chip Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 I am mostly a waterfowl hunter and I am going to go buy a Nova pump and im giong to get a 24" barrel becasue I feel its easier to swing and I can use it for a turkey gun! Will this effect my waterfowl hunting using a short barrel or will it work just fine? do you think it is a good decision to get the 24"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tucker301 Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 I wouldn't go with a 24" barrel for waterfowl. The patterning will not be affected, but a shorter barrel tends to lessen your natural ability on wingshooting. My SBEII is a 26", and I sometimes wish I'd gone with the 28", especially in the blinds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heavy4x4 Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 Chip, It depends on your personal experience/ability. If you can shoot sporting clays or waterfowl well with a 24" barrel go for it. Easier to swing sometimes loans itself to over-swinging the target. My good friend is a big sporting clays guy and he's looking to get an o/u with 34" barrels. I offer you this thought though...you said you're mostly a waterfowl hunter, so it might better suit you to get a 28" barrel. A gun with a 28" barrel can be used for turkey hunting no problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tucker301 Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 It's not that a longer barrel swings or points any better or more smoothly than a shorter one. What the longer barrel does do is it reduces the tendency of the shooter to be choppy and snappy with their own motions. The extended length helps the shooter himself to make more fluid movements. Any easy way to see this is to pratice wingshooting movements without a gun in hand. Raise the thumb of your lead hand as if hitch-hiking. This will be the sight. Start off with the lead hand in closer to the body while swinging on targets, trying to be as smooth as possible, but at the same time maintaining proper speed. Now extend the lead arm and repeat the motions. The forearm and barrel are extensions of the lead arm. You will see that when this extension is slightly longer, your movements become more fluid and focused. As your body pivots, having the muzzle farther away from the axis of the pivot gives you more control and the ability to aim more precisely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tucker301 Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 Another worthy read here: http://espn.go.com/outdoors/hunting/s/h_fea_02_long_and_short_F&HN.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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