Barrel Length

[Alan Maughan]

Would I be right in assuming that 30" barrels are the most common on the sporting scene?

May I ask what length do you use and why?

 

[Darkside]

32" , 30" feels like a wand to me, too fast and whippy.......

 

[Clanchief]

No it will be too long a thread do a search

 

[Mick.J]

The answer is the ones you feel the most comfortable using! This may also depend on what you shoot.

 

[EdSolomons]

Depends on your style of shooting more than anything, dont worry too much about everyone else; there is only 1 man going to be pointing your gun for you

ps 34.5"

 

[k80ben]

Totally depends on your build and the balance !

 

[Les53]

Just shoot what works for you, no matter what the discipline. What works for one guy may not work for another,so just find one you like and shoot lots of shells through it! :wink:

 

[Will Hewland]

All true, but if you take the top 20 guns at a good registered shoot, I suspect 15 will be 32"?

 

[Les53]

All true, but if you take the top 20 guns at a good registered shoot, I suspect 15 will be 32"?

Blimey Will, 75% will be 32" guns, that's a lot! I would never have guessed that it would be that high, but I don't get to see that many sporting shooter though.

 

[Will Hewland]

I guess it's a lower percentage across the whole entry, but most A and AA will be 32 I reckon.

I remember when I bought my K80 super sport in 2006; they were selling 20 to 1 , 32 to 30.

 

[Les53]

I guess it's a lower percentage across the whole entry, but most A and AA will be 32 I reckon.

I remember when I bought my K80 super sport in 2006; they were selling 20 to 1 , 32 to 30.

That is a high percentage! So I guess there are as many 32" guns in sporting as there are in DTL these days then. How times change.

 

[Will Hewland]

I am a newcomer, relatively, but I believe that better cartridges and tougher standards lead to a typically longer sporting target than say 15/20 years ago, hence the trend for 32. Or so I am told..

 

[teepee1234]

It's a guy thing.....they always think they want longer! :.:

I, on the other hand, have no such issues, so I'm very confident with my 30 inches! (I know how to control it after all these years!)

 

[Les53]

I am a newcomer, relatively, but I believe that better cartridges and tougher standards lead to a typically longer sporting target than say 15/20 years ago, hence the trend for 32. Or so I am told..

You may well be right will. I Know when I first started clay shooting, a couple of my mates used to shoot sporting, they both used 28" guns as did a lot of guys, but some were changing over to 30" at that time.

 

[Lock Stock & Barrel]

I suspect you'll find a lot of 32" barrels in general English Sporting - I certainly use them on my Z-Extra, but I use my wife's Kronos 29.5" when shooting DTL, Skeet etc. My next gun's going to be a Kronos Trap with 29.5" tubes.

 

[Hamster]

All true, but if you take the top 20 guns at a good registered shoot, I suspect 15 will be 32"?

I bet it's higher the that. Almost all the really good shots end up with 32".

 

[Will Hewland]

Probably is but I didn't want to seem over confident!

 

[Alan Maughan]

We seem to be talking about what the good shots rather than the Average Joe's who make up the majority.

I bought a 32" as my first gun, Im a big lad and its a 9lb gun which felt OK. I did however try the same gun in 30" over the weekend and it felt surprisingly pointable and lively which made me wonder.

 

[Will Hewland]

We seem to be talking about what the good shots rather than the Average Joe's who make up the majority.

I bought a 32" as my first gun, Im a big lad and its a 9lb gun which felt OK. I did however try the same gun in 30" over the weekend and it felt surprisingly pointable and lively which made me wonder.

Depends on the make. I believe Brownings are barrel heavy in 32", whereas Berettas are more even? You need to judge barrel length and balance as two separate entities really..