| Posted: Tue May 15th, 2007 11:28 PM |
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Force_Recon_Marine
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I am looking for a 12 gauge Ruger Red Label Stainless Steel Over under shotgun. I wanted a 28 or 30" barrel. I have not found one yet. I have found a 26" barrel. I mostly just want it for dove hunting. What are your opinions, thoughts, or comments?
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| Posted: Tue May 15th, 2007 11:42 PM |
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barebackpat
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Force, First let me ask if you are going to shoot in tight areas like heavy brush? I have never hunted doves before. But personally i like a 24 inch barrel faster swinging and have never had a problem with range and have shot up with the longer barrels. So i bought mine in the shorter version cause they get used in real tight areas a lot of the time. Just my thoughts. Pat
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| Posted: Tue May 15th, 2007 11:58 PM |
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Force_Recon_Marine
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Hey Pat, Mostly in wide open fields. We usually plant a lot of wheat for winter grass, and believe it or not the doves like it too!  I bought a cheap O/U last year just for the season and then I sold it. It was 28" and it shot fine. We have at least one good shoot a year and sometimes 4 or 5. I decided I might as well get what I want and keep it from now on.
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| Posted: Wed May 16th, 2007 12:00 AM |
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barebackpat
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Thats for sure. I get about 2 duck and goose hunts a year. And usually 1 good hun hunt. i use a 12 or 20 guage bennelli nova both with 24 inch barrels. But i shoot a lot of heavy brush so the shorter ones work a lot better for me. 
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| Posted: Wed May 16th, 2007 12:57 AM |
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ghrit
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Longer barrels give you a longer sighting plane that can make up (to a degree) for mounting errors. I am not convinced that the longer barrels to a lot for ballistics; at least some of that can be regained with proper choking. One thing worth note is that the shorter barrels are lighter, short and light features are handy in brush, but the recoil payback can be substantial (depending on loads, of course.) I shoot trap with 30" barrels (haven't hunted in a LONG time, and no further urge to do so) but there are a lot of guys that go with 32" and a few with 34" tubes. The other side of the coin is one guy that shoots an O/U with 26" bbls quite well. I'd say with wide open fields, you will be better off with longer barrels than short; the (admittedly minor extra) weight alone will stabilize your swing.
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| Posted: Wed May 16th, 2007 01:15 AM |
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Force_Recon_Marine
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Well if all goes according to plan I am going to start loading my own shotshells and I plan on making them pretty hot. The shotgun I want is fairly heavy and I thought the longer barrels would help me more than they would hurt me.
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| Posted: Wed May 16th, 2007 03:05 AM |
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.45 COLT
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If you want one with 28" or 30" barrels, better wait until you find one. You'll probably never be happy with a shorter one, wondering if the longer barrels would have been "better". Personally, I hunt with shotguns with 24" and 26" barrels, like them just fine. For Trap, I use a 30" barreled gun.
When you start to reload, you might want to rethink "hot" loads, if by "hot" you mean high velocity. With #6 and smaller shot, adding velocity (over the 1200 - 1260 FPS range) adds very little to the effective range. Even #5 and #4 don't benefit very much, #2 on up it starts to make sense..
DC
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| Posted: Wed May 16th, 2007 03:49 AM |
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ohiococonut
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Barrel length usually comes down to a matter of personal preference and what you'll be shooting at the most. Some people can adapt to shooting clays with a 24" barrel just as well as dove hunting with a 32" barrel. Others have a mind set that a specific barrel length is needed for certain areas. You'll have to choose what suits your needs and pick your loads to compensate for barrel length.
And I agree with the statement about rethinking "hot" loads. I've been reloading shotshells for many years and because I like to vary my loads I've accumulated a very large selection of components. Loading shotshells is not a complicated process but every component is specific to each load and substitutes should never be made. Simply using a different wad than the one listed in the loading data can result in a hot load. One thing you'll quickly find out is your load selection is limited by the different components you have on hand. In other words, if you only have one type of case, powder, primer, shot and wad, you may only find 5-6 different loads you can assemble. And none of them may be what you want.
If you're going to consider reloading shotshells I'd suggest you pick up Lymans Shotshell Reloading Manual. It's an excellent reference and you see what I mean by the limitations with various components.
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| Posted: Wed May 16th, 2007 01:37 PM |
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Charley
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For dove and quail, I'm happy with a 26 incher. For that matter barrel length is pretty irreleavent for me. My favorite bird guns are a flint fowler witgh a 42 inch barrel, and a hammer double with 20 inch barrels.
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| Posted: Wed May 16th, 2007 02:28 PM |
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barebackpat
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I have to agree that personal preferecne is what is going to be your deciding factor. But i have shot a lot of skeet with 24 inch barrels and never had a problem doing it.
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| Posted: Thu May 17th, 2007 12:25 AM |
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72coupe
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Admittedly I not much of a shotgunner but my wife gave me a Remington 1100 Special Field for Christmas in 1977. It has a 21 inch barrel, I really like it.
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| Posted: Fri May 25th, 2007 09:57 PM |
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shortnair
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in doubles I like 26" in pump goose guns for pass shooting 32" works well for me.
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| Posted: Mon Jul 23rd, 2007 01:36 AM |
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sako06
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I'm a long time shooter and use a 12g rem 870 Wingmaster with a 30" full choked trap barrel for valley & mtn quail,dove,grouse,pheasants,squirrels,rabbits,bandtail pigeon,etc.I reload my Win AA hulls into pocket rockets using a Win white wad, 35gr of Win 540, 1 1/8 oz of lead shot 4's,5's,6's,or 7 1/2's @ 1425ps or 1 1/4 oz of the same shot and powder with a Win Red Wad @ 1330 fps knocks them down.I prefer a full choke barrels to reach out and touch the game but it was also used for pot & turkey shoots for years. Last edited on Mon Jul 23rd, 2007 01:38 AM by sako06
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Novashooter
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barrel length doesnt matter. shure shorter is easier to handle but unless your comparing 20" to 30" 2 or 4 inches is like 1 or 2 inches more spread at the same distance. it isnt going to affect you, my suggestion is a nice semi-auto 26" barrel 20ga for condition of the birds, and a modified choke.
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sako06
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I've hunted the mtns of northern ca since 1969 with my trap guns:Rem 870 12g 30" FC & Win Mod 12 30"FC for high flyers like Bandtail Pigeon,ground runners like Mtn Quail, Ca Grey Squirrels,Spruce Grouse.I also was involved in a lot of pot shoots for meat & money where long barreled Full Choked guns rule.
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| Posted: Mon Sep 29th, 2008 09:13 PM |
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reddnek
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A 26" is my personal favorite
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swampshooter
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With an o/u most experienced shotgunners consider a set of 30" bbls. to be the norm. This creates an overall length, and balance about the same as an auto w/ 26" bbls. Probably best to stick with 30" until you develop your own personal preferences for a shorter or longer bbl.
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