Short or long...your thoughts please..and why??
Quote from: ghillie on March 14, 2011, 11:47:34 AM
Short or long...your thoughts please..and why??
I prefer a 23"-24" barrel and no longer than 26". Every gun patterns different than another but I have found in my opinion that a 23" or 24" barrel seems to pattern better and more consistently than any other length of gun.
I like the 21-22" barrels when turkey hunting for their handiness. I prefer 30" for wingshooting and clays. So I could only have one shotgun give me a 26" barrel with good balance.
Daman
my 1187 has a 23" barrel and i like it. i think it's about perfect for a turkey gun
28". Because that's what my 870 had on it when I started. It's performed well, so I kept it.
I went with a 26 on my Benelli. I chose that length because my gun is do it all. I don't currently wing shoot but it does everything else. Turkey, deer or small game it my gun. That's also why I paid the extra coin to get the reliablility and also why I got the semi auto. So for me it was a happy medium decision.
Quote from: bird on March 14, 2011, 11:59:07 AM
Quote from: ghillie on March 14, 2011, 11:47:34 AM
Short or long...your thoughts please..and why??
I prefer a 23"-24" barrel and no longer than 26". Every gun patterns different than another but I have found in my opinion that a 23" or 24" barrel seems to pattern better and more consistently than any other length of gun.
agreed :icon_thumright:
I have only had 1 gun and it is a 20" MB 835. I have never had any difficulty getting the patterns I want. I shoot handloads and had to change the recipe. Once I did, all is easy as pie.
Short barrel for me
this is one of those threads that will have huge responce but will help figure out nothing. 99%of the time the person's favorite barrel length is the one that they currently use
I prefer a minimum of 25", and normally hunt w/ a 26" barrel on both 3" and 31/2" receivers. I've killed 8 or 9 flying turkeys and a shorter barrel may be fine under most hunting circumstances, but will not swing like a longer barrel on flying birds. As for the notion that a short barrel is handier in the woods, I try to avoid thickets, the turkeys do too. I hunted w/ a 21" 10 gauge Ithaca w/ Briley tubes, and unless you wear hearing protection while hunting, the shorter barrels are much louder and more detrimental on your hearing.
I have a 20" 12 gauge and a 28" 20 gauge, and I can't really decide which I like carrying better. I don't find the extra length on the 20 gauge to bother me at all as far as hindering my movement.
I like a 20" or 21" or no more than24" for turkey hunting.
Easier to handle swing and move on a bird in the woods.
If you really ain't planing to shoot past 40yards its all you
need... :icon_thumright:
I have all different lengths of barrels but 26" is my favorite. It's just a good all around length. They will pattern great for turkey hunting without being overly long and swing good for wing shooting as well, if you're gonna use the gun for both.
Any Barrel that's over 24" is obsolete in the turkey woods nowadays!!
We now have H13 NITRO's and TSS...It is unfair to the birds if we still
use the long Barrels the Ole Timers used,those 26" to 32" put us to
close to the Gobbler's in this modern/progressive sophisticated time!!
:smiley-char092: :TooFunny: :fud: :newmascot:
I like 20"-24" for turkey. 24"-26" for upland hunting, 30"-32" for clays and trap, where the long barrels give a better sighting plane and help if using slow burning powder.
I like the moveability and lighter weight (sometimes you have to hold the gun up awhile) of a short barrel for turkey.
I have a 20" barrel, and wished I didn't. If I had realized what a bear my short barreled gun was gonna be to dial in, I would've gotten a 24" barreled gun.
I have seen really good patterns from the longer barreled guns. Mine shoots well now, but if I had it to do over again, I would've done things differently.
Quote from: chatterbox on March 14, 2011, 04:44:33 PM
I have a 20" barrel, and wished I didn't. If I had realized what a bear my short barreled gun was gonna be to dial in, I would've gotten a 24" barreled gun.
I have seen really good patterns from the longer barreled guns. Mine shoots well now, but if I had it to do over again, I would've done things differently.
I didn't have a problem out of mine, but I wasn't shooting factory loads either. Maybe it was the shooter?
