I'm not a fan of short barrels unless it's for personal defense. Some will disagree with that, but I've owned and tested others and was never impressed. To each his own on short shotties. If it were me, I would lean to a 26 tube, which would be a good compromise for a dual purpose gun. There's ceratinly nothing wrong with a 28 or 30 either, but I wouldn't go shorter than 24 on any hunting shotgun.