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Turkey Barrel Length?


Begbie

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Have a 28-inch barrel on my SBE II for all-around hunting (upland, waterfowl, turkey). Looking to get a dedicated barrel just for turkeys and mount a red dot. I'm thinking of getting a 24-inch barrel, but I see a number of you use a 28 incher. Any reason why. Is it pattering vs weight and mobility. What is your favourite barrel length for turkey?

 

Thanks

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What Tim said. My cousin has an older Monty with a 18 1/2 field barrel.(don't know where he got it but it looks stock) The OAL is 27 inches and the gun weights about 6 pounds. He uses 3inch hevi-#5's with a Indian Creek choke and smashes a bird evey year.

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Thanks, guys.

 

Obviously the choke is the prime influence on pattern, but from my understanding, barrel length does play a role in not only shot speed, time for power to completely burn, but also, to a lesser extent, pattern density. Just wondering what your turkey barrel preference was. I know shorter has been the norm, just wondering if that is changing.

 

Nice photo, Dark Knight!

Edited by Begbie
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Thanks, guys.

 

Obviously the choke is the prime influence on patter, but from my understanding, barrel length does play a role in not only shot speed, time for power to completely burn, but also, to a lesser extent, pattern density.

 

That's the trouble with the Internet and misinformation. Once it's out there you can never get it back.

http://americangundog.com/straightshooting_AGD1.html

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Barrel length does matter. Longer barrels tend to throw a more dense pattern. It's easily proven on the patterning board. Up to 10%+ on some guns, which could mean 40+ more pellets on target. Go to a still target turkey shoot and see how many 18.5-24" bbls you see. Not many.

 

That being said, it probably doesn't matter to most turkey hunters, as most guys will throw a killing pattern with a decent turkey choke and one of the many excellent turkey loads out there.

 

And, maybe a super dense pattern is not all that great? Easy to miss at 15 yards with a pattern the size of a softball. A nice even pattern out to 40 yards might be just right.

 

As to a red dot, I shot this year with a Burris Fast Fire II, and I'm not 100% sold on it. Kilt a bunch of toms, but hate worrying about the battery, bumping it, and it's hard to track a moving bird. Missed a KS double chance because it was almost impossible to find the second bird. Would have been easier with open sights...

 

mudhen

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Having used a short barrel for turkey for the last 20 years or so I favor a 21 inch barrel.

My reasoning is this:

In turkey hunting conditions a longer barrel is harder to swing on a incoming bird due to obstacals such as brush and trees,,,,I dont know how many times in the last 30 years a bird has come in from a direction other then where my gun is pointing and I have to move it to shoot him,,the short barrel really comes in handy then!

As far as patterning, send your gun to Gobblerguns.com and he will cut it to your specs!! AND make a choke that will blow your mind,,and a gobblers ALSO!!

I have found no disadvantage to a short barrel turkey hunting!! It has been all a plus for me.

I have an 879, 1187 and one M1s and one M2 with 21 inch tubes and would not take anything for them!!

Have a buddy who just had a SBE 2, 3.5 cut to 21 and it is one of the greatest turkey guns I have patterened!!

Call them up close and shoot them in the face!!

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go with 24 and UP!..my supernova has a 28" barrel and it throws extremely tight patterns. Maybe too tight sometimes. I posted a picture a while ago with the picture of a flight control wad sticking into the paper and a hole in the turkey target the size of a lemon. All that was at thirty yards, while it looks cool, maybe it is a little tight, but if fella's can hit a turkeys bobbing head with a gobbler guilliotine, then i have faith I can do it with a shotgun! lol But barrel length doesnt really matter tho.. if you're recoil shy, then 28 is definately your choice, it adds alot of weight and with a ported choke you can actually tell a difference in barrel jump. But it all comes down to personal preference. My buddy hunts with a 20 inch barrel and he will argue with me for days.. but i love my 28" barrel.. puts my 8 inches closer to the turkey! lol:cool:

 

But as long as you have a benelli... I dont think barrel length will matter, that turkey is going down!

Edited by ishootkittens
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