Shotgun barrell lenght

raptorman

Hi lads,

I have a Luigi Franchi shotgun I got from a cousin that didnt want it. Its got 26 inch barrells though. I'm wondering if i'm losing anything by not having 28's or 30's? Now I have to say I cant fault it at all from my own experience the past two seasons on duck and phesant but just wanted to here other peoples opinions on the subject.

Bananaman

If it fits you and the birds fall there's not much wrong with it.

B'Man

raptorman

Oh I agree with you I wont be changing it anytime soon thats for sure! Just more of an acedemic detate on the subject was what I was looking for.

bmcm71

Absolutely agree Bananaman, they reckon you might lose a bit of range with the shorter barrels but you also get a bit more spread in your shot so unless you're shooting very high duck or pheasant I wouldn't worry. I have 28" and 30" guns and I can't really see any difference in their ability to kill or break clays. I miss just as well with either!!!

Sparks

A few years back, one of the Irish air rifle coaches was going for his ISSF qualification. As part of the course, they had all the prospective coaches watch a young lady shooter on the line shooting 10m air rifle. After a few minutes, they brought all the coaches back into the classroom and asked how they'd improve her shooting. There are suggestions from all over the room. Moving a foot here, moving an elbow there, dry-firing more, dry-firing less, changing rifle, changing pellets, shooting blindfolded, etc, etc. The Irish lad's said nothing. The instructor notices this and asks him "Well, what would you do?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Well, in ten minutes of shooting, she never missed the ten ring, so what do I care what it looks like?".

Moral of that story's pretty clear

G17

Sparks wrote: »

Moral of that story's pretty clear

I dond geddit?
She didn't hit ANY ducks, so she was wearing the wrong shoes?
No, the Irish coach was really her father?
Wait, the girl was actually a man in a girl's get up?
Am I close?
(it's Friday alright):D

G17

raptorman wrote: »

Hi lads,

I have a Luigi Franchi shotgun I got from a cousin that didnt want it. Its got 26 inch barrells though. I'm wondering if i'm losing anything by not having 28's or 30's? Now I have to say I cant fault it at all from my own experience the past two seasons on duck and phesant but just wanted to here other peoples opinions on the subject.

I've seen guys testing different chokes and barrels at splash plates and except for small differences in the pattern, I couldn't notice anything that would make them miss a game sized target at any distance one would expect to take a shot at. Clays on the other hand...

rrpc

Don't change your shotgun unless you can shoot better than it. I know lots of people who keep changing their rifle because they're looking for an extra point when really it's still in the rifle they're using.

It's just them that's holding it back

deerhunter1

raptorman wrote: »

Hi lads,

I have a Luigi Franchi shotgun I got from a cousin that didnt want it. Its got 26 inch barrells though. I'm wondering if i'm losing anything by not having 28's or 30's? Now I have to say I cant fault it at all from my own experience the past two seasons on duck and phesant but just wanted to here other peoples opinions on the subject.

No real difference, just maybe on pointability

Cass

bmcm71 wrote: »

Absolutely agree Bananaman, they reckon you might lose a bit of range with the shorter barrels but you also get a bit more spread in your shot so unless you're shooting very high duck or pheasant I wouldn't worry. I have 28" and 30" guns and I can't really see any difference in their ability to kill or break clays. I miss just as well with either!!!

+1 on all that. My mate shoots a 26" compared to my 30". I have a bit more range than him but on the real close shots he pips me nearly everytime, besides if he wants the extra range he carries a few heavier load shots.

a4775

you should try a bit of snipe shooting
thats what the 26" barrels are for right?
faster swing and all that

if you are knocking birds then the gun is dead on
but sometimes the grass looks greener on another gun, or something like that

Mr Flibble

ezridax wrote: »

My mate shoots a 26" compared to my 30". I have a bit more range than him

Would you be able to elaborate on that? How much extra range exactly do you get and how do you think it is achieved? What choke(s) are each of you using?

Cass

My mate has a full and half choke (fixed).Clay pigeon shooting with full choke would be out to 65/70 yards. Not quite as far for killing power for game.

Mine is complicated. I have 30" barrels that extend to 31" with my chokes. I have 8 chokes ranging from full choke (tight and longest range) to skeet choke (most open and shortest). Effective range varies from 25 to 80 yds for killing power and further for clays. Looking at 100+ yds (but not that much more). Every situation determines what chokes i'm using then the load of the shot i'm using. A 28g, 7.5 clay cartridge will obviously have less power than a 42g, 5 and each different cartridge will have different effects with the different chokes.

Just to elaborate a bit there, my mates gun has a shorter swing and with the same cartridge and same choke as me (half choke) he will pip me to the shot. That and he is f***ing quick. The git.

Mr Flibble

ezridax wrote: »

My mate has a full and half choke (fixed).Clay pigeon shooting with full choke would be out to 65/70 yards. Not quite as far for killing power for game.

Mine is complicated. I have 30" barrels that extend to 31" with my chokes. I have 8 chokes ranging from full choke (tight and longest range) to skeet choke (most open and shortest). Effective range varies from 25 to 80 yds for killing power and further for clays. Looking at 100+ yds (but not that much more). Every situation determines what chokes i'm using then the load of the shot i'm using. A 28g, 7.5 clay cartridge will obviously have less power than a 42g, 5 and each different cartridge will have different effects with the different chokes.

Just to elaborate a bit there, my mates gun has a shorter swing and with the same cartridge and same choke as me (half choke) he will pip me to the shot. That and he is f***ing quick. The git.

Interesting. You're getting about 50% increase in range for 5" increase in barrel length. Any other shotgunners on here getting good results on clays beyond 100yds? What barrel lengths and chokes would you be using?

ferret man

a guy i go huntingwith had a 30'' semi which was good but he changed it 4 a 36'' gn nd recons he willnever go back although he said there is lot of extra weigt after a long days hunting