Why does 28ga weigh more?

[BillyMays]

Looking at a variety of O/U shotguns, and based on the printed specs an equivalent gun in 28ga weighs the same or more than the 20ga version. My intuition would tell me the opposite, so what's going on?

Browning Citori 28ga 28"... 6lb 13oz
Browning Citori 20ga 28"... 6lb 9oz

TriStar Setter 28ga 28"... 6.6lb
TriStar Setter 20ga 28"... 6.3lb

Stevens 555 28ga 26"... 5.5lb
Stevens 555 20ga 26"... 5.5lb

Beretta 686 28ga 28"... 6.2lb
Beretta 686 20ga 28"... 6.5lb (ok they had it right I guess)

[ceh383]

I will give you another data point.

These are my guns and just weighed them for this post.

Browning 725 Sporting, 30" barrels 12ga: 8lbs 2.2oz
Browning 725 Sporting, 32" barrels 28ga: 7lbs 11.8oz

[G-forceJunkie]

My wild guess is they use the same size everything ast the 12 or 20 gauge, such as the chamber block. Same size chamber block with smaller holes= more steel.

[ceh383]

The Browning 28ga guns are built on a 20ga frame. The receiver will weigh the same. The mono-block may weigh slightly more but the barrels should weigh a little less.

[Ducky's Dad]

28 gauge barrels on a non-scaled frame will generally weigh more than 20ga barrels on the same frame. Scaled frame guns will show decreasing weights. Look at Beretta O/U's on scaled vs non-scaled frames, but keep in mind that Beretta's published weights are never very accurate. Extreme example would be my long gone Citori .410 on a 20ga frame. Much heavier that my 20ga Citori on the same frame.

[bohoki]

on my 410 it looks thick enough to fire a 45-70 i figure they make the barrel thicker to match up with 12 ga furniture

[BillyMays]

Good point about the 28ga on a 20ga frame. Is there any information on which frames are shared vs scaled?

[newbutold]

Never noticed the weight of a 28ga......just fun to shoot.

[whutsup40]

Don't know the difference between the 28 or 20 in other brands but my C.Z's in 20 and 28 weigh the same, swing the same, and feel the same.

[Imageview]

[ceh383]

Beretta does, but you have to be careful, not all of them are. If you buy a 20/28 combo, it will be on a 20ga frame. If you buy a 28/410 combo it will likely be built on a scaled 28ga frame.

Others make them but they are not real common.

[JagerDog]

Beretta does, but you have to be careful, not all of them are. If you buy a 20/28 combo, it will be on a 20ga frame. If you buy a 28/410 combo it will likely be built on a scaled 28ga frame.

Others make them but they are not real common.

Beretta has their “baby frame”.

There’s quite a mix of subgauges on various sized frames. Few if any anymore have scaled frames unique to various subgauges.

Also published weights don’t account for various wood densities, etc.

I have a 12g 682 sporting with 28” barrels and a 682 x-trap with 30” barrels. The x-trap weighs much more than the couple ounces of extra barrel.