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.
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