I think it's a myth that longer barrels pattern better. I have a 21" barreled 870 that patterns great.
I looked until I found the 24" SBE. The Benelli has a really long receiver. Between that and the extended tube, it's about as long an the 28" barreled guns it sits beside.
Probably the tightest patterning gun I've ever shot is a funky, off brand 18" barreled bullpup 12 gauge a buddy traded for a few months back. He wanted to shoot it and I has some 3" 00 laying around that my son had graduated from. With the full choke, it put the entire 12 pellet load into 7-8" @ 40 yards. Blew my mind really.
Don't hold your breath waiting on a message. I plan to be buried with it. It just points where I look.
Yeah, that's a gem when you find that one gun. Mine's an SX3 with a 28" barrel and luckily it has been that way for me. I spent alot of time on the target boards patterning both buckshot and turkey loads and got lucky that it prints centermass to where I am aiming.
Those SBE's are and always have been the best of the bunch as far as shotguns go. Unlike rifles, I have a SX3 and got a Franchi Affinity 20 gauge a few years ago for turkeys. I just keep the SX3 ready for deer and use the Franchi for birds now.
I was hoping with the TSS shot coming around I'd see it getting made into buckshot sorta sizes, but I have seen it out there. I'd think that stuff would be amazing since you could increase pattern density and keep the weight up.
