What length barrel do you prefer?

I have a Benelli M2 with 24" barrel and pistol grip. I am thinking about cutting it down to 21-22". What is the downside to this? Thinking about sending my barrel to Briley this week to have it cut down and have a better fiber optic bead intalled.

On a turkey gun I find about 22" ideal. But 24" is close enough that I wouldn't spend the money to have it cut down. If all I had were a 28-30" barrel and wanted to convert it to a dedicated turkey gun then it might be worth it.

Good advice!

Benelli M1 24" is perfection for me...

My 2 are 20" and 21" barrels. I had a 24" and it didn't bother me. A friend uses a 28" barrel, it looks like he is toting a telephone pole through the woods.

I have had 20" all the way to 28" barrels on turkey guns.
I find 24" to 26" works fine but if all I did was hunt in the woods (no fields) I might want a 22" to 24" gun.
Never liked the 20" for some reason, may have been the noise (it sure seems louder) or ?

I lean toward shorter barrels on just about every long gun. That being said, I recently bought a new Beretta Outlander with a 28" barrel, and I am gonna give it a go for turkey this year...We will see how it works..

My 2 benelli's are 24". I wouldn't want it any longer than that and would prefer 21-22" but I don't think it would be worth the expense to have one cut down.

Lee

I have used my 870's one with a 28" barrel and one with a 21" barrel... I don't add any special sights, and prefer the long sight radius..

22 or 24 is about perfect

I have used 23" on up to 32" and can't say one is any "better" than the other. I don't worry much about barrel length as I tend to set up where I have a good range of motion available. Hunting from a blind might be different but that is not a method I employ.

My current main turkey gun is a 24" Browning Gold Hunter with 3.5" chamber. The overall length of this gun is not a problem in the woods where I typically hunt and it has enough weight up front for the gun to easily double for waterfowl. The 32" gun was an Ithaca Mag-10 and it worked well for me.

I use a 30" on my 870. I have not had a problem. Same gun I bought in 1971 from money I made on a newspaper route. Only shoots 2 3/4" shells. Kills gobblers as well as my buddy's 3 1/2" Ultra Mag.

I run and gun more than I do sticking it out from a blind/stationary position with about 50:50 of my birds shot under 20 yards in swamps and the other half shot at 30-45 yards on open fields.


I have always used a 26-30 inch barrels and did not like how they snag on everything in the swamp so I got the M2 with 24 inch. I will probably just hunt with it as is this year but am debating how much another few inches off would be.


The short fiber optic on the barrel does not impress me so I am looking for options (no scopes). A better True Glo or red dot might be the ticket but I have always used good fiber optics and never felt like a scope would make my experience any better.

The main thing you get with going to a shorter barrel is a louder ringing in your ears. You also get good odds of extra work finding a load and choke that will perform as well as it used to. Needing some sights is another bonus if you don't already use them.

If I were interested in trying a shorter gun, I'd get one and try it. Modifying a longer one you were satisfied with otherwise, might leave you with a gun you used to like.

Personally, I've done from 20" on a pump to 36" on a single barrel. I like 26" on a semi and 28" on an O/U. I shoot beads and leave the carrying strap off unless I'm toting a bird out.

The difference between a 21 and a 24 isn't much but before I cut it down I would just buy a 21 inch barrel or trade from one. Benelli makes a 21 inch barrel for the M2. Shotgunworld .com has a classified section with lots of traffic.

I have a M1 with a 24" barrel and also have a 28" M2 barrel for it. I couldn't stand the 28 in the turkey woods also couldn't stand the short turkey barrel in the duck blind, it will deafen you. I like my combo but a 21 would be nice for turkeys.

I've got 2 20", 1 21" and 2 24" guns. I don't like a barrel that is longer than 24" for a turkey gun.

I went to a 21" Youth 870 20ga 3 years ago and have never looked back!

I had a 24" SBE with pistol grip. Gun shot lights out. I wouldn't spend the money to cut it down to a 21" barrel. I don't think you will notice the difference.

My 835 is 20 inches. The main benefit of a shorter BBL is handling qualities, it's much easier to make short barrels move without a long BBL hanging out there

26" makes thangs flop but anywhere from 20-26 is fine with me.

x2 on the youth 870--- I'm still killing turkeys with one my dad gave me 20 years ago!! 21" barrel

I wouldn't bother cutting it down... everyone always tells me 3" doesn't make a difference....

