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

why stan, unlike like you, i dont pose to be nuttin but ah tired, old hobby gun dealer...an unlike you, ah certainly dont pose to know all there is to know about shotgunning...and unlike you, ah dont insist that others adopt my ways...

The 30 inch plus fashion has not hit European hunters yet. The norm is still 28 inches, though woodcock guns are offered with 60 cm barrels and names like Becassier and Becaccia, that would be 24 inch barrels, about the legal minimum.

Not a poseur? Then where did you come up with your statement that 30" barreled guns are "the norm" for sporting clays? Why will you not answer this question, for the third time?

Either provide your data for the statement and prove me wrong, or retract it. Man up.

SRH

"30" now seems to be the norm for sporting clays..."

stan, sounds like you disagree...thats ok, we understand your need to be right...all of the time...

but dont demand that we go down the rabbit hole with you...

I think choke choice and matching them to the game is more relevant. I shoot quail (over dogs) with 26" Imp and Full, Under 7.5 shot over 6 shot.

I shot a 26" sxs 12ga at everything from skeet to pheasant for years. But once I got over my prejudice over longer barrels, I found my scores went up, especially on sxs guns. I believe its from the longer sighting radius. I think a longer sight radius just provides less angular error for the minimum detectable misalignment. Pumps and autos have an added element in that the receiver length adds to the sight radius.

The long barrel guys don�t seem to be dedicated grouse or woodcock hunters. I�m not saying they should be, but, I�d bet if they got the chance, they would come to understand their 32� guns have a place, but, it isn�t where these birds make a home.
My season starts in T-shirts with ruffs and doodles in heavy cover, and often ends in double digit temps below zero, in clothing that helps to alter gunfit dramatically.
I own more than one hammer. Ditto, shotguns.

Best,
Ted

That describes my experiences as well, Chuck. The better my shooting got the more I experimented with longer barrels. I tried all the way out to 36", on a Valmet Waterfowler O/U. I found that 31 1/2" - 32" work the best for me. Most serious s/c competitors have settled there, too.

I often shoot late season doves with a 32" barreled Fox, which balances the scales at 8 lb. 2 oz. unloaded. It's no problem at all to swing fast enough on a mature bird coming by at 75 mph. I can dead sure promise you this .......... the lead "picture" does not look exactly the same with 26" and with 32" barrels. And on birds requiring much over 4 ft. of lead (at the bird), it is much easier to replicate it shot after shot with longer barrels.

I should qualify this by saying that in all the above posts about s/c shooting I am referring to 32" barrels on O/Us, which is what the majority of serious s/c shooters are using. In the case of "semis" 30" probably is the "norm". But, there's not over 10% of serious s/c shooters using them anymore, IMO.

SRH