Short Barrels

vrepola

vrepola

Member
What do you guys think of the short Barrels? I bought a Remington 870 youth 20 with a 21" barrel last year for my son when he gets a little older, plus I got a smoking deal on it. Well I played with it on a few dove hunts here in Texas and liked the little gun. I bought a regular size stock and put that on and took it to Kansas with me last year. I really like it. Killed several roosters and two quail(cant seem to bring myself to shoot them). I found the gun was a dream to carry and swung fine for me. Well lately I have been thinking about a 12ga. Thinking an 870 again in 12. What other short barrel guns should I look at?
 
I have a Browning Gold and BPS upland specials with short barrels and I like both of them, they are light to carry all day and they swing wellI also have a Browning lighning 20 gauge 3 inch with short barrels that swings like a dream and is fun to shoot.
I am sure there are more great ones out there as I am sure the others guys will tell you about.
 
Barrel length is a matter of personal preference. We've had this discussion this site before. You will get a lot of different answers. do what works best for you.

Personally I have always liked shorter barrels. Nothing longer than 26". I have a 24" on my Benelli Montefeltro, 24" on a Stoeger Auto, 26" on my 16 ga. Citori and 26" on my SweetSixteen.
 
After my first trip to SD I bought a used 1100 Special Field in 12 gauge. It has a 21 inch barrel and works great. It is fast, easy to carry and I shoot it well. Most folks hunt with too much barrel and too much choke.
 
I hunted with a model 110 special field the first few times I hunted pheasant , and I once had a Franchi O/U with a 21 or 23inch barrel. I couldn't hit a "bull in the butt with a fiddle" as my dad used to say. I thought the short barrel and wider shot pattern would help. I discovered FOR me that a longer sight plane helps me and my shooting improved with a longer sight radius. It is however what seems to work for you that is important for you. I'm just so much better with a 28 than even a twenty six incher. Go figure!
 
Any best barrel length is more about balance and fitting someone's style or place of shooting than inches of sight radius.
Sight radius importance is more for handguns than scatterguns.
 
I have a Browning Citori 20 gauge with 24" barrel as my gun of preference. When in South Dakota last year, our guide asked if I had another gun that held more rounds. I have a Benelli Montifeltro 20 that holds 5 but I told him I am more confident with my O/U. It's not that I can't shoot the Benelli, just prefer the Browning. Swings great on them crossing shots,even hit some rangey shots with that golden BB.
 
Short-barreled guns do carry lighter and swing fast. If your shots are penned birds or quail at 20 yards they may be magical. However, you'll never see a good clays or skeet shooter using barrels shorter than 26", and most are 28" or longer.

A "smooth/controlled swing" is more beneficial than a "fast" swing"!
 
OldDublin said:
Any best barrel length is more about balance and fitting someone's style or place of shooting than inches of sight radius.
Sight radius importance is more for handguns than scatterguns.
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I agree with you. It is a whole bunch of factors that everyone has to search out for them selves. I shoot my O/U 20 ga with 28" barells much better than the matching twelve gage. Of course the twelve is heavier and bigger and it has 26' barrels. Choke them the same and I'll miss more with the twelve ... every time. Just bought a twenty ga SXS with twenty eight in bbls last year and want to try it more this year. I think the big wide muzzle always made me too confident with other SXS's I tried in younger days. Back then you'd have a hard time finding a more frustrated wing shooter than me. LOL Never underestimate gun fit and balance is good advice.
 
Really doesn’t matter how long the barrel it all goes to good gun fit. If the gun fits you the rest is just mechanics. Mount, swing, and slap the trigger. Practice shooting and the mechanics will come together.
The mechanics of shooting the shotgun do not change with the gun or barrel length.. There are three methods of shotgun shooting: maintained lead, follow thru, and point shooting. To be a truly good shotgun shooter you should be able to utilize all three methods. Only issue I find with shooters changing to shorter barrels from longer (28" or better) is they tend to stop their swing. That goes back to mechanics and can be fixed with practice.
I use a Browning Citori Upland Special 12ga with 24" barrels. I like the 24” much better than 26” or 28”. Proper chokes makes a difference. My shooting style is a modified Churchill discipline. He advocated short barrels. I shoot skeet and sporting clays with this same gun and break clays consistently.
Short barreled guns that have been “cut” are basically useless except for home defense.
 
short barrels

Barrel length is more dependent on the type of shooter you are than any other factor. I you are a methodical shooter longer barrels may give you a smoother more controllable swing. If you are a quick instinctive shooter you will do fine with short barrels. I hunted grouse with a cut off (22") Stevens side by side 12Ga for years and it was deadly. But for pheasants it had an effective range of about 25yds. For pheasants I stayed short and quick going with a SKB s/s 24" barrels with Cyl / IC, and it works fine for me, but i still shoot as quick as I do on grouse.Most of my kills are under 30yds, although the IC barrel kills well at 35yds with 1 1/4 oz of #6 shot .
 
duppy said:
Barrel length is more dependent on the type of shooter you are than any other factor. I you are a methodical shooter longer barrels may give you a smoother more controllable swing. If you are a quick instinctive shooter you will do fine with short barrels. I hunted grouse with a cut off (22") Stevens side by side 12Ga for years and it was deadly. But for pheasants it had an effective range of about 25yds. For pheasants I stayed short and quick going with a SKB s/s 24" barrels with Cyl / IC, and it works fine for me, but i still shoot as quick as I do on grouse.Most of my kills are under 30yds, although the IC barrel kills well at 35yds with 1 1/4 oz of #6 shot .
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I would agree. I shoot quick, skeet or improved cyl. are ideal, lately I'm not as fast as I was, I have gone to modified in some cases. If I was in my twenties, I would use the imp cyl. and never look back!
 
Fella I used to hunt with outshot everybody in the group with a 19" barrel.

Addendum: good point made by D.G.T. below. The gun with the 19" barrel was a pump or auto.
 
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Remember that barrel length on an side by side or over/under is also the length of the sighting plane but on a semi auto or pump action the receiver adds to the length of the sighting plane. My first shotgun was the BPS Upland special with a 22" barrel which was only a half inch shorter than my Citori with 26" barrels. A lot of shotgunners who are much better shots than me swear by longer barrels. I shoot a side by side with 28" barrels and I am pleased with the results. More shooting would help me much more than longer or shorter barrels.
 
oldandnew said:
I would agree. I shoot quick, skeet or improved cyl. are ideal, lately I'm not as fast as I was, I have gone to modified in some cases. If I was in my twenties, I would use the imp cyl. and never look back!
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Man do I agree with that. When I was a teen through my twenties, I shot a model 37 twenty with open choke. I would have a bird heading for the ground before most could get their gun up. Now between bad eyes figuring out whether it's a rooster, slow reaction time, and extra lb's, I am lucky if I get a shot off before it's in the next section.
 
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