Trends are a funny thing. For many years, we hunted turkeys with 12-gauge shotguns, because that’s what we had and that was the thing to do. Then the bigger-is-better crowd starting pushing the 10-gauge pretty hard, and many hunters followed. I’ve turkey hunted with a 10-gauge pump a few times, even killed a nice tom with one a few years back, and while it certainly shoots a more than capable load, the gun weighs a ton and recoils like a beast. It feels like you’re running-and-gunning with a cannon slung over your shoulder. 

A few years ago, as often happens, the pendulum began to swing back the other way, and the 20-gauge got hot for turkeys. We all started to realize that recoil really is more of a factor than we wanted to admit, and turkeys aren’t that hard to kill. At the same time, ammo technology was advancing to the point where the sub-gauges were becoming more and more effective, and hunters started looking beyond the 20 to the 28-gauge and even the diminutive .410 bore. 

I’ve stuck with the 12 most of my life, but having suffered a shoulder injury a couple of years ago that left me seeking a kinder, gentler turkey gun, I was eager to try a small-gauge for toms, and my opportunity came last spring, when Mossberg’s Linda Powell invited me on a once-in-a-lifetime Gould’s hunt in Mexico. Even better? She’d be bringing the guns, so I wouldn’t have to cross the border with one myself, and she was planning to bring a couple of the company’s new 28-gauge SA-28 Tactical Turkey shotguns.

Having had a nerve-wracking experience involving Mexican customs and firearms years before, I was nervous about traveling South of the Border again, but that part of the trip turned out much easier than I expected. We hunted with Ted Jaycox of Tall Tine Outfitters, and when I tell you that Ted has this thing dialed in, I mean it. I flew into Arizona and met Linda and two other female hunters for our all-girls trip, and we crossed the border at Aqua Prieta with our guides in their trucks. Ted and his guides have done this so many times that the process is a breeze—we didn’t even get out of the vehicles and were soon on our way to the beautiful Rancho Mababi, owned by Alice Valenzuela, an American woman who left her high-profile Silicon Valley job decades ago to move to her husband Roberto’s off-the-grid family ranch in Mexico. Roberto has since passed, but Alice continues to run the working ranch and allows Ted to guide hunts for Gould’s turkey and Coues deer on her sprawling property. 

We crossed the border in the morning, unpacked our stuff into a comfortable casa, set up in a blind that afternoon, and as luck would have it, a Gould’s tom marched himself right into our decoy set after a few hours. Though I was secretly harboring doubts about whether the 28-gauge was enough, a single shot of Federal’s Custom Shop TSS put all doubts to rest, and the bang-flop at 20 yards was definitive enough to make me a believer. 

What’s So Great About the 28?

“I get more and more hunters hunting with sub-gauges every year,” Ted told me. “That’s kind of the trend. Guys are tired of carrying those heavy 12-gauges and the kick that goes along with it. The .410s and 28s are certainly making inroads.”

Linda agreed. “I definitely think this trend is here to stay,” she said. “We’re seeing that pattern in gun sales. You know, the .410 has been incredibly hot, but I think the 28-gauge is going to overtake it, because people feel like they get a better pattern, a little added performance, but still not trading off much in terms of recoil.”

The SA-28 Tactical Turkey weighs just 6 pounds with a 22-inch barrel, a 2 ¾-inch chamber and a pistol grip — which is a feature I strongly prefer on my turkey guns. It’s a gas-operated system that ran smoothly in all my testing, and fiber-optic ghost ring sights make aiming easy, although we added Leupold Delta Point red-dots — and by the way, red-dot optics are another must-have feature on a turkey gun, in my opinion. Once you go red-dot, it’s hard to go back, and the Leupold was simple and easy to use. The hunter I shared a blind with had another brand of red-dot on her gun and had considerable trouble getting the dot to appear in the darker early-morning hour — a problem I did not encounter with the reliable Leupold. 

The bird was the real test (and one of the other hunters in camp killed her tom with the 28-gauge, too), but the 28-gauge has the patterning-board results to prove its effectiveness, too. With ammo availability still somewhat of an issue at the time of our hunt, we opted for Federal’s Custom Shop loads, which is sold direct-to-consumer. It won’t be anything you’re stocking, but when it comes to advising customers on 28-gauge turkey ammo, I can advise you that a 1-ounce load of No. 8 shot TSS (1,100 fps) spits out a nasty pattern that drops birds definitively. Such small shot size is a relatively new thing for many turkey hunters, but TSS (Tungsten Super Shot) makes it an ideal option, as they can pack so many more pellets in a single shell without compromising patterns or penetration. Its tungsten-alloy material is 56% denser than lead and 22% denser than regular tungsten, and Federal’s Flight Control wad further contributes to tighter patterns. 

Our work at the patterning board proved the point. “The pattern is just as good as a 12-gauge 3-inch without all the recoil,” Ted marveled. “The Federal TSS is a phenomenal load, especially in this Mossberg. It produces excellent patterns, not to mention what it did to the turkeys we shot this week. I would not hesitate to have a client shoot a bird at 40 yards with this gun, no problem.”

Ted ought to know — he guides turkey hunters in Sonora, Mexico (where we were), the Yucatan, and his home state of Florida. He’s seen more turkeys shot than anyone I know, and if you have any customers looking to cross off the more difficult-to-find birds on their World Slam or Royal Slam list, Ted is the man to talk to for Osceolas, Gould’s and Oscellated. He also guides whitetail hunts in Kansas and Coues deer in Sonora and holds to the highest standards of ethical hunting. Find him at talltine.com. 

Why Stock the SA-28 Tactical Turkey

None of your customers are getting younger, and many of them might be looking for more gentle hunting experience. Even if age and recoil aren’t a factor, the sub-gauges are just super hot for turkeys right now. The Mossberg SA-28 Tactical Turkey fills the “capable but gentle” bill nicely, being lightweight and compact and undeniably effective. Pair it with a red-dot optic and a sling and you really have the ultimate run-and-gun firearm that you can carry comfortably all day. And with the right ammunition, customers can have full confidence that the gun is more than up to the task within reasonable ranges. This gun carries an MSRP of $902, putting it in line with many other purpose-built semi-auto turkey guns. 

“The trend is to go smaller, but better,” Ted commented, and he’s right. When compared to the traditional 12-gauge turkey gun, a light and compact 28-gauge is definitely smaller and arguably better. 

“I’ve been really impressed with the performance, as you’ve seen already,” Linda said. “We’ve taken a few turkeys this week, and the patterns are really impressive. I think what’s nice about it is it’s a small, compact platform, easy to carry in the field, and of course, less recoil. We’re finding with the performance of today’s shotshells, it’s just not necessary to carry a 12-gauge, and we’re seeing the demand in the market for the smaller gauges.”

That demand is only going up from here, as hunters learn the advantages and capabilities of the sub-gauges and put down their heavy, hard-hitting 12s. Be prepared by stocking what they’ll be asking for — and don’t forget to recommend some TSS shot and a reliable red-dot optic as smart upsell opportunities.