Barrel data?

[Passport]

Has anyone done the research on barrel length and patters? I'm the process of getting the stuff around for an 11-87 build and have a factory 21 inch vent rib tube. Seems like Remington runs a lot of 23 inchers, wonder if there is a reason for that or if it simply works better/easier, they have a lot of them..

Don't think barrel length at turkey range make a hill of beans difference in velocity, but I do wonder about effective patterns on said length.

Who's done the math?

[dzsmith]

you wont see a difference from 23" to 21".  ive always been told by a smith/barrel guy that you don't really even start cutting into the pattern when chopping down a barrel until you get below the 24" mark anyway. I can say ive tested my oem 28" barrel against my 21" cut barrel same choke and load and the longer barrel put more pellets on paper ( 35-40 more pellets in the 10) wasn't debatable but that's a 7" difference not a 2" difference . Both produced very killable patterns and the shorter barrel has saved my butt a few times when I had a sapling directly in front of me and I needed to swing over a little. it was worth it to me. one advantage I can think of out of the 23" barrel is if you ever blew the choke out the threads you might have just enough room to save the barrel by cutting and rethreading it....but that's dependent on damage . if you do that to a 21" its pretty much over IMO. I would say a 2" length difference would have a marginal effect on velocity if any at all.

[Tom007]

You guys are right on. Each inch of barrel relates to approximately 37.50 feet per second after 18-20 inch of barrel. I did some reading on this and what I have found is the optimum Turkey gun should have a barrel between 21 and 24 inches. The minimal velocity loss on the shorter barrels is barely measurable. I am comfortable with 22-26 inch barrels, no longer. It is personal preference. The modern day ammo and chokes make them all very proficient out to 40 yards......