I agree totally with those that say this has a lot to do with physique and personal preferences/abilities. I'm about 5'9" (5'10" before I got beat down) and find I'm very much in the middle of gun dimensions and preferences. I have guns from light 26" to moderately heavy 32" bbls. I like to think I shoot most of them fairly well (for me).
I think there's a lot more to it than just length. For example; my BSS 12g, 26" bbl weighs 7 1/2 lbs and swings like some 30" guns due to its heavy walled barrels. Maybe thats why I shot it so well. I suspect Rocketman's MOI measurements would confirm it has similar numbers to traditionally longer barrels.
Another aspect is the sight radius. A longer sight radius will reduce angular sighting error. You can do some simple math to calculate how much difference a sight radius on one length vs. another will make on targets out there at your shooting distance. While on that subject, a pump or auto with a given barrel length will have a longer sight radius than a sxs or o/u by about 6" right off due to the reciever length.
I like my 26" guns for the tight quail hunting I do. 28" and longer start to be a pain to carry and handle for this work. For western wild phez in open country, I've used a 32" sporting clays gun and also a 28" auto (the auto is longer), and as short as 26", all with great success.
Last edited by Chuck H; 05/18/08 02:10 PM.