26-30 inch works just fine..

Ray is right. Basic woods craft, hunting skills, and a dependable shotgun will get it done just fine and it doesn't much matter how long the barrel is.

Lot of hype with this short barrel thing. Any barrel length works just fine. Think about it. The short barrel "craze" was started by gun manufacturers just so you might buy another shotgun or at least a barrel. If you are hunting where a tree or sapling might hit the end of your barrel you are probably hunting in too dense of cover to make a clear shot anyway. And a scoped "short barrel" shotgun in a blind must just cause you to shoot a nice hole in your blind. Looking at the turkey through your scope not realizing your barrel is just inside the wall of the blind. Shooting a 28" or 30" will help prevent this. I have hunted several states each year since 1994 with my 30" double barrels and have never hit a tree (or cow) when I swing. I would guess if anyone is using a 20" or 21" for turkey would probably want to use a 36" for ducks to get the barrel up past the cattails!

Savage99F358

Really it doesn't. In fields maybe but in the spring woods a shorter barrel is always more versatile. Too much junk to get in the way of a longer barrel. I like them to be around 20"

All of mine are 23"-26". I think that length range is perfect for my use in CO and western NE. My TC Encore 12 gauge 24" barrel is actually much shorter over all than my pump guns. The increase in muzzle blast is definitely apparent. It is about equal to that of a receiver gun with a 20"-21" barrel. I always use plugs, a result of mid 70s USMC. Even then, those short guns really rattle my teeth!

My only real advice is to try on various length shotguns to get the feel for what will work best for you. You have to try them on to know what works. Fit and feel is king. Doesn't matter how good or cool looking, if it doesn't fit you and feel good in your hands and on your shoulder, you will never shoot it well. Especially in the field.

taz4570 wrote:

"My only real advice is to try on various length shotguns to get the feel for what will work best for you. You have to try them on to know what works. Fit and feel is king. Doesn't matter how good or cool looking, if it doesn't fit you and feel good in your hands and on your shoulder, you will never shoot it well. Especially in the field".

I believe this is one type hunting you can use just about any shotgun, regardless of barrel length, length of pull, comb and heel drop. You will very rarely have a "snap" shot like quail hunting when you are after turkey. In most cases you will have up to a minute, or even more sometimes, setting the shotgun into your shoulder, readying for the shot. You can use a gun with a 12" LOP or 15". It could have a 1 1/2" DAH or 3 1/2" and you will still be able to get on target before the shot, in most cases.

Savage99F358

Guns are many times a matter of taste as much as function. I have an old Ithaca 37 that a gunsmith friend remodeled for me as a dedicated turkey gun. Shortened the stock to make it easier to handle sitting down. He cut the barrel back to 21 inches and installed a thinwall Colonial tube that is flush with the end. It's a 2 3/4" and magnum turkey loads make that lightweight come alive when you touch it off. It is the handiest Turkey gun I have ever owned. It is D&T with an old Leu 2.5X lightweight and the setup is both highly functional and I just plain like it. About 40 turkeys and never lost one. 35 yds. is about the best it can do. I always look around after set up and mentally measure 40 yards so when a bird is called inside that circle - BANG.

I have a 26" Beneli 12ga semi, Stoger 2000. Both feel mighty awkward. A 26" Encore 20ga. with another 2.5" choke sticking out the front. Too long. Had a Moss. too clumsey. I like the short barrel.

Where I hunt here in the North East it's brushey. Sometimes I like to run&gun. Sometimes sit and call. Short barrel fits my fancy the best.

If I were to have another dedicated turkey gun, (I do) I'd pay the bucks and have the barrel at about 21". Taste, fit, function. My height is 5'6". That might effect things.

Jim

For me the short barrel guns are more about mobility. I noticed a long barrel while I'm trying to slip through the woods with gun on sling. My 28" barrel aggravated me to death. When I would duck under a low limb it would always hit the limb and almost always slide the sling off my shoulder. The 24" is handier on the trail in the blind and getting in and out of a vehicle. I really like mine. But it will ring your dang ears in a duck blind so the short barrel is swopped out in november. It's not hype imho, it's practical.

