Barrel Length for Skeet - Long or Short?

The trend is to longer barrels. 26" are pretty much unsaleable. I shoot my 32" trap barrels. If I was going to buy a dedicated skeet gun, I would buy 30" barrels.
 
I believe there is a fair amount of individuality in this. But experience over time appears to have led to longer barrels being preferred by many. I think most shooters would tend to avoid the short 26 inch barrel and I would myself. Perhaps smoothness of swing and pointability are behind this (I only shot a friend's gun with 26 inch barrels briefly). If what I have read is correct, top shooters are using longer barrels too. I have a Beretta with 28 inch barrels that I really like, but it is a fairly light gun and I would like to try 30 inchers, or even 32 inchers, on it someday. I have an old Citori Trap on the shelf right now that I used for skeet before I found the Beretta, but it felt a bit heavy and slow with its 30 inch barrels. Someday I'm going to go back and see if I still feel that way, as I am beginning to get some idea of how to shoot #2 high house and #6 low house. Still, I would have liked to try 28 inch barrels on the Citori. I don't think anything written will substitute for actually shouldering the gun and seeing how it swings, then taking it to the range and shooting it, of course.
 
30 " barrels on a Perazzi do not feel like 30" on a Citori or Beretta or K-80. Each gun has a different weight & balance, hence feel, so saying 30" or 28" is the way to go for ALL guns is not a good idea, in my opinion. Keep an open mind & try some different combinations of lengths & brands.
 
The trend is towards longer. Brucey is right in that different guns handle the length different. In all that I have tried, I lean towards 30 and 32. Todd Bender in his fundamentals tape said it is a preference thing. He says that he has swithched from 30 to 32 on his K-80. He simply said "I'm a big guy and I like a bigger gun" All I know is that once in a while I handle an o/u with 26 in tubes and think, what the heck were those guys thinking? A skeet field has lots of elbow room and 26 inch feels wierd.
 
I like both, depending on the gun. If the gun balances with it's barrel length, then it'll work. I have 26", 28" and 32" guns. I shoot mostly with my 32" cynergy, but I'm equally accurate with all of them. With autos and pumps, I like 26 or 28, while O/U I like longer at 30 or 32.
 
I've shot a Browning 30" sporting for many years at International skeet with good results but for the past two years I have switched to a Beretta 682 gold skeet with 26" barrels and my scores have improved. I just find it is better balanced and quicker and easier to mount. I also found that after I had the Browning fitted to me I shot a hell of a lot better. I would definitely get whatever you choose to buy, fitted to you and enjoy shooting after that.
 
blasted_saber said:
Ive never been on a skeet range before, so take this for whats its worth;

I have a 26" purpose built 870 skeet barrel.

It makes a great grouse barrel!
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A repeating shotgun with a 26" barrel has about the same OAL and sighting plane length as a double with 30" barrels.
 
Caution Fads!

Remember that once you put a set of sub-guage tubes in your standard weight 30" barrel it will feel like a club. Also depending on your age/fitness level it will affect your ability to swing the gun. Many people will get a 30" carrier barrel with tubes, (which weight the same as a standard barrel, but are not able to shoot 12 ga.). I have shot both and find no real difference with either.

Of course Sporting Clays shooters find 30 or 32" barrels work well there. If you are going to shoot both, then 30" may be the way to go!
 
I spent a lot of time and money getting a set of 30in bbls for my gun. Why? Because that is what I wanted.

I broke down and shot a season with the original 28in bbls (prior to picking up my 30s). I averaged .9900 in the 12ga and 20ga events for the year. I think it's safe to say that I didn't notice a difference by shooting with 28's. After that I still switched to the 30s because that is what I wanted.

There is always lots of chatter about what is best. I think the physical differences between 2 inches here or there are essentially negligible.

Brad.
 
I use 18.5" 21" 24" snd 28"on my pump and semis for skeet and 28" and 30" on my doubles. I like 26" tubes on o/u tho. The precieved lead is much longer on shorter barrels
 
bmcrae said:
I spent a lot of time and money getting a set of 30in bbls for my gun. Why? Because that is what I wanted.

I broke down and shot a season with the original 28in bbls (prior to picking up my 30s). I averaged .9900 in the 12ga and 20ga events for the year. I think it's safe to say that I didn't notice a difference by shooting with 28's. After that I still switched to the 30s because that is what I wanted.

There is always lots of chatter about what is best. I think the physical differences between 2 inches here or there are essentially negligible.

