Parker Gun Collectors Association Forums  

Go Back   Parker Gun Collectors Association Forums Parker Forums General Parker Discussions

Notices

Reply
Thread Tools Display Modes
When did the increased desirability of longer barrels begin & why is that so?
Unread 04-23-2024, 06:54 PM   #1
Member
MrBojangles
PGCA Lifetime
Member

Member Info
 
Join Date: Sep 2019
Posts: 199
Thanks: 49
Thanked 189 Times in 54 Posts

Default When did the increased desirability of longer barrels begin & why is that so?

Decades ago, a shorter set of barrels, like 26”, were more popular, or so I believe. A compact shotgun for use in woods & thicket, for grouse & woodcock.

Now, it seems shorter barrel lengths are increasingly unpopular, and longer ones are desired. Why is that so? Perhaps a longer sighting plane as hunting for game birds has diminished and the most a shotgun might do now is shatter a clay pigeon? Or…???
Ian Civco is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04-23-2024, 07:05 PM   #2
Member
James L. Martin
PGCA Member
 
James L. Martin's Avatar

Member Info
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 763
Thanks: 1,012
Thanked 1,815 Times in 426 Posts

Default

I think Sporting Clays played a large part. I saw barrel length go from 28" to 30" then to 32" in fast order in the game. Why? Because most people shot better with longer barrels.
__________________
" May you build a ladder to the stars climb on every rung and may you stay forever young "
Bob Dylan
James L. Martin is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to James L. Martin For Your Post:
Unread 04-23-2024, 07:38 PM   #3
Member
Harold Pickens
PGCA Member
 
Harold Lee Pickens's Avatar

Member Info
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 3,767
Thanks: 2,226
Thanked 8,317 Times in 2,113 Posts

Default

With the plummeting population of game birds, grouse, woodcock, quail etc, longer barrels came into popularity shooting clays.
__________________
"How kind it is that most of us will never know when we have fired our last shot"--Nash Buckingham
Harold Lee Pickens is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to Harold Lee Pickens For Your Post:
Unread 04-23-2024, 08:11 PM   #4
Member
Jay Oliver
PGCA Lifetime
Member
 
Jay Oliver's Avatar

Member Info
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,107
Thanks: 1,390
Thanked 3,390 Times in 681 Posts

Default

I like extremes on either side of the spectrum 24" and 32" or 34". I find I can shoot sporting clays well enough with short barrels. Although long barrels look so good!
Jay Oliver is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04-23-2024, 08:59 PM   #5
Member
Harry Gietler
Forum Associate
 
Harry Gietler's Avatar

Member Info
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 793
Thanks: 733
Thanked 1,081 Times in 334 Posts

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Harold Lee Pickens View Post
With the plummeting population of game birds, grouse, woodcock, quail etc, longer barrels came into popularity shooting clays.
Could the Plummeting #s of game birds be due to the ever increasing #s of
''Killer Hawks'' WE have today? Killer Hawks in my area come in all sizes, also
a large # of ''Killer Cats'' in many area's.

As For ''Long'' barrels it is usually the guys that already have these guns for a long time, write stories about them stating how much more desirable they are only to increase their ''Value''. Simply Put, they are getting ready to sell off their guns and want the most money they can get! The guys that ''Fall'' for those
stories, ''Get Taken''

Harry

Last edited by Harry Gietler; 04-23-2024 at 09:25 PM..
Harry Gietler is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04-23-2024, 09:34 PM   #6
Member
Woodcock survey
PGCA Member
 
Daniel Carter's Avatar

Member Info
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 1,007
Thanks: 1,437
Thanked 1,488 Times in 626 Posts

Default

If you think it will improve your shooting it will. The human mind is very susceptible to suggestion. Believe a shell, shot size, palm swell, barrel length and on and on. If you believe it will it will. For a time.
Daniel Carter is online now   Reply With Quote
The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Daniel Carter For Your Post:
Unread 04-23-2024, 09:36 PM   #7
Member
edgarspencer
PGCA Member
 
edgarspencer's Avatar

Member Info
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 6,368
Thanks: 3,180
Thanked 12,347 Times in 3,300 Posts

Default

The lovers of 'quick' short barrels are alive and well, but 28 is the new 26. My dad, in his later years, favored 26" guns, but remarked that when he was growing up, everyone wanted a 30" gun. I keep a few still, but like my 28" and 30" guns equally. They look good arranged that way too. I think, like so many other things we feel strongly about, these things go in cycles.
edgarspencer is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following 8 Users Say Thank You to edgarspencer For Your Post:
Unread 04-23-2024, 10:11 PM   #8
Member
Researcher
PGCA Lifetime
Member
 
Dave Noreen's Avatar

Member Info
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 3,718
Thanks: 1,743
Thanked 8,188 Times in 2,455 Posts

Default

Must have begun when Jack O'Connor retired from being the Shooting Editor of Outdoor Life. His nearly forty years of extolling the virtues of 26-inch barrels had a lot of folks in the 1960s & 70s taking hacksaws to those old 30- and 32-inch guns!! I have mostly favored 28-inch barrels on a break-action gun and 26-inch on a pump or auto. I can't prove it, but I bet I shot a lot more ducks with the 28-inch barrels on my Super-Fox than I did with its original 32-inchers. Did shoot a lot of trap in my college years with those long barrels.
Dave Noreen is online now   Reply With Quote
Unread 04-23-2024, 10:49 PM   #9
Member
Jeff Elder
PGCA Member
 
Jeff Elder's Avatar

Member Info
 
Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 192
Thanks: 432
Thanked 119 Times in 58 Posts

Default

I’m leaning towards the decline of upland birds and the popularity of duck gunning and sporting clays.
Jeff Elder is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Jeff Elder For Your Post:
Visit Jeff Elder's homepage!
Unread 04-24-2024, 12:51 AM   #10
Member
6pt-Sika
PGCA Lifetime
Member
 
CraigThompson's Avatar

Member Info
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 9,021
Thanks: 5,956
Thanked 8,313 Times in 3,698 Posts

Default

You can bet your backside if I had the J Cliff Green skeet set I’d shoot the hell out of them both at skeet and dove/quail . However in the last four or five years I’ve gained an affection for 32” guns and use them at pheasant tower shoots . When I was a younger fellow I thought 26” and possibly 28” were bird length while 30” and above were duck goose length . Now things kinda merge !
__________________
Parker’s , 6.5mm’s , Mannlicher Schoenauer’s and my family in the Philippines !
CraigThompson is online now   Reply With Quote
Reply


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:03 PM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright © 1998 - 2024, Parkerguns.org
Copyright © 2004 Design par Megatekno
- 2008 style update 3.7 avec l'autorisation de son auteur par Stradfred.