Why would anyone be so foolish as to hunt in a duck blind without hearing protection, regardless of the barrel length. Must be a "macho" thing? The people you trying to impress are the people you won't be able to hear talking by the time you are 60. I use hearing protection on every turkey hunt with usually only one shot fired per hunt, if that. As for the moving through the woods with a long barrel, try this. Sling your shotgun upside down when moving quickly through brush. If you hold the barrel with one hand, you can even run.

Savage99F358

Thank God we have you here. It's nice having someone around who knows everything.

Turn the gun upside down on the sling huh, mud in the end of the barrel makes for great turkey patterns and reduced recoil. See everybody here can reply like a dik.

Good day sir

I've hunted with both. I started out with a 28" on my Mossberg 500. It was a pain when carrying the gun because the barrel was taller than I was and would hang up on every tree limb it could find. For some reason carrying the gun with the muzzle pointing at my feet never occurred to me.

I switched to a 20" and it was much easier to carry because the barrel didn’t reach above my head. If I were a deer hunter and said I preferred a 20” barreled carbine to a 28” barreled rifle for hunting in the woods nobody would argue the point. Yet if you say the same thing about a shotgun people will go out of their way to make up reasons why it’s a bad idea.

Here are the facts about short barrels:

Velocity: You’ll lose about 75 fps going from a 28 to a 20. That’s not 75 fps per inch, that’s 75 fps total. Not enough to worry about.

Pattern: Pattern is primarily determined by choke. There’s possibly a tiny difference caused by the gas pressure being higher at the muzzle with a short barrel, but if you use a vented choke the turkeys will never know the difference.

Noise: Short barrels are louder than longer barrels. This will be a moot point if you’re wearing ear protection, which you should be doing regardless of how long your barrel is. My Peltor 6 electronic muffs turn the BOOM of my 20” with a vented choke into a faraway boom.

I've used both, I prefer the 20" and I'm not going back.

Mr Dik,

Carrying a long barrel shotgun upside down will not touch the ground unless you are 4' tall.

Savage99F358

20" barrels are fine, if you already own one. The only real point I was trying to make was if you own a 26, 28 or 30" gun you don't need to buy another gun, barrel or have it cut to hunt turkey.

Savage99F358

OR crouch down to duck under a low limb especially in steep terrain.
Regards
Mr. King Dik

Been carrying my firearms that way since uncle sugar taught me that trick to protect the scope (there is a scope on the Savage 24 in the photo) from exposure back in 1966. It worked in the jungle and it works turkey hunting almost anywhere. Heck, it even works with an elk rifle in the mountains, or a deer rifle going through the swamp. It will work going under limbs and through switch cane. It will work whether you are four feet tall or six.

Applause !!! Applause !!! Applause !!! Smart man!
Great picture demonstration, Ragnar73 Thank you.

Savage99F358

It has always been somewhat humorous to me how a small thing like how someone carries his shotgun can get people excited and feeling threatened. That causes me to speculate on what they might do if something ACTUALLY IMPORTANT occurred and how they might handle that. A constant assessment of those around you and the situation you are in at any given time could save your life when the SHTF.

But how you carry your shotgun while you are turkey hunting doesn't fall into that situational category. So I don't care how you carry your shotgun when you are turkey hunting, but I do wish you good luck in finding an old long beard gobbler.

All the best to all of you turkey hunters.

Well I be damn, I see what you mean now. I have tried carrying my gun upside down with the sling with that 28 inch barrel and it always went barrel down and if I squated down the barrel would touch the ground. I was always afraid to because of mud or snow getting into the end. I need to shorten my sling to be able to hold the barrel up.

On my response though, if you call someone foolish and say they are just trying to be macho then you gotta expect a little bit of crap. I don't do the macho BS thing I am who I am, like me or hate me I don't care, got nothing to prove and I do wear ear plugs 8 hours a day so when I'm hunting I want to hear, I need to hear. I listen for turkey sounds or chatter from ducks as they fly. I'm also a drummer so earplugs are in my ears then too. I took it as you were being a jackass, if you didn't mean it that way then my apologies.

Not that amazing, it's just that you may have helped penetrate the thick outer layer.

Savage99F358

https://www.natchezss.com/hunter-leather-1-quick-fire-sling.html

A quick adjusting sling like the Hunter Quick Fire above is the key to carrying your shotgun or rifle slung in that manner. The above sling is what I use, but there are others out there like the Latigo Quick Set sold by Brownell's. By being able to quickly and easily adjust the sling length without having to use any claws or hooks, you can keep your gun in a comfortable and easily controllable position.

