canvasback - While I agree with your 12 and 20 g one oz load comparison, typical factory field loads proportion to gage moreso than weight of the gun. Anyway, we all have our preferences and convictions. I shoot both 12 g and 28 g in various guns, for both sporting and hunting purposes. I am recoil sensitive, and tend to prefer the 28...
3.5in Chambering?
- Thread starter StefanGreybeard
- Start date
This.....
- Location
- Saskatchewan
A 3.5" 12 ga. pump is versatile like a one ton dual wheel diesel truck is versatile. You can use the truck to get groceries, but what's the point?
I hunt a lot of waterfowl, and seldom use even 3" shells any more. They are not needed for most of my hunting. 3.5" shells make a pump gun kick like a mule, require an action that is longer than necessary, with a longer stroke, which makes the gun less well balanced, which affects handling, which makes misses more likely than hits. But a 3.5" shell sure looks impressive while it creates louder, harder kicking, and more expensive misses.
I hunt a lot of waterfowl, and seldom use even 3" shells any more. They are not needed for most of my hunting. 3.5" shells make a pump gun kick like a mule, require an action that is longer than necessary, with a longer stroke, which makes the gun less well balanced, which affects handling, which makes misses more likely than hits. But a 3.5" shell sure looks impressive while it creates louder, harder kicking, and more expensive misses.
I have a 3.5" o/u ,3" semi, and couple 12 pumps in 2 3/4 (a rather nice 870) but shoot most ducks with my 20g and this year used up all my 2 3/4 20g steel that was laying around.Did not suffer any loss or missed chances and was quite surprised how well the lighter 20g loads worked as compared to the 3" .3.5" if you need it I guess the outdoor store down the road sells a ton of them to the skybusters on the public lands but if you do you're scouting and work a bit on fundamentals don't need them imho.
I bought a box of 3.5 steel shot shells for my 870 super magnum. The only thing I use them for is for some "hold my beer" type shooting after a clay shooting session with the boys...just to see what recoil feels like. Other than goose hunting, I really don't see any legit use for them.
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1963beretta
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Vaughan, Ontario
And vice versa, if you cant kill it with a 3”, you cant kill it with a 3.5”.
I found 3" hypersteel from Remington expand to much, I cannot shoot them out of my 3" chambered gun. I can shoot them out of my 3 1/2" chambered gun. Something to consider as some shells expand too much and will not eject. Very frustrating.
1963beretta
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Vaughan, Ontario
Have you tried shooting the 3.5” hypersteel and do they get hung up as well? My Mossberg didn’t like the 3.5” because the spent casing was a little too long and would fail to eject. But they did eject fine in a Browning Silver though.
Exactly, the best way to improve your kill ratio, is to improve your shooting. If you miss with a 3", you will miss with a 3.5". It's actually surprising just how poorly many hunters do when they come out for our DU sporting clays shoot.
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sillymike
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
The only reason I can think of getting a 3.5" shotgun... would be if
1- I'm buying a Versamax
2- Planing on having it sent to TacOrd to turn into a tactical-game-gun...
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You just have to decide how many pellets do you really need in your pattern.
1- I'm buying a Versamax
2- Planing on having it sent to TacOrd to turn into a tactical-game-gun...
*-*-*-*
You just have to decide how many pellets do you really need in your pattern.
Have a 3.5 inch chambered auto and I took it out first thing when it came in the mail and tried regular cheap Challenger ammo and it wouldn't eject them turned out it won't shoot cheap shells until it gets set for them. I just wanted it for turkeys anyway so not a problem.
100 %
- Location
- Blaster land, Okanagan BC
If you buy a gun with a 3.5 inch chamber, you can still shoot 2 3/4 and 3 inch loads.
Which is where a 3.5” semi auto would shine outside of hunting, the mag tube would be limited to 5 shells of 3.5” but you can stuff it with however many 2.75” shells it will hold and still be legal. That would be the only reason I would want a 3.5” chambered shotgun and it would be a semi auto and not a pump gun.
What you call hate may be fatigue with the corporate agenda to push products that don't make a material difference IE marketing to sell more products, not improve the experience.
A 35 year career in marketing in the sporting goods end of consumer products has exposed me to countless examples of "new and improved" that definitely weren't. But done explicitly to give consumers a reason to buy the new, "better" product.
When actual, meaningful change to the product (shotguns) comes literally about every 3 decades, there is a powerful impetus to think up new ways to "excite" the consumer.
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sillymike
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
+1
Manufacturers (and their marketing teams) are only interested in one thing: Sell more products.
And since we're in North America, where the "it's bigger, therefore it ought to be better" mentality seems to prevail... that's what they push. (it doesn't matter if we're talking rifle/shotguns/cars/motorcycles/houses/restaurant servings...)
If a newer-shooter is asking for advice on buying a new shotgun to hunting something he (or she) is not even sure about... I can't think of many situation where a 3.5" magnum would be the best answer.
But if someone wants one, by all mean go out and buy one. It's your $ and I'm not one to tell you what to do with it
Manufacturers (and their marketing teams) are only interested in one thing: Sell more products.
And since we're in North America, where the "it's bigger, therefore it ought to be better" mentality seems to prevail... that's what they push. (it doesn't matter if we're talking rifle/shotguns/cars/motorcycles/houses/restaurant servings...)
If a newer-shooter is asking for advice on buying a new shotgun to hunting something he (or she) is not even sure about... I can't think of many situation where a 3.5" magnum would be the best answer.
But if someone wants one, by all mean go out and buy one. It's your $ and I'm not one to tell you what to do with it
The manufacturers will build whatever people will buy, and if sales slow down, they will try and convince the people to buy something new. It doesn't matter if the new product is actually any better or not, as long as it sells. As for the customers, many will buy anything new, hoping that it will make them more successful, whether it does or not. Most hunters could greatly improve their shooting if they spent the time and effort to shoot skeet or sporting clays in the off season, but many prefer to just throw more shot and hope it will improve their shooting success.
I have two shotguns with 3.5" chambers myself, that I bought because I was offered good deals on them, but if the deals were on guns with 3" chambers, I would have purchased them instead.
