churchill 25" Barrels?
 

Any opinions? Anyone have any experience with the 25" barrels and the Churchill rib? 25 just seems so short. I'm looking at one but I don't know how'd they be in the pheasant fields. Could be great for grouse.

Pheasants and grouse are what the Brits shot with such barrels.





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After shooting 28" barrels and an occasional 30. ,25 seems so short. But its a really nice looking gun

Have confidence in your abilities to mount and point the gun in the Churchill style - the gun will do the rest.





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I don't know the "Churchill Style" over any other style. Before I took a 20 year break from shooting i just shot. Never thought about it. Now all I do is think,too much. the last 2 times i went out I finally got back to just shooting and did much better. i cut my teeth on grouse 45 years ago and called what I did snap shooting. that transferred over to pheasants well enough. If Churchill is more instictive shooting then that's pretty much how I shoot ,I guess. From what I've read that's what it seems. Shooting isn't like riding a bike. It's much harder to get it back especially after putting 20 more years of wear on the body

Mr. Sauers:
The Churchill style, as advocated by Robert Churchill (below) is essentially a low-gun instinctive approach. Perfect for flushing game like grouse. Churchill's Shotgun Book outlines the technique fairly well.

What's more, it can be practiced with any barrel length gun. The short Churchill XXVs are ideal. But any 26-inch gun is virtually the same.

The Churchill rib is narrowed to provide the visual illusion of a longer barrel. It helps as well. But the whole game is about practice. With any gun of any barrel length. THAT will create the hits.

Nonetheless, a new Churchill XXV can't hurt!

Bob Churchill in his advocated "start/ready" position:

And my wife said something to me about the combination of coat and pants I wore to church today. And mine were solid colors. She should look at this photo.

The key to success is, of course, the crazy socks and plus fours.

The Churchill XXV was a very popular model but has gone out of fashion.

Kurt,

HOpefully, you can try to shoot the gun before you buy it. Churchill made good quality guns. The XXV was sort of a marketing gimmick in the late 20s/30s to sell more guns. They are usually lightweight and quite a few makers jumped on the lightweight bandwagon. However, Chuchill was the maker with the XXV! As John said above, the XXV was meant to be used with Churchill shooting technique.

I have never shot one, I just seem to shy away from barrels shorter than 27". The 25" barrels should allow you to buy a quality gun at a reduced price.

Ken