You can also easily adjust the sling for a steady shooting hold when you get ready to make the shot with rifle or shotgun. For those of us who were taught to shoot a rifle with the aid of a shooting sling, it makes all the difference in how steady we can hold.

It isn't shown on the Natchez web site, but the Hunter Quick Fire sling also comes in camo nylon. If you want a Quick Fire camo sling, just look around on the internet to find one. There is a Hunter Quick Fire nylon camo sling on the Savage 24 in the photo up above showing the upside down carry method. All my hunting rifles have the leather Hunter Quick Fire sling on them and the Remington 1100 pictured above does as well. Or if you have quick detach swivels, you can use one sling and transfer it to your various guns with QD swivels. That 1100 has a 21 inch barrel on it because hunting in the mountains is more difficult than it is in the flat lands and the shorter barrel makes hunting up here a little safer trying to get around. And if I was worried about shotgun noise, I'd quit hunting and start playing golf.

But that quick length adjustable feature of the sling is the key to using the upside down carry method. With the Hunter Quick Fire sling, you can even adjust it as you walk along. It is fast and secure once it is adjusted and it takes no effort at all to do it once you get the hang of it.

I'm with you on having an adjustable sling. I hate a sling that hangs loose when I get to where I'm going. I put Browning X-Cellerator slings on all my shotgun and rifles.

Is the x cellerator the one you can wear like a back pack? Also I like the quick adjust slings but the claw that I use will staye on my shoulder if I'm doing jumping jacks. My shoulders are big but so is the muscle that goes from my neck down to my shoulder and any other sling slides down easily.

I tried a Browning sling that could be worn like a back pack but I think it was for a rifle and was to short. The pistol grip of my gun dug into my back and was uncomfortable.

I love savage 24s. Is that a 223 over a 12? I got a 22 over 20 a few years ago, it's my squirrel gun now, LOVE it.

Sorry for being a little harsh earlier but if I think someone is being a rude prick I don't hold back, on the net or face to face. My wife has seen it more than once, I don't tolerate someone being rude very well.

Thank you both for the sling suggestions.

The only time my gun is slung is when I'm carrying a turkey out

+1

It's steep as a cows face on some of the properties I used to hunt and you needed both hands to help with ballance or to help pull yourself up the hill by saplings or to catch yourself when you trip or slide, not if but when. I take it off when I sit down or when I'm in the duck blind as it's in the way most of the time.

Billy, we all understand. Most of us here feel the same way you do about rude. The problem with the typed word is that you can't hear the tone in the other persons voice or see the expression on his face or in his eyes and those are critical to understanding what is being communicated. I ALWAYS assume that another hunter is just trying to help or make conversation or a joke because there is nothing in it for anyone to do much else.
The little Savage 24 pictured above is a .22WMR over a 20 gage 3 inch. I use it for EVERYTHING from squirrels, rabbits, coyotes, beavers, and turkeys. Here is a better photo of it:



These Savage guns used to be cheap and available everywhere, but now that Savage quit making them, I can hardly find one and they have become much more expensive. I came up hunting squirrels and rabbits with a 22/410 Savage and it's usefulness has always stuck with me. My brother has that old gun and now my nephew uses it. It works as good today as it did 60 years ago. You gotta just love them.

Now for you boys who say you never sling your guns, if you stay with me hunting in these mountains where I travel miles during a hunt and where I often have to hump it down one mountain, across the valley and stream below, and then up the mountain on the other side to even get to where the turkey is gobbling, you will either sling your gun and use your hands to help climb, or to keep you from falling down, or you will bust your ass. You may bust your ass anyway. HAR!!! I chose to use my sling, and move about a little more safely. You boys must be flat landers who have never done any mountain hunting. But if you ever do, you'll quickly learn that gravity is three times stronger up here in the mountains and that you can bust your ass three times quicker than you can in the flat lands.

But if you are a turkey hunter, you are my kinda guy even if you are a flat lander, so good luck to you.

I don't think so, however I do wear my rifles and shotguns across my back when walking long distances.

They make different lengths for rifles and shotguns.

