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RE: Barrel lenght affects on patterns

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ORIGINAL: turkeyslayer34

there are all kinds of still shoots, the one i was referimg to is the nwtf sanctioned ones where they shoot the H13, and the measure from the muzzle to target they even have a guy stand on the line to make sure you dont creep up, if im not mistaken the winning gun, was a Browning BPS ivector plus barrel 30 inch with a Indian Creek black diamond....... with a H13, i think that gun is cappable of putting near 250 in a 10 at 40. and somewhere of 30-50 in a 3 inch circle. the norm at these shoots is a 28-30 barrel, your right they will use every advantage possible even if it only yields a few pellets.

I gotcha. I do know there are different levels and classes of still targets... most folks when they refer to still shoots are still talking about the Tuesday night shoots at the Ruritan Club or the Firehouse... but it does get much more serious of course. Did the Hevi-13 world record get beaten? Or did someone beat the record they set themselves in the early 2000s?

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the trend years ago was shorter is better, nowturkey huntersare moving back to the 24-26 inch barrels

Where'd you get that information from? Not being argumentitive but just curious if it was a generalization or a stated/printed industry figure?

RE: Barrel lenght affects on patterns

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ORIGINAL: SwampCollie

Quote:

the trend years ago was shorter is better, nowturkey huntersare moving back to the 24-26 inch barrels

Where'd you get that information from? Not being argumentitive but just curious if it was a generalization or a stated/printed industry figure?

I would've thought just the opposite would be true.

RE: Barrel lenght affects on patterns

Little:

I would suggest before you start making any major changes or spending any $$ to shoot the pattern on a piece of paper or card board larger than the pattern. You might well find that your 3" chicle is not in the middle of the pattern. If this is the case a sight adjustment might do wonders and save $$..

RE: Barrel lenght affects on patterns

I was thinking that barrel length really didn't matter so I just bought my friend's 20" 835. I tried various 3" loads in #6 and #5s and a few #4s, nothing put more than about 70 pellets in a 10" circle at 40 yards. Tried a pure gold .670, the factory stock .695 and a primos jellyhead .690 choke. Finally broke down and got some hevi-13s and with the jelly head, put 102 #6 pellets in the 10" @40 with a 2 oz 3" shell, and 165 #6 pellets in the same circle at the same yardage. Now I can sleep well until the night before the season opener.

RE: Barrel lenght affects on patterns

Shorter berrels are also more menueverable, and easier tohold steady on target. this is also a great asset at 20-30yds, you won't need the longer barrel there,you'll need the maneuverability

RE: Barrel lenght affects on patterns

You can't necessarily look at what those guys in still target competions are doing as the ideal example of what you should carry on a turkey hunt. In their game if a 30 inch barrel improves their patterns by an average of 2% then it's well worth using. On a turkey hunt however the inconvieniance of that longer, heavier barrel just isn't worth it for such a modest improvement. Besides most of the patterns those guys are getting in still target competions are far denser than what is necessary to simply kill a turkey at 40 yards.

RE: Barrel lenght affects on patterns

Quote:

ORIGINAL: Todd1700

You can't necessarily look at what those guys in still target competions are doing as the ideal example of what you should carry on a turkey hunt. In their game if a 30 inch barrel improves their patterns by an average of 2% then it's well worth using. On a turkey hunt however the inconvieniance of that longer, heavier barrel just isn't worth it for such a modest improvement. Besides most of the patterns those guys are getting in still target competions are far denser than what is necessary to simply kill a turkey at 40 yards.

I agree that we certainly can't use the still target championships as theONLY word, HOWEVER..... it is an excellent reference to suggest the highest quality chokes and most consistent shot material and pattern densities. One only needs to assume that our shot performance from shorter barreled hunting rigs isnt going to be as impressive. It does indeed tell us what patterns are consistently throwing better, tightershot groupswith less shot deformation. The highest quality equipment, be it chokes, shotshells, etc, will always be better than the rest and the equipment that I'll be sure to test in my own conditions. It would be stubborn and bullheaded to disregard any finding on the most impressive turkey rigs. Food for thought..... remember, it all comes down to ONE shot,...... whats your tropy Gobbler worth? ;):)

Good luck and good shootin'