cool little number isn't it!! I'll get back to you hopefully with some usefull info. [/QB][/QUOTE]

i hope it can be had for under 500 in decent shape. the other contender at this time is the 1100 sporting 20 (now they have 28 to but havent tried it yet) but this gun would be more for the doves than the grouse and squirrel.

[birddog]

Don't rule out the 28ga. on the grouse - it's a good gauge!

I picked up a Veloce squire set in November and used the 28ga barrel set to hunt late season ruffs with last month.

It worked great if you don't shoot into tree trunks and the operator puts the shot where it's supposed to be ;)

I did a little tree trimming and I know one shot was so far out in front that if the wad had a bit more speed the bird would've got hit by a plastic cup and not pellets. I did get the birds I had open/high % looks at though.

[ 02-11-2004, 12:09 PM: Message edited by: birddog ]

[madmax]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by birddog:
[QB] Don't rule out the 28ga. on the grouse - it's a good gauge!

sorry i wasnt clear in the previous post. i meant if i opted for the 1100 sporting 20 it would be more for doves. the franchi is being looked at with grouse in mind. i use 32 inch barrels on my target guns, but in the woods i think the 26" barrel 28 gauge would be perfect. this past year i had some success at g. r. thompson wma. it is a 10square mile public wildlife refuge about 1.5 hours west of d.c. grouse are my favorite and i hunt with a "flushing" golden that i trained myself.
first hunt was rainy but i saw two birds 1 out of range flushed 50 in front of the dog, the other the dog circled from behind and flushed the bird towards me and i missed an incoming shot, then spun and hit him going away, he made it another 50yards, about 75 total from the dog but he found the bird no problem.
i went five other days and bagged an additional 2 birds. we also got 5 woodcock and many squill and rabbit on our hunts. all this was the clunky 12gauge 870, im looking forward to getting a 48al