Interested in a 870 supermag, Im torn between the 21" bbl vs 26" bbl gun.
I like the compact 21" bbl. but don't want to sacrifice pattern.
If you find a turkey that can tell the difference, I'd be looking into a new location.
:icon_thumright: ;D
Dosent make a huge difference honestly. It's gonna boil down to what you want to lug around the woods. If you do your part and get the bird in close it isn't gonna matter one bit.
Go with the 21. I shoot an 18" barrel and can put well into the 200's with the right shell choke combo.
Dedicated turkey gun? Go shorter barrel. No sacrifice of pattern with today's choke & shell combos available.
Multi-purpose, go 26" for the swing / wing shooting.
It's all about choke and shell combination. My 23" outshoots my buddy's 26". Just takes a little time at the bench and $.
All things being equal, a longer barrel will usually out perform a shorter one in pattern and velocity. Most of the dedicated card shooting guns have 30-36" barrels. But we're talking very little gains in actual hunting situations. The difference between a 21" and 26" barrel would most likely be meaningless for hunting as far as the pattern. I like a little longer barrel (24-26"), but only because when I shoot bead sights I like the longer site plane.
26" for me as both of the 24" and shorter guns I have payed with were a bear to get a pattern I really liked.
I do like the 21-24" stuff from the pop up blind though.
My 10 gauge has a 26" barrel and is as long as most 28" 12 gauges. Don't really notice it being any harder to hunt with though. Get what you really like the most and enjoy.
Quote from: Philippe on April 19, 2017, 09:53:53 PM
Dosent make a huge difference honestly. It's gonna boil down to what you want to lug around the woods. If you do your part and get the bird in close it isn't gonna matter one bit.
X2
You will not see much difference in them. If it is a do all gun I would go 26 inch. Now if you going to just TK hunt you may go little shorter. Now the short barrel will give more muzzle blast and rise.
Reminds me when I was a kid, I asked one of the old-timers how much farther a 30" barreled gun would shoot than one with a 26" barrel and his reply was "about 4 inches". While a longer barrel will, given the same loads, nearly always produce higher velocity, at reasonable hunting distances it's a non-issue. Given the wide variety of turkey loads and choke tubes available these days, it's highly unlikely that you will have any trouble getting excellent pattern density out of that 21" tube.
Most of my turkey hunting takes place in the woods so I appreciate the slightly enhanced maneuverability afforded by a shorter barrel/gun. After over four decades of turkey hunting, I observed that much more time is spent carrying the gun than actually shooting it so I downsized from a Rem 11-87 to a TC Encore turkey gun which is just under 40" overall with a 24" barrel. It's a pleasure to carry and bad medicine for turkeys. I'd get the 21" barrel and not give it a second thought...unless I could get a 20" barrel! ;)
Most importantly, get the barrel length you think will make you happy.
My 12 gauge has a 20" barrel my 20 gauge has a 21" barrel.
I'm a short barrel fan.
I have a 26" on my 870. If i had to do over I would get at 21". My patterns good but also see as good or better numbers on here out of the 21". I carried my sons 870 youth most of the season this year. When I carried mine it hung on everything! Did not realize ho much the longer barrel got in the way!
I went from a 26" 870 to the 21" and would never go back, love the short barrel for mobility in the brush and didn't sacrifice any pattern.