barrel length

[white eagle]

Lot's of knowledge here
thanks you have helped me out

[Patrick L]

Those super short guns were in vogue for awhile, but they were eventually discontinued. Even Remington quietly went from 21 inches to 23 inches on the Special Fields before they too were discontinued. Reason is they pointed like bricks. Ballistically they gave up nothing it's true, but since you point a shotgun rather than aim it, precision on target suffers. Sort of like the difference between pointing your fist and pointing your finger.

I flirted with a 23" barrel on my Ithaca 37 pump for a few years, eventually traded it off for a 26" barrel. That's plenty short enough.

Technically a pump or auto can get by with about 2" less barrel length and come out the same length as a double, due to the receiver length.

But this is all personal opinions on gun handling characteristics. To answer your original question, a short barrel will shoot just as hard and pattern just as tight as a longer one, load and choke being equal.

[pipehand]

One thing that may be helped by a longer barrel is a drop in pressure at the muzzle. This can make the gun seem quieter, and possibly make muzzle blast disrupt the shot column after it leaves the bore. It probably makes no noticable difference when increasing by a couple of inches, but when doubling the length of barrel as in using a MetroGun extension it certainly is noticale, particularly with subsonic loads.

[Adam Helmer]

My favorite PA Grouse gun is a 16 gauge 870 with IC 22-inch barrel. It worked well in the late 1990s and now we have no grouse due to massive avian predators.

On a pump gun, a 22 or 24 inch barrel is enough in my opinion. Handy shotguns have many applications. I prefer a 12 gauge for my house gun, but the 16 gauge would also do for bad guys.

Be well.

Adam

[white eagle]

Speaking of grouse we used to have them around here as well
but the DNR introduced the darn turkey's and no more grouse, shame too

[Shawlerbrook]

Yes, longer barrel only aids in aiming.