I have always heard that the 28" barrels are better for wingshooting and 30" barrels are better for sporting clays. I have seen someone shooting clays unbelievably well with 26" barrels. What would be the ideal, all round barrel length for both clays and wingshooting? Is there that much of a difference? Would appreciate your thoughts.

I prefer longer barrels on an O/U or SxS, 28" at least. I have always found anything shorter than 28" to be a little too whippy for me. But that's just me. I shoot a lot of trap , skeet and sporting clays. My tournament gun is a Beretta White Wing Sporting with 32" barrels. While that may be a touch long for a field gun I still prefer 28 or 30" in my break opens.

I can go shorter on a pump or auto because of their long receiver, but even then I like the 28" over the shorter lengths. Never found the longer barrels to be a detriment even in heavy cover.

Longer barrels tend to swing better. More birds are missed by stopping the swing than for any other reason. Shorter barrels just stop quicker. Longer barrels tend to want to stay moving a little better than short barrels. Or at least it seems so to me.

I would advise trying as many guns as possible before committing to your new gun. Many clubs have rental guns one can try and most clays shooters are happy to let a guy try their gun out.

With all that being said, I would recommend a 28" O/U for a field/clays gun. One of the best values in that arena is the Beretta 686 Onyx. They can be found for good prices on the used market and are just about indestructible.

For hunting I prefer 26" barrels.

Thanks for your feedback. I guess either will do the job. As I am not a pro, it's no big deal.

I find 30" barrels, even on the shorter O/U receivers, to be longer than I'm comfortable with. 28" barrels are okay, but I mostly hunt with 26" barrels. Longer barrels may be fine on the trap range, but most hunting involves some quick swinging and snap shooting, which gives the advantage to shorter barrels.

It's been a long time since I've done any sporting clays, but I never found the shorter barrels to be disadvantageous at that game.

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:
I find 30" barrels, even on the shorter O/U receivers, to be longer than I'm comfortable with. 28" barrels are okay, but I mostly hunt with 26" barrels. Longer barrels may be fine on the trap range, but most hunting involves some quick swinging and snap shooting, which gives the advantage to shorter barrels.

It's been a long time since I've done any sporting clays, but I never found the shorter barrels to be disadvantageous at that game.

SAME FOR ME.................

I have some 26" and 28" barrels in OU shotguns. The 26 is better for hunting, but if you are going to shoot some sporting clays, the 28" is a good compromise, in my opinion.

I use 28" guns, but really which ever you prefer with appropriate chokes.

With me, it depends on the individual gun. I don't specifically choose a certain barrel length. I have double guns with 26 and with 28 inch barrels. For example, my 12 gauge Citori has 26" barrels and it handles and balances very well for me. My 20 gauge Citori has 28" barrels and it balances and handles well. I believe if it were the other way around, neither gun would handle or balance as well.
joe

Years ago, all skeet guns were 26", and trap guns 30". But like anything else, there are trends that change things over time. Skeet shooters often use 30" guns now, and some trap guns are out to 34". In time, it may all change back, who knows. A longer sighting plane and better swing weight are the purported claims, but only you can judge for yourself. A 28" is probably the best compromise.

It's all in the mind ! At a clays event I saw a guy wine about having a wrong choke and shot poorly. He had the highest score of the group !
My auto has 24" barrels and my O/U has 28" so that LOA of the two is the same.

Here in Britain where skeet is about dead and trap just hanging on the big, big discipline is "sporting".

For that nobody uses anything but 28" or 30" and, indeed, even those who do shoot skeet 28" is the shortest length you'll ever see.

Hope it helps. These guys here are very, very competitive on this 'sporting" and if any thought that there was any benefit in 26" you'd see them.

Bottom line is that you don't see them. Modern cartridges also have here in Britain lighter loads and slower burning powders yet giving better velocity.