doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Barrel Length - When Will The Pendulum Swing

The pendulum never did swing too far in my safe. Still have a 25" Darne 12 that has brought scores of grouse to bag. My Remington model 17, with it's Baker choked 21" barrel did the same duty for perhaps two decades. The rest of the guns float between 26" on an Ithaca pump 12, 28" on the Tobin 16, 28" again on an Ithaca 16 pump, and a smattering of 28s" and 30s" on what remains.
The factors that control my shooting skill, or, lack there of, on other days, don't seem to be how long the barrel is-maybe how many fairies are dancing along it's length, but, not how long it is.
Best,
Ted

Get ready for those short "fairies" to take a beating should you ever sell.

6" difference in barrel length . . . it'd be pretty hard, although not impossible, for tubes with that much difference (fit to the same gun) to weigh the same. It'd take a lot more barrel wall thickness on the short ones, for sure!

On well-made guns, if there's not a lot of difference in length, two sets of barrels can be essentially identical in weight. I have a 12ga Parker Repro 2-barrel set, 26" and 28". On my digital postal scale, there's half an ounce difference between the two. Would be interesting to put that gun on Don Amos' machine and take readings.

j0e, as I can remember your Purdey had only a few inches of original barrel followed by a whole lot of whodunit prosthesis.
As always, you had the shortest of "fairies."

It would take several Darnes to bring what I sold it for ol'bean.

None of my short barreled guns should be for sale in my lifetime-I have nothing into them, money-wise, at any rate. I need them for grouse hunting, where they will always work about the same as they have.
My own guns are for shooting, nothing more. I don't care how much money they bring. I don't care how much anyone's guns bring, come to think of it.
Best,
Ted

Hello all,

I have following this thread with some interest because I have wondered about the original question myself. Opinion wise,I am in the "whatever works for you section"

I personally have never felt comfortable shooting anything longer than 28 inches. I had a 30" 12 ga. Winchester model 24 and it felt like I was waiving around a 2x4. I feel most comfortable with a 26" sxs.

What I really wanted to add was, I recently fished out some old Outdoor Life mags, stored at my Mom's since High School. I was looking for any articles Jack O'Commor may have written during that time on Model 21's. What I found in the Sept. 67 issue was on "Guns and loads for upland game".

Guns Jack listed in the article he owned with 26" barrels:
1. Model 21 12 ga. 2 sets of barrels
2. His wife a Model 21 in 16 ga. 26" barrels
3. Model 21 in 20 ga. 26" barrles
4 Beretta Model SO3 12 ga. 26" barrels
5. Remington Model 11-48 28 ga. 26" barrels
6. Arizaga sxs 20 ga. 26" barrels

I'm sure he owned many other guns, he mentioned one Model 1100 with 30" barrels that weighted 8 lbs. and was too heavy to carry very far in the field.

I know what Jack O'Connor said affected me when I was young. The thing is, it either stuck or I just like it.

A quote from this article: "To me, the handsomest of all scatterguns is a 20 gauge sidelock double with 26 in. side by side barrels and a straight grip."

Thought some of you would appreciate the article.

Milton

Two-barrel sets can be made the same or end up very different.

My old Super-Fox weighs something over 8 1/2 pounds with its original 32-inch Chromox Fluid Compressed Steel tubes in place, and a fraction of an ounce over nine pounds with the 28-inch Special Alloy -- Forged Steel barrels in place. It balances about 1 inch in front of the hinge with either set in place.

I also have a heavy 12-gauge Damascus barrel 2-Frame Parker Bros. GH-Grade that weighs a fraction of an ounce over nine pounds. It made a trip back to Meriden for a set of 32-inch 20-gauge 3-inch chamber Vulcan Steel barrels and with them in place it weighs 8 pounds 4.5 ounces. Totally different balance and feel.



In his column on 20-gauge guns in the September 1965 Outdoor Life (I'm working from memory here as I'm away from my library here at our northern home) Jack wrote that the best shooting he ever did with a 20-gauge was with a 30-inch barrel L.C. Smith, and then goes on to say how that gun was all wrong and how much better a 26-inch barrel Model 21 was?!?! My gut feeling is the L.C. Smith was probably lighter then the Model 21.

All 24 Winchesters swing like 2x4's....do the math a 30" Model 1100 is about like a 38" SxS.

I liked reading Jack O'Connor myself....even though he was enticed by Winchester to promote the .270. (Deep down he was a 30.06 and 7x57 rifleman).

Not true! Obviously you have not tried a 20ga. 28in. Model 24. Get past how it looks and you will find it handles very well.

What proof do you have that O'Connor was enticed?