Quote from: sugarray on March 14, 2011, 04:47:05 PM
Quote from: chatterbox on March 14, 2011, 04:44:33 PM
I have a 20" barrel, and wished I didn't. If I had realized what a bear my short barreled gun was gonna be to dial in, I would've gotten a 24" barreled gun.
I have seen really good patterns from the longer barreled guns. Mine shoots well now, but if I had it to do over again, I would've done things differently.
I didn't have a problem out of mine, but I wasn't shooting factory loads either. Maybe it was the shooter?
:TooFunny: :TooFunny: :TooFunny: :TooFunny:
Probably so, Ray!
Quote from: chatterbox on March 14, 2011, 04:48:42 PM
Quote from: sugarray on March 14, 2011, 04:47:05 PM
Quote from: chatterbox on March 14, 2011, 04:44:33 PM
I have a 20" barrel, and wished I didn't. If I had realized what a bear my short barreled gun was gonna be to dial in, I would've gotten a 24" barreled gun.
I have seen really good patterns from the longer barreled guns. Mine shoots well now, but if I had it to do over again, I would've done things differently.
I didn't have a problem out of mine, but I wasn't shooting factory loads either. Maybe it was the shooter?
:TooFunny: :TooFunny: :TooFunny: :TooFunny:
Probably so, Ray!
That was an easy one for me even, and I'm not very good at this stuff. I still don't understand why everyone says the short barrel is tough to get a good pattern. Every shell, whether is was my first hand loaded TSS or the Hevi #7 shot turkey killing patterns. It is the Rem 20 gauge I am having trouble with. Hope to get it lined out with the new Hastings .562 though.
I have one at 21, a couple at 23, a few at 26, and a bunch at 28. Despite all the talk about handiness, bbl length has never bothered me while turkey hunting. When speaking of patterning, I tend to get better patterns with a longer barrel of the same dia. IE my longer bbl Rems usually out pattern my shorter bbl Rems, but it's too close to get worked up over. Speed goes to the longer bbls, but some ammo has less gains than others(depends on the burn rates).
Today I setup where I wanted and the gun was 6" too long to swing past a tree.
I switched with my brother who had my 20" encore.
It shoots 350+ tss in a 10" at 40 yards everyday.
Well I have went the short barrel route down to 21" in a 870 Express. I also had another 870 Express 28" barrel. Both shot good. The 28" shot slightly better. I ended up selling my 28" barrel Express gun to a buddy who still has it. I always liked the way that 28' barrel shot and balanced in my hands. So I traded my 21' barrel for a 28" barrel from a guy in GA. I'm glad I made the trade. I switched out the wood stock for a black synthetic stock. Now I have my old gun back that I had that I missed so much.
I use 23" because it came with my gun. With today's loads and chokes even a 16" barrel isn't too short.
My 12 ga is a 26" Nova and I've had a frustrating time getting patterns that I liked. After seeing all the 24" guns performing better and more consistently, I will go the 23" or 24" with my next gun.
My brothers 11-87 with 21" shoots better than any remington barrel I have seen regardless of length.
I had a 28" that didn't pattern very well. I bought a 24" and am waiting for warm weather to pattern it.
Well I'm like Reloader that the longer barrels will typically shoot the slightly better patterns vs the shorter barrels.
I have a 26 inch on my Supernova. Love the gun, great balance and shoots awesome patterns. However, I would shoot a 24 inch on it all day long too. Only reason I decided I wanted the 26 over the 24 was that it was in the particular camo pattern I wanted. Those two inches of barrel won't make any difference anyway.
A 24" is just about perfect... just enough but not too much. The 26" is a close second choice for me.
I have a 26" barrel on my Rem. 20 ga. but wish it was a 24"
Quote from: mmusso on March 14, 2011, 06:01:56 PM
My 12 ga is a 26" Nova and I've had a frustrating time getting patterns that I liked. After seeing all the 24" guns performing better and more consistently, I will go the 23" or 24" with my next gun.
My 26" nova does not pattern well either. Bought a 26" SBE2 and it patterns are outstanding!!
i have short and long barrels on my rigs, but i prefer my 870 with a 23 inch barrel
JEBsCHOKES we shoot all lenghts . Short guns shoot great but they have flash over powder not burned in barrel causing energy loss. Long guns pretty much burn all the powder creating maxum energy. its a preference.TURKEYHUNTER.