The powder may be burned up relatively quickly {no more than 17 inches tops IIRC} but it also needs time to impart its energy to the projectile, and that means means at least 24" of barrel.
Longer tubes are only good for the balance, swing and sight distance on a shotgun.
The drop in preformance is minimal when dropping down to a short barrel like a 14" or 12". .
12.5" iirc
~13 inches is all you need.
15" is prefered.
no more than 17 inches tops......at least 24" of barrel.
a 12" barrel will shoot shot slightly slower than a 18 or 20" barrel,
after all the powder is burnt you are losing energy to friction. The shot will be slowing down (losing energy) as soon as the powder is all burnt. kE is 1/2m*v^2 so the energy is determined by the shot speed. a 12" barrel will shoot shot slightly slower than a 18 or 20" barrel, but going to a longer than 18" tube will not empart more energy into the shot. Longer tubes are only good for the balance, swing and sight distance on a shotgun.



























