It was of course always a fallacy that BP "Required" long bbls. The pressure curve for BP is very similar to modern day "Progressive" powders so velocity accelerates at approximately the same rate. Using a very coarse granulation of course heavier charges could be effectively burned in longer bbls, but this was not the general rule. For all practical purposes a 28" bbl'd gun using BP is just as efficient as a 32" bbl'd one. Greener stated in the days when BP was still "King" that a ratio of 40:1 of bbl length to bore dia was suffecient ballistically. This gives a 29" length for 12ga.
For my uses & purposes (primarily upland game hunting) a 28" bbl'd gun has proved to be about "MY" ideal length. I could really care less if a longer bbl'd gun would give "ONE MORE" hit out of some 500/1,000 rounds fired on a clays range. Requirements for a "Dedicated" clays gun are about as different from a field gun as an "Indy" car is from one used to go pick up the groceries. I have no desire for a NSCA or NSSA class rating but that doesn't mean I don't use a shotgun for other purposes. I do not however base my gun upon one suitable for purposes for which I have no need. Neither do I take gun "Bird" (quail in my part of the South) hunting which is most eminatly suited for pass shooting geese. To not be able to choose a gun suitable for ones own purposes, but to strictly pick according to "Some Expert" in a totally different field is the "Heighth of Ignorance". Pass me the 28" please, it will do me great.
