28 inch barrels vs 30 inch barrels

birddogdoc · 03-10-2021, 12:51 PM

I've hunted with 29 inch barrels and really enjoyed them on an AYA. I hunt mostly on the wide open prairie...anyone have an opinion on hunting with 30 inch barrels on the open prairie?

Harold Pickens · 03-10-2021, 01:11 PM

yes, I love the longer barrels, seem to shoot them better, but I dont want a heavy gun if I'm walking all day. I have a couple hammer guns (not Parkers), a 16 and a 20, that are sub 6 lbs with 30" barrels.

Double Lab · 03-10-2021, 01:53 PM

That's just about all I carry out west Shawn. Two of my go-to favorites are a 30" 20ga Sterlingworth and a Parker 30" 28ga. Both are right at or a tad under 6lb.

Also in play at times is a VH Parker 16 at 30" which is the heavyweight in the group at 6lb 8oz.

Jerry Parise · 03-10-2021, 01:57 PM

30" barrels are my favorite barrel length. Whether I shoot clays or birds 12 ga. or 28 ga. the barrels are 30". The 30s just swing well for me.

mobirdhunter · 03-10-2021, 02:03 PM

I like a more weight-forward balance for longer, more open shots like we get on the prairie, so the 30 inch barrels seem to promote a better follow through for me. I have a CSMC Fox XE with 29 inch barrels that weighs just under 6 lbs., but has enough weight ahead of the hinge pin to keep moving. It worked very well for me on early season sharptails and huns in Montana. My DHE 20 with 30 inch barrels is my go-to open field quail gun in my Missouri home covers. For dove, I like a heavier, long barreled gun. For ducks, it doesn't matter -- I can't hit them unless they are on top of me.

In brushy cover, I find 26 inch barrels work nicely.

Randy Roberts · 03-10-2021, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shawn Wayment

anyone have an opinion on hunting with 30 inch barrels on the open prairie?

Nope, never used anything that short

My go to Phez-Sharpie gun is a 32" 16 gauge VHE that weighs something like 6-11 if I recall correctly. I really like the long barrels in the open country and never felt them to be an issue to carry, opinions will vary greatly on that.

Reggie B · 03-10-2021, 02:49 PM

I have three 30" guns and if I had to choose one barrel length it would probably by 30". I would love to add another 30" gun or two to the mix.

John Allen · 03-10-2021, 06:01 PM

It wasn't that long ago that you could not give a 30" or 32" double gun away. A 26" gun brought a premium price. The rise of sporting clays has really changed the market. Personally, I shoot a 28" barreled gun best. I have found that the longer barrels slow me down.

Stan Hillis · 03-10-2021, 08:11 PM

Color me a long barrel man. The only double I use hunting, that is under 30", is a 28" Sterlingworth Ejector 20 gauge quail and woodcock gun. I have not a clue what prairie hunting is like but i have used 30" barrels, in 20 and in 28 gauge, for quail and shot them very well.

I recently shot a round of sporting clays with a Valmet O/U that has 36" barrels. I shot well enough with it to win my class, AA, and Sr. Veteran concurrent. Most of the birds I missed was because I was ahead of them ......... too much lead. It was surreal. How could you get too far out in front of clays with a 36" barreled double? The barrels are so finely struck that it moved faster than my 31 1/2" barreled Perazzi MX-8.

Strange, but true.

It's not always the length of the barrels that matters in how the gun moves. How the barrels are struck is supremely important.

Researcher · 03-10-2021, 08:31 PM

My go to bird gun for over fifty years has been a straight-grip 28-inch barrel A-Grade Ansley H. Fox 12-gauge shooting everything from Sharptails in Saskatchewan to Quail along the Mexican border and a lot of Pheasants in between. Also a lot of jump shooting ducks out of irrigation ditches incidental to those Pheasants in my college years. My favorite side-by-side skeet gun is virtually the same thing, a 28-inch barrel Fox-Sterlingworth Ejector Skeet & Upland Game Gun.