Yep that's it. Adjust it all the way out and split the sling in two. You can put one side on each shoulder and wear it like a back pack.

24" for turkey hunting.

Cool, I never tried it that way.

For turkeys,,,this. Any more is just proud flesh. An over/under shotgun would be a bit different though.

You've about used up all a shot shell is gonna give you at the 21" mark, nowadays, even with 3.5" shells.

Good thread.

Yep. But some people like a longer sight radius.

For those of us who use the fiber optic rifle type sights, or scopes, or red dots, we don't need the longer sight radius. And for those of us who run and gun, we frequently get caught in places close to a gobbler that we ran up on quicker than we thought and we have to dive into the nearest tree top or brush pile where a long barrel makes it dang near impossible to shoot.

My nephew gave me a Remington 1100 with the barrel cut to 21 inches with an inch and a half of turkey choke sticking out making the barrel about 22 1/2 inches. It has worked for me really well when I have used it. But I much prefer using a combo gun. The barrels on those usually run about 23 inches and the short actions makes them a handy overall length for woods use.

A lot of barrel length is dependent on where and how you hunt. I know successful turkey hunters who only hunt next to or in open pastures from pop up blinds. They can use long barrels with no problems.

But those of us who get into the big woods or mountains and move through them calling until we hear a gobbler and then go to him wherever he might be, we have completely different needs. We need to be able to move through thick, steep stuff quickly and quietly and we need short barrels to do that.

Any barrel length will work for turkey hunting, but the longer barrels don't work as well in thick, cover or in the mountains and that's just the plain truth of it.

You can usually tell the flat land and pasture hunters. They don't have slings on their shotguns and they have longer barrels. But they kill turkeys just the same. There have been times when I was out of breath after climbing up a dern mountain trying to locate and cut off a gobbler that is walking across it gobbling, that I wished I hunted the flat lands. Then I come out on a spot where I can look out off the mountain and see 50 miles off in the distance, and then that old gobbler cuts loose with a gobble and I say, naaaaaw.

There are "turkey guns" and there are shotguns. For turkey hunting, I want all of the advantages of a "turkey gun" and a rifle in it, ain't part of my equation. ymmv.

Agreed OT. There is turkey hunting and there is turkey shooting. My equation is that I turkey hunt on 1280 acres of my own land that shares a two mile common border with the Chattahoochee National Forest in north Georgia. I only hunt mature, long beards. And I hunt them with the barrel length I want to use, and the shot load I want to use, and with the gun I want to use.

I almost ALWAYS see coyotes when I am turkey hunting and have actually called them up on occasion. They will come to a turkey call. They are big predators on turkeys and on everything else up here in these mountains. A pack of them once attacked my bird dogs and injured one of them so bad I had to put him down. He was a 600 dollar English setter that was a dam good bird dog. If I was hunting with just an ordinary shotgun when I saw coyotes, I would have to watch them as they trotted away to maybe attack who knows what? But, because I usually hunt with a combination gun, I simply select the rifle barrel and kill the coyote. But you can only do that if you have a combination gun. An ordinary shotgun just will not cut it.

I often see wild hogs while I am turkey hunting. They are big predators on turkey nest and they make a mess everywhere. They breed quickly and they displace both deer and turkeys. They get in my garden in the summer time through the wire fence. If I was hunting with a shotgun when I saw them, I would have to watch them run off. But because I hunt with a combination gun, I simply select the rifle barrel and kill them.

It's my land and has been in my family as a federal land grant since Andy Jackson ran the Cherokee Indians out of this part of the world. It was granted to one of my ancestors for his part in helping Jackson fight the Indians. And today, I get to make the rules on this land and the rules are that I kill coyotes and hogs while I am turkey hunting, or while I am deer hunting, or when I am hog hunting, or when I am grouse hunting, or when I am squirrel hunting, or when I am out walking or riding around looking at things, and I do it with one of my combination guns that has a rifle barrel on it. YMMV, but mine does not.

Turkeys were nearly wiped out by blue denim bib overall wearing fellers using a wild hodgepodge of single shot, double barrel or pump shotguns most of which had 28" - 30" fixed choke barrels. Most of the shells were paper hulled 2 3/4" "high brass" field loads that also caught duty for rabbit, squirrel and ducks as the need arose. We might tend to over think it nowadays...

