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

[Double Lab]

All one has to do is handle and shoot a quality smallbore, I'm talking 20 or 28ga, and if you don't understand the attraction for the longer barrels then fine. There aren't enough to go around anyway. I've loved them since the 70's so it's nothing new to me.

[MrBojangles]

Originally Posted by Daryl Corona

All one has to do is handle and shoot a quality smallbore, I'm talking 20 or 28ga, and if you don't understand the attraction for the longer barrels then fine. There aren't enough to go around anyway. I've loved them since the 70's so it's nothing new to me.

Is the implication that a long barreled smallbore shotgun is something to strive for, or is the implication why bother at all with a long barreled 12.gauge as a small bore handles better?

[MrBojangles]

Am I correct in my historical perspective that a 12 gauge side by side on the shelf in 12 gauge with 30” barrels, sometimes choked full and full, even if in superb condition, would languish? 32” even worse? We are talking the ‘80s and ‘90s.

[randallro]

I’m small and light and I like shotguns that are too. I shoot all the short presentations and rabbits at sporting with a 20 inch 20 gauge coach gun. haha...not the norm but it works. I use more conventional guns for the longer shots...like my VH 30 inch. I’m fairly new to this and just do it for fun so I just don’t know better.

[Mike Franzen]

I like shooting both the long and short. I have 24” bbl 12 ga I like for wild quail, grouse or woodcock. For game where fast shooting isn’t necessary, ducks, geese, turkeys, I like the longer bbls. For targets, which I shoot for fun, I like longer bbls.

[Drew Hause]

Interesting how what was old is new again

1878 available in 28", 30" & 32"



1898 Sears 28", 30" & 32"

"We can made shorter or longer barrels..."



1906 now 26" listed



Edwin Hedderly, Forest & Stream, December 26, 1908, “Twenty Bores for Duck Shooting” began promoting long barrel small bores for waterfowl
https://books.google.com/books?id=ej...C&pg=PA1018&vq

Response February 27, 1909, “Small-bore Guns and Loads”
https://books.google.com/books?id=nE...AJ&pg=PA337&dq

Hedderly was the editor of Western Field starting in July 1910, and beginning in September 1910 he ran a series of articles on the smallbore shotgun. He received several guns from Parker Brothers in exchange for ads. April 4, 1911 he ordered a 32-inch 28-gauge pistol grip DHE engraved “Wildfowl Mfg Expressly for E.L. Hedderly.” April 26, 1912 he ordered a 20-gauge 32-inch A1-Special, and May 14, 1912 a 32-inch 16-gauge A1-Special.


1912

26" only listed for the small gauges



Parker Brothers’ “Advent Of The Small Bore Gun”
Breeder & Sportsman October 3, 1914
https://archive.org/details/breeders...p?view=theater


IMHO part of the move to 26" barrel doubles corresponded to the introduction of Skeet in 1926

The Ithaca "Skeet Special"



Hunter Arms' offering was initially named the "Skeet Upland Special" with barrel lengths of 25" to 32"; 26" was the most popular



The cover of the August 1926 National Sportsman by William Harnden Foster was “the first painting ever published of a scene in the new sport of Skeet” and possibly depicted his son using Foster Sr’s 27" barrel 20 gauge Parker DHE.

[Phil Yearout]

I like 28" barrels on everything, and a 28" 16ga sxs is just about perfect to me.

[todd allen]

For hunting, carry whatever is comfortable and handy in the field, where I think barrel length is the least critical.
Sporting Clays: Shoot what works the best, which could be short medium or long.
That said, if you are a competitive shooter, and your goal is to win shoots, do what the top shooters are doing. Which usually means shooting guns with 30 to 32" barrels.
What is driving the long barrel trend in SxS guns could be connected to the long barreled target guns of today. I'm not sure. I know, at least for me, the longer barrels just work better on the long complicated targets they are setting these days.
Long barrels just seem to be smoother on the long targets.
Another maybe better question could be: why the trend to long complicated targets in a game that's supposed to replicate hunting?

[Bruce Hering]

Originally Posted by todd allen

For Another maybe better question could be: why the trend to long complicated targets in a game that's supposed to replicate hunting?

Sporting clays as well as FITASC has gone on to the competitive level. Thus the more complicated targets to sort of shake out the shooters into classes...

JMHO

[Stan Hillis]

Originally Posted by Bruce Hering

Sporting clays as well as FITASC has gone on to the competitive level. Thus the more complicated targets to sort of shake out the shooters into classes...

JMHO

What doesn't kill us only makes us stronger. I know, without any doubt, that my years competing in registered sporting clay competition, in the NSCA, made a better wing shot out of me in the field and marsh/swamp.

I shoot better with longer barrels, almost without exception. My dedicated A H Fox quail and woodcock gun has 28" barrels. That's very short for me. The best shooting I ever did on quail was with a 30" barreled 28 gauge. As an aside I will contribute this bit of ephemera. In 25+ years of competition I've never been outshot by anyone using 26 or 28 inch barrels. You may value that information accordingly, based on what it cost you.