I've had an NEF Pardner in 28 gauge (22 inch bbl) for some time. It's a simple-Simon, pokey little gun. Previously, all I've ever used it for is shooting 50 caliber round lead balls (hand loads). Yesterday, I was going to the gun range where I am a member, and just as an afterthought I took along the 28 ga. I figured if I ran into another shooter who would spare me some clay birds, I'd try to see how my shotgunning skills were with the 28 ga. After spending some time on the rifle range, sure enough a regular member showed up with his son on the shotgun range. I ambled over and asked him if he would launch a few for me so I could try my gun out. He said sure, so I got the gun out of my car. I fired off about 10 rounds and after missing the first couple, I started popping birds. It didn't take me long to discover that I had to get right on the bird right away, as the 28 gauge doesn't have the reach of a 3 inch 12 gauge. It was fun, so now I'm gonna buy my own box of birds and spend more time over on the shotgun range.
The member's son who launched the birds for me glanced at my box of Remington high-brass target shells and saw the price tag said $4.95. He said, "Wow, you've had those for a long time, huh?" And here I thought I paid a lot of money for those.