For those who use shotguns

You have a good gun and if you like it,Like another has stated here buy a shorter barrel with RC. It will make it lighter,shorter and more versitile.
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I only carry a rifle for predator hunting but thinking about getting a shotgun just to change it up. Decided on a winchester sx3 synthetic 3" with 26" tube. Its light, soft shooting for those heavy 3" loads, has shims drop, cast, and LOP. Should work good for pheasant hunting, ducks, and shooting clays. A nice all around 12 ga.

If I didn't want an all around shotgun then something with a 20" barrel and pistol grip might be ideal for predators but worthless for wingshooting.

I only have to spend about 80,000 more dollars on my cabelas card to get one for free haha!
 
seems like short barrelsare popular for predators? why? Just easier to carry and swing or does it have something to do with patterns?
 
Easier to carry and swing. I used to think barrel length had little to do with pattern results, and overall there are so many factors that influence a pattern it probably does have just a very minor effect that could easily be overshadowed by certain individual barrels performances. However, overall the trend does seem that barrels in the 24" - 28" range do pattern slightly better on average. Is the slight difference enough to make a real world difference in the field? Probably not and I'd take a little lesser patterning 24" barrel every time over packing a long tom 28" - 30" barrel in the brush.
 
Good point.

When shopping for my SBE2, I had a hard time decideing on 24 vs 26. I'd went 26" only because I'd be pounding geese with it.

Would love a M2 in 24" for a pred gun.

 
Tim,
I now have two Benelli M1S90's and have three barrels for them. I have an 18 1/2", a 24", and a 26" and switching the barrels off and on a single or both receivers has given me a bit more insight while patterning. For turkeys and predators I like the handling of the 24" barrel best. But the 26" is a very, very, close second and might, just maybe, possibly pattern best of all of them. For wingshooting the handling of the 26" is much better. There is a difference, slight but it is there, between the 18 1/2" and the other two. I did some test with a Remington 870 and a 20" and a 28" barrel - the longer one did markedly better. A Mossberg 500 with a 24" barrel after swapping to a 28" barrel the longer barrel shot enough better there was no real comparison. My test were done with the same choke and shell in the respective barrels. The shotgun target shooters aren't shooting stubby barrels either, so there is something to the theory.
 
They really are sweet, aren't they? I hunt my gear hard in all sorts of weather and don't pamper it at all and I have never had the first or slightest suggestion of a malfunction with either of my two M1's. My son is treating himself to a new Vinci for Christmas and I'm anxious to wring it out too.
 
I've only had one 11-87 come close to a Benelli. It's gloss blued premier 3". I've got 1/3 blueing worn off the action.
It's nice.
The misses wanted to get married and I cried equal rights so... She got a ring and I got a gun !!!
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Ohhh, so that is how it is supposed to work? Dang, way back in the day when I proposed I had to sell a gun to help buy a ring! I got screwed... oh never mind it was worth it.
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Originally Posted By: GCOhhh, so that is how it is supposed to work? Dang, way back in the day when I proposed I had to sell a gun to help buy a ring! I got screwed... oh never mind it was worth it.
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I just knew you were an old softy!
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Originally Posted By: teamlundseems like short barrelsare popular for predators? why? Just easier to carry and swing or does it have something to do with patterns?

That is a great question.

Trap, skeet and sporting clays shooters are using longer barrels for a smoother swing.

Bird hunters have been using 26" to 30" barrels for years with great success.

Quite a few of the shots I get on coyotes are just like shooting birds. Most of the coyotes I have taken over the years have been with a 30" and a 28" barrel.

I would rather be a few hundredths of a second slower and have a better chance of hitting what I am shooting at.
 


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