It's not sporting to blast them off the roost at night (wonder how much of that happened in the good ol' days).

I run two rigs- a 23" pump an a 26" auto. Have killed 'em with 30" rigs. Like 'em a little shorter than that.

Quotes:It's not sporting to blast them off the roost at night (wonder how much of that happened in the good ol' days). We might tend to over think it nowadays... smile

Fellas, today most of us hunt for sport. We get our groceries from the local market, or from our gardens and we are not dependent on hunting and fishing for survival. We live pretty good compared to the old days of the 1920 to 1930's depression era. Those were most certainly not "good old days." They were a time of great sorrow and death for many people in the south.

There are old stone and mud chimneys half standing all over the mountains of north Georgia where people lived back then. Those chimneys are all that is left of the small cabins that once dotted these mountains. You can still see where some of the old dirt roads used to be. Those people were ISOLATED and alone with out running water, electricity, gas, law enforcement, transportation, or health care. It is a wonder they survived, and many did not.

So I don't fault a man for killing a turkey, a rabbit, or possum, or ANYTHING he and his family could eat because it was that or they starved. There was NOTHING else. And that is the reason they wiped out the game. It wasn't because they were greedy outlaws. They were hungry and many were starving.

Today it is difficult for many modern men to understand how hard it was back then, but all you have to do is walk some of these mountain hollows and find the old chimneys and foundation corner stones to know why. You find the old grave yards with just a slab of rock standing at the head and one at the foot because that is all they had. And when you find those old grave yards, more than half of those buried there are only about three feet long because they were children. They didn't have a very good survival rate.

When your life is one of constant drudgery and misery and a fight for survival and you have a sick child at home and three others buried in the front yard, you don't much pay attention to things like game laws because you have much more pressing priorities to deal with every day.

This is NOT INTENDED to be directed at any of you. It is something we all need to consider and think about. In my opinion, it is hypocrisy to sit in a centrally heated and air conditioned modern house with lights, gas, and running hot water with a telephone handy to dial 911 in case you have an emergency and think that you would not have shot a turkey off the roost, or a deer at night, or out of season if you had lived in those places back then. You would have or you wouldn't be here today.

You have never lived until you have almost died, and for those who have had to fight for it, life has a special flavor the protected will never know.

Regular shotguns and non camo turkey hunting.............poaching for subsistence is not where we are today.

Heck, today it takes a new camo patterned shotgun, this decoy and that call, an ATV and whatever else pops up on the PC sidebar or TV screen.

My old area was heavily poached by locals, private ground too. You could kill birds there legally, but you didn't get by with mistakes.

My gun is flat black, and yeah I wear camo.
Also use a hot load of 4's in 3" (or Magnum Blend).

BTW, my dad came over on a boat. WW2 and then civil war.
Poaching turkeys in the hollers might have offered a better form of entertainment.

Bob,
Your hunting area and style sounds identical to my Ozarks. I hunt big blocks of public ground that is steep, rocky, heavily timbered ridges and deep long winding clear spring bottoms. I get back in my favorite haunts and never hear a man made sound all day. A real bonus is there's no cell service. The only reason to have the phone is for the camera.

Back 40 years ago, I hunted on a man's place just over the mountain with him most of the time. Sometimes he would hunt over on my side of the mountain on my land with me. We would meet about 4 AM in a certain mountain gap and listen for gobblers. He shot an old J C Higgins 12 gage single barrel with a 36 inch full choke barrel. He wore power company clothes because he worked there and they furnished them. He killed more turkeys not wearing camo that I did and I was still wearing my USGI issued woodland camo fatigues back then.

I asked him how he did that and he said, well it's like this here. Ya get ya ah hand fulla pine straw and ya pull up the front of yer hat and ya put that pine straw up under tha hat brim and then ya pull it down over tha pine straw to hold it in place. That pine straw covers up yer face ya see. And then when an ole tom turkey comes along, he sees you and just thinks you are a pine tree and he don't pay you no mind.

I was with him at the hospital the night before he died. I still miss that old hunter's wisdom that he always had.

The downside to that is you're cutting a $500 barrel!

I have an M2 with the same barrel length and think it's near perfection for me!

I've used 18" barrels before and found them way too short. My 870 20ga is 26" without the choke tube and probably 29" with it. That's a bit too long but the gun carries great so I stick with it.