Like what ya like and shoot what you want ! I broke targets on the skeet field over forty years ago with 26” barrels . If they’d do it then they’ll darn sure still do it . I can remmember some trap shooters about forty years ago saying 32” barrels were to hard to get around on the second bird in trap doubles (I never thought that) , I no longer think you hear that . I still think 28” is about the perfect length for a tubed skeet gun but I don’t see a problem shooting a 26” or 30” tube gun . I’d love to have the J Cliff Green set at my disposal for awhile and try those 24” barrels . On another topic I’ve always been fond of 26” barrels on “bird” hunting guns for dove quail grouse that type thing , but again to each his own .

Just finished perusing the auction and imagine that , one or two things got my attention !

My mother’s skeet gun is/was a wonderful Remington 32 with 12, 20, 28 and .410 barrels, all 26” long. Great gun. I still shoot it. It’s worn out. But it crushes targets when I do my part.

It seemed to me that the move to longer barrels, I.e. 28”, occurred in the later 1960’s with the rise of the Rem 1100 skeet gun. And skeet never looked back.

In the early days of USSCA and NSCA sporting clays, the 32" barrel was unheard of. In about 1986, Beretta made a set of 32" low step rib barrels for my special order 30" low step rib 20 gauge gun, which was the first and only one of those I have seen or heard of. I started using the 32" Beretta because it was the only gun I had with screw chokes. Apparently, I was a pioneer in competitive sporting clays without realizing it. It wasn't long before the odd competitor showed up with a long gun and now it is everyone. In the early days, before USSCA and NSCA, non sanctioned sporting events took place. Most were heads up, no classes, big entry fees. My favorite was Dallas Berry's shoot in the Wardensville, West Virginia area. The rules were "no changing guns", "no changing chokes", "no touching the muzzle of your gun", "no alabis", among other rules. One shooter borrowed my gun for a station when his went down. The puller reported him and his winning score was disqualified. Pullers would be fired if they saw a violation and did not report it. The shooter didn't find out about his disqualification until the results sheet came in the mail without a check. One of the participants in these great shoots was someone most of us know, gun dealer, Roger Bain. We learned about ZZ birds at this shoot. The ZZs were part of a regular 85 bird round at first, then became a separate event later on, with a purse for that event. There was a cash purse on every station as well as for high score for the day. When sporting clays became a sanctioned event in the mid eighties, the "round" became 100 birds so we could hold a state championship under USSCA rules. This shoot is where I first met Shelly Gitman, the great Parker collector.

interesting fact bill....thanks for the storey....charlie

Remington 3200 skeet guns were advertised as 28". In fact, they were all 27 1/2.

And 26" 3200s were about 25 1/2". The Lovely Linda still has one of those. It is a great gun.

I like Remington 32’s although I own none at the moment . The Krieghoff guy in NC , Marlet oughtta be able to rebuild your moms 32 easy enough .

The market was saturated with 26- and 28-inch barrel skeet guns so the manufacturers got their pros to start shooting longer barrel guns and the public followed. Ca-ching!!

Before the 30” Skeet gun thing really took off there was a retired military shooter from the Oceana or Langley clubs in VA that I used to see often . Anyway he was shooting a Winchester 101 field gun with 30” screw chokes in the 12 gauge event . Many people rolled their eyes at him then , but he shot well enough to be low AA or high A . Now years later after having shot that game a long time if I’ve got my s..t wired right I can go out and break 25 straight with a 30 or 32 inch full choke 10 or 12 and then shoot the next round with a 26” full choked IJ 410 and get 24 or 25 . All that goes to show if you’re minds in the game gauge , barrel length and chokes to a degree are not deal breakers or deal makers .