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I wish we had more posts like this in GD...ya know, about shooting, guns, and shooting guns.
Always glad to see an O_P post- but that probably goes without saying. |
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Couple things.
First, pastors who are gun nuts are awesome guys. B, I've always wondered about this, so thanks for the field test. Finally, I was a little surprised by the pattern of the Browning. I have a 26 inch Browning Gold just like the one you shot. Once I shot some buck through it at 50 yds with a full choke and got a pretty round pattern that measured in at 12 inches. Thanks for another great thread! |
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Confirms something I've long suspected. I never saw how a longer or shorter barrel could affect what happens to the wad and shot after it leaves the barrel, other than the longer barrel maybe giving better velocity (though I am given to understand most shotgun loads achieve maximum velocity in something 14 inches of barrel, depending on the load and gauge).
As best I can tell, the only reasons for long shotgun barrels are for longer sight radius if shooting slugs with rifle sights, longer magazine tube for more capacity, or if you just prefer the balance of the longer barrel. In terms of pure performance, it doesn't look to me like there's any reason to not use an SBS in the 12 to 14 inch range. Well, except for that whole NFA rigmarole. |
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Love your practical tests. I suspect the only advantage of the longer barrel is higher muzzle velocity to reach high-flying geese.
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What about greater velocity out of the goose gun vs 26" barrel?
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I was quite surprised by your results.
Now I wonder if the longer barrel increases the hit probability when shooting up in the air, like with in trap shooting or duck hunting? |
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I was just wondering if it affects the shot velocity much. It's a pretty big difference in length on that that old Marlin and a lot of other shotguns.
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Quoted:
What about greater velocity out of the goose gun vs 26" barrel? View Quote One thing for sure, it doesn't tighten-up the pattern. |
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The old guys swear that longer barrels "hit harder" and produce tighter chokes. The explanation is simple. In the old guys day longer barrels had tighter chokes. Manufacturers supplied 26 inch barrels with improved cylinder choke, 28" barrels with either modified or full choke and 30" barrels with full choke.
It's also worth noting that barrels produced back in the days of paper shotgun hulls are generally choked tighter than today's guns. Shoot modern shells with plastic wads out of an old gun and the gun will produce patterns generally about one choke constriction tighter than the same gun would produce with the old shells. |
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When I was about 18-19 we went to a Turkey shoot with some friends. One of the guys in the group showed up with some long ass barreled goose gun. I swear that gun was about 6' tall. I had my Dads Model 12. His gun would only put 1 or 2 holes in the paper, and that was way out on the edge.
I learned to aim at the 11 O'clock position with mine. I brought home a turkey and a ham that night. Everyone was thinking the buddy was the problem, so we all took turns trying it out. It was the gun. |
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This supports my thought that choke matters *far* more than barrel length. I've used my Benelli M4 for both turkeys I've ever shot. Using a super tight turkey choke I took both at or over about 25m. Both dropped, flopped, and gave up the ghost just fine.
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If you use steel shot can you chrono shotgun loads? I really don't have any idea. I'm curious if the longer barrel would provide more velocity and thus actually make it possible to hit birds flying higher?
Thanks for the interesting post! |
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I see those old guns around, always thought a clip fed, bolt action shotgun was kinda odd.
How fast can you work the bolt on that thing? Is it smooth at all? |
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I do not own a chronograph, but I have been told that shotgun shells burn up the powder in the first 12 to 18 inches of barrel. If that is the case, an extra long barrel may actually have a lower velocity due to friction of the shot going down the barrel. One thing for sure, it doesn't tighten-up the pattern. View Quote No point getting an extra 2 pounds of barrel if the only benefit is to make me more tired when walking through fields. |
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If you use steel shot can you chrono shotgun loads? I really don't have any idea. I'm curious if the longer barrel would provide more velocity and thus actually make it possible to hit birds flying higher? Thanks for the interesting post! View Quote |
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Good stuff, O_P.
The one, major, advantage that I have found with longer barreled shotguns, is the swing of the gun is smoother. I've shot clays with barrels ranging from 18" to 32". The longer barrels always put me on target much smoother than the shorter barrels. |
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I always thought (now know) that it was the choke that determined the pattern.
Nice, informative gun-related post. |
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Quoted:
Good stuff, O_P. The one, major, advantage that I have found with longer barreled shotguns, is the swing of the gun is smoother. I've shot clays with barrels ranging from 18" to 32". The longer barrels always put me on target much smoother than the shorter barrels. View Quote The longer barrel swings more smoothly when tracking birds or skeet. |
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I see those old guns around, always thought a clip fed, bolt action shotgun was kinda odd. How fast can you work the bolt on that thing? Is it smooth at all? View Quote I grew up shooting a bolt action .410 shotgun shooting doves. You learn to aim carefully as follow-up shots are slower. |
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Great write up.
I'm reading that the shotgun was made from 1962 until 1988. Would it have made any difference with shotshell ammo of that day compared to modern? I have no idea how much improvement there's been in that area. |
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You probably don't have a bore gauge to mic the bore and choke but if you did I would love to know the actual constriction. I mic all my old guns.
It would also be cool if you could pattern some shells loaded with fiber or cork wads. Modern plastic wads are going to make most guns pattern more consistent. |
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Most chronos work by measuring the shadow that passes over the chrono device. So steel or lead would not make any difference. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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If you use steel shot can you chrono shotgun loads? I really don't have any idea. I'm curious if the longer barrel would provide more velocity and thus actually make it possible to hit birds flying higher? Thanks for the interesting post! |
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Excellent report ! -- Here's a little choke chart I made a while back. http://s15.postimg.org/vyp85h89n/choke_chart.jpg View Quote And this chart is very helpful as well. Thanks guys. |
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I was quite surprised by your results. Now I wonder if the longer barrel increases the hit probability when shooting up in the air, like with in trap shooting or duck hunting? View Quote |
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When I was a kid, there were turkey shoots that would ban long barreled guns for the perceived reasons you gave. Funny to think all of those hillbillies and good ole boys were wrong. I just took their word for it because they had been running those and black powder shoots for a long time. A lot of those guys were big 16g fans as well.
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Very cool.
Are there any other tricks like trying to fit a dime in the barrel to figure out what choke the barrel is? A buddy recently got a fixed choke shotgun and we are wondering which choke the barrel is. |
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Very cool. Are there any other tricks like trying to fit a dime in the barrel to figure out what choke the barrel is? A buddy recently got a fixed choke shotgun and we are wondering which choke the barrel is. View Quote |
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All the dime trick does is to tell you if the choke is Full or not. You can measure the choke with a micrometer and there are charts available on the net that will tell you what choke relates to the measurement you get. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
Quoted:
Very cool. Are there any other tricks like trying to fit a dime in the barrel to figure out what choke the barrel is? A buddy recently got a fixed choke shotgun and we are wondering which choke the barrel is. |
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Quoted:
Great write up. I'm reading that the shotgun was made from 1962 until 1988. Would it have made any difference with shotshell ammo of that day compared to modern? I have no idea how much improvement there's been in that area. View Quote The plastic wads of today that keep the pellets from contacting the barrel are a great improvement. |
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One thing about chokes; measuring the bore diameter only tells you nothing about what the choke is.You must also measure behind the choke before it starts to taper down and subtract that from the choke diameter to find the actual amount of constriction. A dime can pass through the muzzle and it could still be a full choke.Shotgun smiths do all kinds of things to improve patterns such as back boring and special shaped and tapered bores before the choke starts.Heres some good info.
More good info. |
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