Hiya
Just wondering if anyone has actually chonographed 12ga shotgun loads out of a 26",28" and 30" tube to see if there is any significant difference in velocity? Or is it well known that there is not any significant differecne..
I'm in the market for a new gun, probably an 870, and I'm noticing a choice between 26" and 28".
The 870 I bought back in '72 came with a 30".. Lol.

Thanks for any info on this.

RDub,
Factory 12 ga. shotshells fired from a 26" barrel are from 60 to 90 f/s slower than advertised. This from a .722, cylinder bored barrel at 1m (about 3 feet).
Lefteris.

Mmmm.. Thats interesting.
Thanks Lefteris.

I notice the Federal ammo catalog shows they used a 30" bbl to develope the velocity for their published slug loads.
I suspect that in order to get high muzzle velocity numbers to publish in their annual catalogs for their latest and greatest slug development, Federal is forced to use very slow burning powders so pressure does not exceed industry standards. A long steady push to max velocity. I like to know what a more standard slug barrel length of 22"->24" could do.
I suspect there is quit a velocity difference between a 22" bbl and a 30" bbl launching these new high velocity slug loads.

In my time (when dinosaurs roamed)the only significance of barrel lengths in a shotgun was for pointing the shotgun. Thus, supposedly, a 26" barrel was ideal for ruffed grouse and a 30" barrel was for ducks/geese. (This, of course, fails to explain why the best ruffed grouse shotgun I ever had was a Win.97 hammer pump, 28" barrel ,already old when I was 15) Why the emphasis on velocity of shot? Isn't this getting a little too refined in trying to explain why we miss? I have read that people argued in the Middle Ages about how many angels could dance on the head of a pin. Frankly, to this old man, this seems like one more such argument having nothing to do with just getting out there and taking your chances!