Remington 870 - 21" or 26" barrel?

[Ridgerunner7]

Which would you recommend and why?  21" would be more maneuverable. Would the 26" have better down range patterning?  How about recoil?  This would be for an adult.

[shootemintheface]

I like the short barrel.

[Ridgerunner7]

Did a search...seems to be pretty split on preference between the long/short barrels.

[Sand Man]

Can't comment on the 26" barrel as I've never hunted with one.  I can say I wouldn't trade in my 21" barrel.  It patterns very will with the TSS reloads out to any distance I want to kill a turkey and is a dream carrying in the woods vs any 12ga I've ever used.

[Tom Foolery]

I must admit, I am diggin my 21" barreled 870.  Short, light, and shoots great.

[schuylkillspur]

21 will do everything a 26 will do.

[Waddle Whacker]

21" for me and lovin it! As far as the patterning goes, look around on here, these little barrels can put up some big numbers.

[surehuntsalot]

21 will do everything a 26 will do.

+100    short barrel is all you need

[goblr77]

If you are using the gun strictly for turkeys I would have to say the 21" barrel. I have both lengths and wound up hunting with the short one. It's not far behind the 26" on the patterning board and is a joy to tote in the woods. With Fed 7s and the right choke the short barrel still has enough umph to hammer a bird at distances past what we are allowed to talk about on this site.

[mossyoakpro]

I went with a 26 on my project gun....simply because that is what the shotgun guru that lengthened my forcing cones suggested that I get.

As far as patterning difference I have no idea at all....I am waiting on it to return from it's Mossy Oak spa treatment so I can begin pattern testing.

[dpittman]

Would the velocity diff between the two bbls mean anything with the smaller shot sizes.

[Eric Gregg]

I tote a Remington 870 20ga Youth Model with the Shur Shot stock and love it.
I can jump into any brush pile or move through the woods without any hang ups or snags.
Great guns.

[remmy1187]

I have both lengths and also an 18.5 inch barrel, my preference is the 21 inch. My 21"  shoots better with my reloads than the 26" so its a no brainer for me.  I think Im gonna use the 18.5" for a kids/blind gun, with the adjustable stocks and the short barrels they are a treat to carry.

[dpittman]

do you have a ballistics calc? If so could you do a penetration calc on a lead 6 at 1200. The pellets seem to run from 1.85-2.0 grains per pellet if that helps.

[cannonball]

I would do the 21".