doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com 26" v 28" Bbls on SxS Game Guns

For woodcock, which is my preferred dog hunted gamebird here, my doubles range from factory 25" to 29". I miss just as easily with one length as the other. Most are 16 ga. and weigh from 5 lbs. 10 oz. to 6 lbs. 4 oz. Gil

+1, I agree with Joe. I also can't really tell when the bird flushes what length the barrel is. To be honest, 28" is about as long as I care for, 26" or 25" suits me just fine. I do like a 28" bbl for duck hunting however. Just a matter of personal taste. Here's a couple examples of what 25" bbls can do. Birds were taken with my 25" EJ Churchill





Best, Greg

Greg,
I'd like to add that with the trim splinter forend you have, the barrels do not appear short. I too shoot 26" and 28" barrels interchangeably without any problem.
Karl

The only 26" barrel 12 gauge I have is a standard Winnie 21, G2186B skeet gun made for the ubiquitous Mr. 'Stock' in 1947.

It has the long skeet style forend, and yes the barrels 'look' too short. The gun would be more at home in a rack with skeet guns of the 50's and 60's, pickles and all.

It weighs 7 and 10, so O'Connor notwithstanding it's not a 'game gun'. At least I'm not lugging it around.

But guess what... it's a darn good skeet gun.

It neither starts quickly nor stops quickly. The balance is just fine. Triggers are better than anything Browning has shipped in the last 20 years, and my scores are essentially the same as with any other gun.

The goofy 'WS-2' is easily compensated for by a BPI X-wad for doubles except of course for that Championship of the World held here frequently with doubles from 4. The gun is actually optimum for doubles from 4.

Just an example that barrel length is only a minor consideration. It's how the whole package comes together for the intended purpose that matters.

I prefer 25" or 26" barrels for grouse and woodcock is my preference. As one of the members stated, what feels best in your hands and points where your looking is what you want.

Unless two barrel sets have much difference in weight (barrel thickness) two inch difference is too small to be noticed.

The way the gun feels, the way it handles for you, is far more important than the length of the barrels. I am 6'2", with the long arms to go with the height, and like longer barrels. I can shoot 28" guns well, usually, after my muscle memory kicks in (I shoot a 9 lb. 3 oz., 32" gun most of the time), but my percentage usually goes up as the barrel length does (to a point). The only exception is quail. I'm fine with 26"-28" there, as most shots are going away and do not require much barrel movement to get on the bird. I have a 16 ga. Fox, with #4 weight 30" barrels that is as quick as I need any gun to be, proving once again that it is not the barrel length that is so important, but the overall handling of that gun for the individual.

That being said, IMO, 12 ga. guns with 26" barrels look short and stumpy, like James said. Small bore guns don't look so bad with shorter barrels. But ............ as a dear departed friend used to say "Pretty is as pretty does".

SRH

I have a life long friend who hunted from his teenage years into his sixties with a 12ga Winchester model 97 with a 28 inch barrel and no choke. He had a Springer and shot a lot of pheasants. Just before he retired he got himself a Beretta Sporting clays gun with 32 inch barrels and put open choke tubes in it. He still kills a lot of (pen raised) birds but complains of pain between the shoulder blades. He bought a Franchi SL in 12 gauge with 28" barrels but has never used it. Just the Beretta. He's left eye dominant and right handed an shoots that way. I appreciate how much he enjoys his gun.

Agree with what others have posted about balance, the feel of a gun, as the important part and I believe barrel length while part of that is not the dominant characteristic.

Good shooting is habit and repetition. There are a few talented people who can pick up just about any normal gun and shoot it well. Most of us get used to a particular feel and finding it works for them stay with it. The more you use that set up, the better you get, then the more picking up something different feels not quite right.

When I started out as a kid I shot a German 16 BLNE 28 inch with a cheek piece stock. I grew up with it and thought it fine. Unfortunately when I left home for the Army my Dad kept his gun and I had to get try to get used to a Fox Sterlingworth 16 with 28inch barrels and alot of drop in the stock (not a good fit). I brought a Browning Citori with 24inch barrels (too many sporting magazine articles on the virtues of short barrels for grouse) which I shoot better but never well. It was whippy and in hindsight it was more because the gun Center of Balance was too close to my trigger hand.

Over the years, and many gun buys, I figured out what worked for me and everything I was good with had 28inch barrels (but also a balance point about the hinge pin) One day I ended up buying a 16 with 27in barrels that happened to fit me perfectly and its balance was just right.

I fooled myself into thinking 27in was the ticket not paying attention to the weight and balance as more important.

Lately I got a Purdey project with 26inch barrels and after playing with the balance got it adjusted in to near prefect for me. Over time I have learned what matters for me on changing guns is the weight and balance not the barrel length.

We are creatures of habit. I shoot 16 most of the time and the look down the barrels of a 12 feels odd to me as it seems so very wide. That feeling is perception. If I shot 12 ga almost exclusively then a 12 would seem just fine.

Barrel length, outside of extremes, is subjective when looking at 26 to 30. Subjective matters to the shooter and when you find what works consistently for you stay with it.

Well put Old Colonel, I have five guns the same way, and one in particular. That one would be the last to go, and it happens to have 26" barrels!
Karl