doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com barrel length +/-

I realized that my understanding of the purpose(s) of different barrel lengths is lacking. Somewhere in the back of my head; stored with carborators and magnetos, is a vague idea that 30" barrels are for duck and shorter versions for pheasant and grouse. Could someone educate me on this!

me thinks longer barrels means hunter closer to the bird.
too long barrels in new england grouse woods scare bird if muzzles strike bush branches. with modern powders long barrels are no longer needed.
english lordies like long barrels for smoothness of swing as they shoot half domesticated game birds "over their heads" driven to them by local farmers and their dogs. besides it being a social event it's about as exciting as watching curling in winter olympics.
simple rule is short guys shoot should use "XXV" inch guns and tall guys 32" guns.

It's druthers, balance and inertia properties, style and fashion, IMO. I own and use as working guns a pair of Berettas, a 20 and a 12, both with 26 1/2" O/U barrels. Love the way they feel, and they are wonderful bird guns. I equally love a Model 12 16 gauge w/ 28" barrels (with receiver, the equivalent to 30" barrels of a double), and a Piotti boxlock 16 w/ 29" barrels that likewise feels perfect. Oh, and I forgot about the Browning A5 w/ 27" tube that feels great and is a wonderful pheasant gun.

My target gun (Sporting) wears 29 1/2" and feels right also.

So what is the answer, short or long? The trend toward longer barrels, especially for target games, has some merit I think in a steadier swinging piece than previously was fashionable. I think also barrel length fashion is driving much longer tubes than are really practical. Much of this variation is like fashion.

Hi, years ago when black powder was the norm, the longer the bbls the better to fully develop the velocity of BP. With the advent of smokeless powder, longer bbls were not needed, but because of tradition and mindset they stayed. You'll still hear some folks say that longer bbls "shoot harder". Nonsense of course. todays powder burns up in the first 24" without much loss of velocity.

Also, in the "old" days 30" bbls were choked Full, 28" Mod or Full and 26" IC there were always exceptions, but as a rule your typical over the counter gun came these ways.

30" bbls were used for ducks/geese as these bbls swing better on pass shooting or long range shooting and they were also traditional. 26" or for that matter 25" were deemed to get on target faster for upland birds and aslo they won't get caught up in the brush when gunning for grouse.

When I was growing up (still am!) shorter bbls were all the rage for upland and again longer for waterfowl and trap.

The rage in now for longer bbls especially in small gauges. But to be honest, bbl length is a matter of personal taste and your style of shooting. I do very well with 25 to 28 inch bbls, but after 28" forget it, my shooting tend to go to pot, don't know why it just does.

Anyway, I'm sure you'll get plenty of pro and cons for long or short bbls.

Good Luck and all the best!

Greg

Barrel length has a lot to do with handling, or, it has NOTHING to do with handling. To the average shotgunner a 26" barrel is quicker to bring to bear on a flushing quail or a departing woodcock or grouse. But, that does not HAVE to be so. I have shot a 36" barreled O/U Valmet that was just as quick and weildy as most 30" guns, or in the extreme, some cheaply made 28" guns.

How the barrels are struck (filed and finished to final profile and dimension) has a great deal to do with how a gun "swings" or handles, regardless of length. Other factors such as balance (how heavy the butt end is in comparison to how heavy the barrel end is) contributes to handling as well.

I own and shoot many more long barreled guns (30" to 32") than I do shorter ones. I think they are more elegant, and I tell myself that I like the longer sighting planes better. But, in reality, I shoot a 26" barreled S x S just about as well on sporting clays as I do a 30" one.

Worst thing now is, long barrels are in "fashion" and bring a premium. I'll be glad when the pendulum swings back and short barrels are all the rage. It WILL happen, eventually.

All my best, Stan

Always satisfying to note that the same old BS is still floating.

Also disappointing as always, but never unexpected.

Rok On!

Dr.WtS

looking forward to an article on this very subject scribed by mm in upcoming issue of ssm.

The A.H. Fox Gun Co. gave names to their various barrel length Sterlingworths -- Brush 26-inch, Field 28-inch, Standard 30-inch and Trap 32-inch.

And what would be your take, Dr. Wonks? Distance on centers of the deer hooves over your mantle? It appears to me that Paul's facetious view completely corresponds to that of Fox, as described by Mr. Noreen.

jack

It's really quite simple. There's a thing called "sight radius" which is the distance between the rear sight and front sight on a firearm. On a shotgun, the rear sight is the eye. A longer barrel gives a longer sight radius and cuts down on perceived lead, which helps hitting the target in wingshooting.

All things being equal, a well-balanced 30" barreled shotgun is easier to hit a flying target with than a well-balanced 26" barreled shotgun. There are a good many SC shooters using 34" barreled guns for this reason. I have a fellow shooter friend who shoots SC's with a Beretta 391 Parallel Target with a 32" barrel with great success, to the point he has me wanting one. You would have to have 36" barrels on an O/U or SxS to have the equivalent sight radius as his gun.

Also, this stuff about short-barreled guns being better in the "brush" is pretty much outdated thinking as well, but there are a number of grouse and woodcock shooters who might disagree.
JR