Hi, years ago when black powder was the norm, the longer the bbls the better to fully develop the velocity of BP. With the advent of smokeless powder, longer bbls were not needed, but because of tradition and mindset they stayed. You'll still hear some folks say that longer bbls "shoot harder". Nonsense of course. todays powder burns up in the first 24" without much loss of velocity.
Also, in the "old" days 30" bbls were choked Full, 28" Mod or Full and 26" IC there were always exceptions, but as a rule your typical over the counter gun came these ways.
30" bbls were used for ducks/geese as these bbls swing better on pass shooting or long range shooting and they were also traditional. 26" or for that matter 25" were deemed to get on target faster for upland birds and aslo they won't get caught up in the brush when gunning for grouse.
When I was growing up (still am!) shorter bbls were all the rage for upland and again longer for waterfowl and trap.
The rage in now for longer bbls especially in small gauges. But to be honest, bbl length is a matter of personal taste and your style of shooting. I do very well with 25 to 28 inch bbls, but after 28" forget it, my shooting tend to go to pot, don't know why it just does.
Anyway, I'm sure you'll get plenty of pro and cons for long or short bbls.
Good Luck and all the best!
Greg
