How important is barrel length on a shotgun!
I have been down this road several times on the pro's and cons of different length barrels on rifles, but I haven't seen too much discussion on shotguns.
I am directing this question basically for shot barrels and not fully rifled slug barrels. Will a longer barrel drasticaly increase your range of fire. Ive noticed that some shotguns designed especially for hunting turkey come in both short and long barrels.
Assuming that you have a full choke installed in your barrel will the pattern vary drastically from a 21 inch barrel to a 28 inch barrel.
My personal preference is the shorter barrels as they seem to fit me better I just cannot get used to having all that barrel out in front of me.
Your insight and opinions on this topic will be welcomed!
Thanks Pabooger
Now that Ive changed my shorts could somebody please point me in the direction of the nearest Privy!
I am directing this question basically for shot barrels and not fully rifled slug barrels. Will a longer barrel drasticaly increase your range of fire. Ive noticed that some shotguns designed especially for hunting turkey come in both short and long barrels.
Assuming that you have a full choke installed in your barrel will the pattern vary drastically from a 21 inch barrel to a 28 inch barrel.
My personal preference is the shorter barrels as they seem to fit me better I just cannot get used to having all that barrel out in front of me.
Your insight and opinions on this topic will be welcomed!
Thanks Pabooger
Now that Ive changed my shorts could somebody please point me in the direction of the nearest Privy!
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The powder is done burning at about 16 or so inches. Anything after that is just going for a free ride. The longer barrel was an advantage when black powder was used. 32-36 barrels were not uncommon. Most were known as "Long Toms" and some marketed as such.
The longer bbl does aid the sighting radious but you can reach a point of diminishing returns where it may not be an advantage. For years I hunted with a 870 with 18 inch bbl, with a vari-choke on it and could turn it into full to cyl bore. I like the fast handling etc. I am not a crack shotgun shooter so it was of no disadvantage. I suppost for skeet etc., it would have been. Hope that helps.0 -
It may just be me, but I took my 20 in (with choke tubes) hunting and couldn,t hit squat. A lot of phasants go a new lease on life that day. So I took it to a skeet range and alot of clay hit the ground in tact that day. A friend of mine, who is a skeet shooting coach at the AFA, said it was messing up my timing and swing. I guess if you learn to shot with a 'shorty' it would a learned responce. But I recommond a 28 in bbl for all around shotgunning.
PS: Darrell is right again.[:)]
Self defence is an ablsolute and natural right. Keep your powder dry! J. Rau, Alaska0 -
The question is will a longer bbl drasticalyincrease your range of fire. I asume this to mean will it hold as tight a pattern no matter which bbl length is used. First what do you concider drastic? Now with that out of the way take a 16 inch bbl.full choke gun to the range and shoot at a 40 inch circle at 40 yards. Next do the same with a 28 inch bbl also full choke. I garentee that you will have a better pattern count with the 28 inch bbl. It does not have a thing to do with how much powder is burned or not burned. It has to do with how long the shot colum stays together in flight to the target. It stands to reason that as soon as the wad colum exits the bbl outside forces start to act upon it, it falls away and the shot colum is at the mercy of physics. Now take a bbl that is 12 inches longer than the other and see which one is effected by outside forces sooner. The longer you can keep the shot collum intact on it's way to the target the tighter the pattern will be when it gets there. If anybody actualy tries the experiment and gets a different result let me know we can sell your shells to some ammo companys.
You'v gota kill it to grill it0 -
Correct me if I am wrong, but if I understand what you said the 28 bbl will increase the pattern/range by 12 inches because it is 12 inches longer than the 16 inch bbl???[?]
Self defence is an ablsolute and natural right. Keep your powder dry! J. Rau, Alaska0 -
Next do the same with a 28 inch bbl also full choke. I garentee that you will have a better pattern count with the 28 inch bbl.
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Funny, there is NO choke in ANY bbl until the last inch or two. REAL FUNNY.
Bbl length IS about burning powder. Fire one under 16 inches and see the brilliant fire ball as it burns outside the gun and you can find unburned powder in front of you. After 16 inchs the muzzle flash deminishes greatly and in a typical police gun is almost non-existant as the powder is done burning. We shoot shotguns a lot at night over the years and found out real fast. We did find a few rare loads will have slower burning powder and offer some flash in shotguns, but most are a nice dark orange vs a brilliant whiteish yellow fireball.0 -
I tend to agree that the longer barrels make MINIMAL increase in velocity and pattern over shorter barrels, but in my opinion it is splitting hairs. I agree with Jim... grab some different guns and see what you can do. I have found my "sweet spot" to be 28", but my .410 has a 25", and another of my 12 gauge has a 26" and I can shoot them all equally well (subtracting for the loss of pellets with the .410), however, if I grab my red label over-under 30" I can't hit hardly anything... It could be because of the extra weight of the barrels out there, or the extra length could mess up my swing. My hunting buddies always say I'm using SAM's (surface to air missles) because the distance I can drop a dove cleanly, and I can do it with either 26" or 28" barrels.
I guess it is like sex, if it feels good (and works) do it. [:D]
It doesn't matter what you shoot, just shoot it well...0 -
Jim the shot wad/cup will leave the bbl at the end of the bbl at this time wind will start stripping the wad away from the shot allowing the shot collum/string to start deterating or getting larger in diamiter now the shot collum travles through the air and starts to deform say for 12 inches now at that time right next to it is another shot collum still in the shot wad/cup just comming out of the bbl. Now the target is 40 yards away which pattern do you think is going to be the fullest on the target.The one that has travled 12 inches or the one that is just coming out of the cup. It may not seem like much but 1 degree of angle is a lot at 40 yards. No I am not saying the 28 inch bbl will increase the pattern/range I am saying it will increase the pattern density in the center of the pattern. If you draw a 40 inch circle at 40 yards and shot it with a 16 inch bbl and count the pellets in that circle, there will be less pellets than if you shoot the same 40 inch circle with a 28 inch bbl.
You'v gota kill it to grill it0 -
Ditto on what Saxonpig said. I have always been told that the pattern is determined by the length of the forcing cone (i.e choke). That is why you now see so many after market chokes that are much longer than your typical factory tubes. The longer the shot is "formed" in the choke, the more stable the shot column will be. The overall length of the barrel will increase the velocity to some very samll amount with diminishing results after 20 inches or so. The longer barrel length helps most people "follow thru" on a passing shot but this is just all in how one learns to shoot. 0
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