barrel length?

[chatterbox]

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.

[sugarray]

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?

[chatterbox]

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?

 
Probably so, Ray!

[sugarray]

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?

 
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.

[Reloader]

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).

[paladin]

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.

[ILIKEHEVI-13]

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.   

[Gobble!]

I use 23" because it came with my gun. With today's loads and chokes even a 16" barrel isn't too short.

[mmusso]

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.

[dpittman]

My brothers 11-87 with 21" shoots better than any remington barrel I have seen regardless of length.

[West Augusta]

I had a 28" that didn't pattern very well. I bought a 24" and am waiting for warm weather to pattern it.

[ILIKEHEVI-13]

Well I'm like Reloader that the longer barrels will typically shoot the slightly better patterns vs the shorter barrels. 

[StruttinGobbler3]

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.

[GC]

A 24" is just about perfect... just enough but not too much.  The 26" is a close second choice for me.

[lmbhngr]

I have a 26" barrel on my Rem. 20 ga. but wish it was a 24"