Brad.
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You have summed it up. It is all about what the shooter wants and what fits him. If the gun has better balance with 30 and feels better do it.
Personally after almost 38 years of shooting skeet it makes no difference to me since I am not one that even sees the barrel and rarely stops the gun.
I shoot a 28ga with a 25" and have no problems running them when I focus.
I found it became a fad when people started shooting with the high gun position. When we all shot gun down ( which I still do) more than 26" was seen as slowing you down especially on doubles.
 
brucey said:
30 " barrels on a Perazzi do not feel like 30" on a Citori or Beretta or K-80. Each gun has a different weight & balance, hence feel, so saying 30" or 28" is the way to go for ALL guns is not a good idea, in my opinion. Keep an open mind & try some different combinations of lengths & brands.
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30" barrels on a Perazzi sometimes do not feel like 30" barrels on another Perazzi due to variations in barrel weight. ;)

My preference is for longer barrels and in o/u I am shooting 32" for all clay targets. But the barrels on my guns are relatively light compared to others. Give a specific gun a try and determine if it feels good and swings smoothly. Don't worry about the barrel length if it feels good in your hands.
 
I shoot with Brad the odd time and agree with his comments and also with what Brybenn said. I shoot a Krieghoff with "32 inch barrels and full length sub gauge tubes. And I generally do ok. .99% a couple weeks ago in 20ga. I like it better than my "30 inch barrels or my "28 inch 20 ga barrels on the same gun ? Why ? Like Brad said preference.
Keep in mind o\u have short receivers and pump and auto guns have long receivers. This totally plays into the barrel lengths you put on them with regard to percieved visual target lead.
Todd Bender and I have alot in common. He's '6"5 inch and I'm '5"6 LOL !! Where were the same is were both handsome ! Brad stop laughing I have feelings too !........somewhere
The point is Even I can get the big heavy gun moving .
It's all preference . If possible ask some other shooter with longer barrel lengths if you can try their gun before you make an investment.
Good Luck
Good Shooting !
 
Short or long, they throw the same patterns. Is more about the length of the sighting plane, balance, weight, and the effect of all of these on swing and perceived lead.

I have a light as a feather 20 ga. SxS with 24" barrels. It is the perfect medicine for snap-shoots at cottontails in thickets. Because my 12 ga. was in the shop, last week I took the little 20 ga. to the skeet range. What a disaster that was; my swing was all over the place!!!
 
I shoot both long and short barreled hunting guns, and find that a shorter barrel is more desirable in tight cover, but that's about it.
Once you get the swing down , on a skeet firled I saee no difference, really, but I do prefer barrels of abot 26 for all my shotguns......
Cat
 
brybenn said:
I use 18.5" 21" 24" snd 28"on my pump and semis for skeet and 28" and 30" on my doubles. I like 26" tubes on o/u tho. The precieved lead is much longer on shorter barrels
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In the short time I've been shooting skeet, this is something I have observed too. Thank you for bringing this up!

One thing for sure, at least for me, is try and use the same gun to develop a consistent perceived lead. I have been shooting several different shotguns and I believe it's slowing the learning curve. Once I think I get it, a change of guns tells me otherwise.

So far, a 24 is the best score - switch guns and the bottom falls out... Go back to that gun and it takes some time to 'repair' the damage :p

A 12ga semi with 26" barrel (sporting stock & twin beads) has been fairly consistent. Moving to a 20ga O/U with 28" barrels (field stock & twin beads) is quite different. Surprisingly, a 28ga SxS with 26" barrels (field gun with single bead) has provided good results too. 410 pump.....well, that's another story...

I like the idea of a 20ga for skeet and wonder how 30" barrels will do?

Sporting stocks seem to be an advantage - mostly for fit and sight plane.

As primarily a rifle shooter, keeping the gun moving is one of the biggest challenges which has nothing to do with the gun!!! I hope more 'ice time' will help with this. At first, I wasn't aware I was stopping the gun. Now I'm aware of it when it happens. The trick is to fix this!

Todd Bender's vids are great and there's no shortage of genuine help on-course.

A lot of very useful information has been presented here. Thanks for all the insight and experience already posted. Will look forward to more comments.

SD
 
I shot a 12 gauge Citori skeet with 28" barrels for many years, but I sold it when I had eye issues, and thought that my shooting career was over. This year, I tried a 20gauge Citori with 26" barrels that fit me well, and I got for a great deal. I find that I swing this gun too fast, and I am inconsistent with the light gun. Today I shot my best rounds this year using a Winchester SX2 12 gauge with a 28" barrel. I thought that it was worth a try to use a longer heavier gun to see if it would make a positive difference. The heavier, longer gun slowed me down, and made me much smoother, and more consistent, as well as providing a longer sight radius. Based on that, I ordered a new Citori Skeet 12 gauge with 30" barrels from Prophet River today. The 20 gauge Citori Skeet just became my full time upland gun, as the gun is light to carry, and the fast swing will be an advantage in hunting conditions.
 
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