Is there any hope for 20 inch barrels?

[rkm456]

Just to throw in my 2 cents. I'm shooting a Mossberg 500 with a 20 inch barrel. It didn't come with a factory turkey choke so I forked out the money for an aftermarket one. Because of limited availability where I am, my options were the Patternmaster Anaconda (striker .670 constriction) with Long Beard #6's at 35 yards I was able to get about 230 into a 10 inch circle and my trukey outline looked a lot like your 20 yard target did. At 20 yards, there was a clean hole through the bird, lol.

Having said all that, I'm very pleased with the pattern I was able to obtain with my 20 inch barrel setup, but I can assure you that the biggest factor in my range experience was taking a lot of time to pattern it. I went through about 30 rounds that day, first patterning with some old lead loads I had in the cabinet, and then going through the entire box of Long Beards (my shoulder wasn't thrilled about it though) At first I thought my shotgun was throwing a little high and a little left, but because of how many rounds I went through, I was able to figure out that it was actually just my hearing protection preventing me from getting down on the gun as much as I needed to. After figuring that out, I became incredibly pleased with my 20 inch guns performance.

[Ihuntoldschool]

Choke determines pattern, not barrel length. I would take a 20-22 inch barrel over a 26 inch any day for turkeys.  Some of the better #s with the Longbeards have been with the shorter barrels as opposed to longer.   Try different chokes or shells maybe if you want and I am sure you will find the pattern you are looking for.  Don't be swayed by the misinformed who consider barrel length a factor in patterns, it is not.  Sometimes shorter barrels shoot better patterns than longer barrels, sometimes the reverse is true. It varies from barrel to barrel and depends on the choke/shell you are using.

[SinGin]

Choke determines pattern, not barrel length. I would take a 20-22 inch barrel over a 26 inch any day for turkeys.  Some of the better #s with the Longbeards have been with the shorter barrels as opposed to longer.   Try different chokes or shells maybe if you want and I am sure you will find the pattern you are looking for.  Don't be swayed by the misinformed who consider barrel length a factor in patterns, it is not.  Sometimes shorter barrels shoot better patterns than longer barrels, sometimes the reverse is true. It varies from barrel to barrel and depends on the choke/shell you are using.

I would never consider Mr. Clark misinformed when it comes to shotguns and what works best for them

[kdsberman]

Hello everyone! This is my first post for this site and I would like to say this is the best website for turkey hunting info I have ever seen!

I very much agree with this.  This site really made my already great shooting 835 into a turkey killing MONSTER.

Awesome gun by the way!

[Longshanks]

Choke determines pattern, not barrel length. I would take a 20-22 inch barrel over a 26 inch any day for turkeys.  Some of the better #s with the Longbeards have been with the shorter barrels as opposed to longer.   Try different chokes or shells maybe if you want and I am sure you will find the pattern you are looking for.  Don't be swayed by the misinformed who consider barrel length a factor in patterns, it is not.  Sometimes shorter barrels shoot better patterns than longer barrels, sometimes the reverse is true. It varies from barrel to barrel and depends on the choke/shell you are using.

The shorter barrels have been more difficult for me to find the high density patterns although eventually I have found the patterns through allot of testing. The Hevi 13 7's and Win LB Longbeards have made this process not quite as difficult these days.  It has been much easier for me to find dense patterns out of the 26"-28" bbl's and also with multiple different shells out of the same setup.  You may not know this but Clark and Doris Bush are World Still Target Champions. Clark knows more about this than most of us ever thought we knew. His vast knowledge and experience on all things guns is something he shares freely.  He is the type of guy that if he tells you something it is gold. If you don't believe it initially, keep shooting, you will find what he has shared with you to be true.

[Roost 1]

I have almost the exact gun with 20" barrel... It shot very well with a kicks gobblin thunder .680 and hevi-13 5s.. I tried a Indian creek .675 with the long beards 5s it shot very good.. Then I ran into Mr Bobby, owner of JEBS Chokes, he recommended a JEBS headhunter .650 with the longbeards... I said that's crazy!!!! .650 is way too tight in 835.. He said try it if you don't like don't pay for it....I took him up on his offer.... It was unbelievable.... Using longbeards 3.5" 2 oz 4s I put 157 in a 10" circle at 40yds... I know we not supposed to talk about shots past 40, but just for the heck if it I tried one at 55yds, 99 in the 10" circle..... I sent Mr Bobby a check!!!!!!