doublegunshop.com - home

I agree that if shotguns were to be made in only one length, I would prefer 28" by a long ways. But nicely there is variety so I can justify some need for another gun with a different length for some obscure and perhaps imaginary reason.

As a matter of fact, I have a 27" gun headed my way right now!

I had a few guns out last night and remembered this thread which revolves around balance. I lined 3 guns up centered on the breech face first and they all lined up quite closely on the hinge pin. All are 30 inch barrels. The LOP on all is either 14" or 14 1/4".

They all weigh different and all balance differently. The Parker balances dead on the hinge pin, the LC Smith ever so slightly ahead of the pin and the Lefever about an inch forward. Interesting to note the butts don't square off, the triggers don''t line up and the pistol grips don't line up. The top gun is a Lefever s(Krupp barrels) second is a Parker (damascus) and bottom a LC Smith (damascus).

I use all the guns frequently on upland birds and shoot all well but find the Parker the least comfortable.

The OP was talking English guns with 28" barrels however I think there is much more than the barrels to determine where the balance of the gun lies and the the comfort of the gun. I have a number of English boxlocks and all are 30" barrels. They feel lighter and much more comfortable than the US guns.

King: I don't know which of these Gold Medalists is Charles Billings, representing the New York Athletic Club, nor do I know what gun he used at the 1912 Olympic Games. Ralph Spotts is the Philistine on the left holding the Remington Automatic; Jay Graham 3rd from left with a Remington Pump.



This is live action (the first minute) from the Stockholm Olympics, courtesy of Swedish Olympian Hakan Dahlby

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl...t-ts=1422579428

Interesting discussion going on here. I haven't been in the new-gun game for 20-25 years, but my experience back then was that the Birmingham/London gunmakers really preferred putting 28" barrels on a new side-by-side. I thought they probably knew something, but perhaps they were just advocating fashion?

It makes perfect sense that a gun with 28" barrels will handle differently than an identical gun except with 30" barrels. Likewise, they will have different weight and different balance point.

Remember that swing effort is measured as moment of inertia. MOI is the resultant of weight and radius from some pivot point with said radius squared. That said, the extra two inches of barrel length are in the place where they have maximum affect on MOI. Discernible difference among similar guns with differing barrel length should come as no surprise.

I expect that the Brit trade, as a nod to standardization, made 28" barrels when possible. If you didn't stand your ground on desired barrel length you got 28". Fashion was more interested in the name on the gun.

DDA

I would think 28" became the norm once nitro powders became the standard load.Longer barrels were not needed for slow burning black powder and 28" offered the best recipe to handle all classes of British sport ,giving good carryability ,recoil handling and general shootability.

IF" you load 3 drams of 3FG black behind 1 1/8 oz of shot how much difference in velocity will there be between a 30" & a 28" barrel?