My 682X Trap 32" gun was a strange sporting clays gun when I started shooting it in about 1985, but today it is the "gun of the day". I am still shooting it in 2022 and there is no other gun that will do the job better. Some of our posters are asking "When did the 32" gun become popular for sporting clays?" Although I built the my 32" heavy sporting clays gun in about 1985, long before any registered SC organizations like USSCA and NSCA got a start, they didn't become popular for a few years after that. Dallas Berry and his friends at the Wardensville West Virginia range were all ATA trapshooters and probably used their trap guns initially. At that range, full chokes were necessary for a good portion of the shots and screw chokes were banned. In today's world, 50 and 55 yard sporting targets are addressed with less than full chokes, but not in 1985.

I started shooting sporting clays about that same time period, and with a 30" Beretta 682 International Trap, that I ordered as a pigeon gun.
When I went to a 32" Perazzi Comp 1, I was shooting long barrels pretty well. Then there was a Step Ribbed MX 8, and then a 30" SC 3.
The last 15 years or so, I've been using a custom built AL 391 Trap Gun with a 30" bbl on sporting clays, and have shot that gun very very well.
My Parker's that get the most play are 30 and 32" guns, btw.

When I started in the gun business in the early 70s a 26" gun would bring a 25% or more premium over 30" guns. You could not give a 32"away. The only people who bought long barreled guns were a few hard core duck hunters. It all began to change in the 90s when sporting clays really took off. I think the decline of quail and grouse hunting have contributed to lower demand for 26" guns as well.

I shoot 28 and 30 inches better than 26. Prob longer barrel helps with follow through.

I prefer 26" for quail hunting although I have my fair share of 28" guns that do just fine too. 30" is all I need for duck hunting. I am sure I am one of the few

Short barreled guns are an abomination and no one should own one. You can send them all to me and I'll keep them out of circulation. I will especially keep the higher grade, well balanced, straight/splinter, two trigger guns out of circulation. You're all welcome!:whistle::bigbye::rotf:

Hey Garry, you can send me your excess. I'm not fussy - lower grades with pistol grips are fine with me. I don't seem to have a need for long barrels on a clays gun. For me 28 inches is long.

Sounds quite fair to me!:)

These days about all of my grouse, woodcock and Skeet shooting I do with 26” Parkers because I just prefer that length… But not so long ago, maybe 15 years or so, I had that two-barrel set twenty-gauge Repro, both choked Q1 and Q2 but one set was 26” and the other was 28” and I much preferred the 28” set for Skeet, and I just don’t know why. The development of my preferences of barrel length was still in its infancy though.





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It means little to say that there is a lot of difference in handling with longer vs shorter barrels. How the barrels are built/struck means just as much, or more, than length. There are 32" barreled guns that handle like a dream ........... quick and lively as any person could need. My 31 1/2" Perazzi MX 8 is such a gun. There is no target too fast for it, regardless how close in it is. Where the weight is concentrated on the gun determines how lively, or how sluggish, it will be. Not all 32" guns are created equal, and not all 26" ones are, either.

I shoot longer barreled guns better. Period. A 28" barrel is short, in my realm of thinking. My main quail/woodcock gun is a 28" barreled Philly Fox 20 ga., but I have done some good work in the quail fields and woodcock tangles with a 30" Verona 28 ga., properly choked. Personally, I think too much is made over speed in gun handling, for fast flushing birds. Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.