doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com 26" barrels revisited

My Hussey is 26 inch barrels and I love it and shoot well with it.

Another vote for the 25 1/2"-26"-26 1/2" barrel/barrels.
They are not be appropriate for all applications, but they are for most, and IMO handle better and look better on the gun. I use other barrel lengths, but the 26" is my favorite.

There must be something to the long barrels, but I am confident most of it is between the ears. I shot pickup truck loads of phez with my 26" 21s before I learned from the internet that this was patently impossible.......yup, even some long 40+ yd pokes. If I'd known you can't hit things past 40 with 26"ers I'd have held up..........

I sold my 26" 12 ga M-21, but will keep my 20s as long as I am able. Target guns? My 12 ga ASE90 and SCIT have 29"+ bbls, so I am derided by the 32" bbl-wielding hordes. And the guys with 34"ers are king of the hill. Funny, but I shoot as well as most of them. Sometimes I even beat the kid and his 30" 391.

What makes for collectible is another matter; a fool argues with the market.

Sam

Back in the day, when I didnt know that they didnt work, I bought 2 SKB 20's with 25 inch bbls. I kept one and gave one to my Dad for his birthday. I imagine I killed way more upland birds with that gun than anything else I have ever owned. And lots of waterfowl. I foolishly sold that gun, and every bird season, I wish I had it back. I guess I dont pay much attention anyhow, I tend to switch guns almost daily, these days all Lefevers. I go from a light 16 to a big 10 back to various 12's and dont notice much difference in kill ratio.

geesh i guess i better sell my win 101 skeet gun with 26"barrels!i `ve only had for 30 yrs or so and have shot thousands of skeet targets with it !

For many years my 12 ga XXV was my favorite gun (only recently supplanted by a 1620) and I do pretty well with clays as well as pheasant and grouse with it. It's really fast and not hard to get used to.

Probably not much difference in a 26-incher.

Orvis sold some 25" guns over the years and in actuality, they are probably the ideal for a roughed grouse hunter that is a danger to himself with a long barreled gun, tripping all over the woods.

I *Think* the stigma over 26" barrels in part comes from negative experiences being relayed. Many 28-29" guns have had dents at the muzzle resolved by cutting 'em down in length. Then you're left with a 26" with very little, very short chokes or no choke at all. Then they get backbored for a dubious attempt at choking the gun a bit. Some unlucky fellow gets one of these and curses short barreled guns the rest of his days.

Consider that the majority of drillings have 24" barrels and we realize that barrel length does not have a negative effect on hunting...only on perceptions in the mind. It is a preference and an aesthetic look more than anything.

I have 26" and 28" guns and only one 30". I can't imagine going any longer than 30" nor can I imagine less than 25". I hope to try the Churchill method with a XXV gun someday and see if I like it better.

Rook, I got back to shooting after an absence of many decades and decided to "do it right" and took lots of lessons. Orvis at Sandanona and H&H in London and learned the "Churchill" (really a modified Churchill) techniques and have never been sorry.

It looks good! And it works.

If you get a chance take a look at Ken Davies' The Better Shot which is a superb shooting book - very well illustrated and is the modified Churchill method. Orvis' wingshooting book is very good also but has drawings instead of photos. Either will introduce you to the Churchill form and you may just get hooked on short barrels!