What these guys have said is true Jerry. Patterns are primarily the function of the choke, and this gun has interchangeable chokes so take your pick. It is really a matter of finding a load you like that will pattern well.
I took my girlfriend to get some trap and skeet lessons and I took that gun with me. They did such a good job with her (she had never shot a gun other than a bb gun before) that I decided to take a few lessons as well. I asked the instructor about the barrel length issue and he said not to worry about it.
The only thing barrel length effects is balance and how the gun swings. If you have a problem with stopping your swing then a longer barrel may help since it puts more weight out front and is harder to stop.
And another thing to consider is that when most are talking barrel length they are talking about over/under type shotguns that do not have receivers. When you add in the length of the receiver which is fairly long on that gun you come up with almost 30 inches of length. I actually checked it, but forget what it came to exactly. So that short barreled A-5 is actually like shooting a 28 or 29 inch double gun.
I had thought about getting an extra barrel for it but everyone I talked to that had experience told me to keep the barrel I had and not waste the money on a longer one (they are rather expensive). Besides if you take it in the woods you will love that short barrel
.
I have also read that most modern loads reach velocity at around 16 or 17 inches of barrel length, so the shorter barrels really don't effect it much. Never actually did any chrono testing to prove that or not though.
And I actually did pretty good with it on the trap range that day.
Have you had a chance to shoot it yet?
Paul
(Shotguns) Barrell Length
