What are the negatives in barrels shorter than 24"?

Loss of velocity and noise mainly. Also without the proper choke/ammo combo then your pattern might suffer.

None


21" barrel 20 gauge at 56 yards. See the wad right at the bottom of the pic?

Did you fan him to 56 yards? Or is that a blind back on the tree line. Either way nice bird.

You using tungsten super shot? That's a long shot with a 12 but I have been hearing about tungsten loads turning a 20 into a 60 yard gun. That is a flippin crazy long shot for a 20!

I have only been twice this year and got my butt handed to me both times.

Can be hard on the ears of others in a blind.

I love mine.

The umbrella fan got me close to the birds the evening before. They were about 500 yards on the other side of the field and I went straight at them with the umbrella in front.

When I got to about 150 yards on the top of a knoll I stopped and waved around the umbrella. The boss gobbler broke from the hens and marched towards me. When he was about halfway to me an Army helo flew overhead and he retreated. It was about roost time and I watched them go in the woods.

The lesser birds aren't too impressed with the umbrella from what I've seen so far.


The load was the Federal Hvyweight 1 1/2 of #7.


I need to get some of that TSS #9 for the 20

I do think when I get a little coin I'll order a 21" barrel for my turkey gun.

What is the choke/gun combo for that 20?

A Remington 870 Express Youth that I replace the butt on and a Carlson .575 choke.

This year was my first time hunting birds with a 20 and I'll not be going back to a 12.

Very nice!


I shoot the youth 20/HW 7's and a .562 Sumtoy choke. My 12 just collects dust after getting my 20 up and going.

Dang now I'm thinking of using my son's old gun that he started on. I even had a .555 Indian Creek choke for him. I forgot we even had that little gun.

Indian Creek has a tube that works with Fed heavyweight 7's.

The Remington factory turkey tube works better with the Fed HW 6/7 than any of the customs I tried in my 870 20ga. Longest bird so far is 48yards. Closest is 6yards. Either way, you couldn't pay me to tote or shoot a 12ga on turkeys anymore. My barrel is 24", I think. I'd be just fine wit 20-22", though.

Other than a little extra noise, I don't think there are any negatives. The the noise won't be noticed when just shooting once, or worst case twice at a bird. The shorter the better in the dense river bottom I hunt.

Noise and balance. You're shooting a turkey, so velocity shouldn't really be a big deal.

21-24" is good for me. 18" is too short for me.

That's a deadly combo with TSS #9's!

Yes it is....

That Fed hvyweight load is the heaviest I've ever seen in a 20 and in my SxS also patterns as well as my 12 at 40 yds and that's out of a fixed IM choke.

Ah, I forgot all the federals have the flight control wad. His choke has the ports, so it's a no go.

i called indian creek yesterday no go on flite control wads. i need a good choke for a benelli crio m2 20 ga.

Trulock makes a choke specifically for the Federal HW 7's.

No disadvantage to short barrel 23" for me on chukars and grouse with my 28 SxS.

Primos Jelly-Head.

Have you tried it with the Benelli M or F choke that come with the gun? They generally run pretty tight.

I bit the bullet this evening and ordered a Benelli M2 barrel for my M1 super 90. I ordered the 21" vent rib barrel. I was looking for a handy short gun to turkey hunting with and I shoot my M1 almost exclusively so I figured I would just get a barrel and shoot the gun that fits me like a glove.

I pray to God it does pattern good because they are proud of them. I will be frustrated if I just spent that coin on a barrel that doesn't pattern well. Ordered it from midwestgunworks, ships out monday should be here middle of next week.

If she really loves you, she'll tell you size doesn't matter.

If she really loved me she wouldn't climb the head board when I use the whole thing. She's so selfish...

There's something to be said about low ceilings.

Lol, you bring out the worst in me...