18.5" cylinder vs. 28" modified

[Beer_drinker]

Would there be a big difference in patterns between an 18.5" barrel with a fixed cylinder choke and a 28" with a modified choke?

I have offered to sell my 28" and keep the 18" for home/bear defence but I might use the gun for bird hunting later on which is why i'm having a second though... would a 12g shotgun with a 18" cylinder choke provide a tight enough pattern for upland/waterfowl ?

 

[straightshooter]

There's a fairly significant difference between cylinder bore and modified choke, but the length of the barrel has little bearing (in the lengths that you're comparing, at least).

Cylinder bore is suitable for upland birds at short distances (somewhere in the 30 yards or less range, depending on the shell). It would be an extremely poor choice for migratory fowl, though.

It's not that you couldn't have modest success with cylinder choke, it's just that you would probably injure more birds than you kill cleanly. Could be frustrating, too. Birds can escape even a well placed shot if the pattern is open enough.

What is the 18.5" barreled gun? My guess is a pump gun. If that's the case, and it's a fairly common model (such as an 870), perhaps a second barrel for that gun would be an economical way of bridging the gap...

 

[blasted_saber]

For upland at short distances, yes. Id say 20 yds would be the absolute max, maybe even less.

Not a chance for waterfowl. My wife got a 26 inch skeet barrel with her 870, and the pattern isnt nearly tight enough at 25 yards to kill a duck.

Mod is way, way, way better

 

[farmer47]

set up some targets and fire away . its a real eye opener to see how a gun patterns with different chokes.the people ahead of me are giving good advice.hang on to your extra barrel it will come in handy.