That's surely a tough call for any individual on barrel length and chokes. For a quail gun, I'd go with no more than 28" barrels and 26" is no disadvange for me either. Kinda depends more on the MOI (a Rocketman-ism) or something we commonly refer to as swing-weight. Since the 28 RBL is pretty light and quick, 28" might be my choice so it'd be a bit less quick for use on pass shooting dove. I'm not fond of a long gun for my quail hunting up and down steep terrain with brush. I've always preferred a 26" gun for this work. I have enough to do keeping a 26" barrel out of the dirt.
But, ultimately I think it's really dependant on the individual's physique and abilities more than the type of birds being used on.
