perfect barrel length

How close can you get to game and how far off will you start shooting at a home invader?

One thing i like about my Mossberg is the easy barrel change; it came with a 28" for birds and such; i added the 18.5" for HD. I guess it would be a cool feature if you could detach the last ten inches of barrel for home use, but that seems unlikely.

actually either the Mossberg M500 or the Remington M870 would be good choices. both can have the barrels changed out pretty quickly. i'd go with an 18.5-20 for SD and a 26-28" for hunting and clays.

Im thinking 20 in barrel? You guys think thats a good happy medium? Can u shoot slugs out of any barrel?

And more of an outside home defense

Slugs can be most accurately fired from a rifled barrel, but can also be safely fired from an "open choke" or "cylinder bore" barrel.

Why slugs? I've always thought of slugs as more of a deer hunting round.

orangello said:

Slugs can be most accurately fired from a rifled barrel, but can also be safely fired from an "open choke" or "cylinder bore" barrel.

Why slugs? I've always thought of slugs as more of a deer hunting round.

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Theres alot. ALOT of deer here in wyoming so i figured id ask about the slugs.. i have a 308 for touching way out there but, i want a gun i can grab and have every thing i need

stoppingpower said:

Theres alot. ALOT of deer here in wyoming so i figured id ask about the slugs.. i have a 308 for touching way out there but, i want a gun i can grab and have every thing i need

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If you are going to be shooting that many slugs, and for deer hunting, you might consider one of the purpose-built slug barrels with rifle sights and rifling. http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/product/21581 You could probably find a model that came with that barrel.

This combo might suit you better: http://www.cabelas.com/product/Shoo...stype=GNU&WTz_l=SBC;BRprd1367704;cat104803380

See if you can get a 24" 20 ga. That should work.

Blueguns said:

See if you can get a 24" 20 ga. That should work.

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I have to agree with Blueguns on this. 22 to 24 inches is a good "do all" length, and a 20 or 12 gauge will suit your needs very well.

Get the 18 inch barrel and screw in chokes.

locutus said:

Get the 18 inch barrel and screw in chokes.

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Do they make a 18" barrel with choke tubes?

Blueguns said:

See if you can get a 24" 20 ga. That should work.

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with a pistol grip an no stock

Im digging the 930

orangello said:

Do they make a 18" barrel with choke tubes?

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Yep!

I have that set up on my Benelli M-2.

21" is perfect in my opinion, mine is vent-rib and screw in chokes. If I wanted to hunt with it, I just replace the furniture with the original wood.

Ideal is somewhat of a nebulous term.

Typical powders used in shotgun shells run the the medium-fast burning range, from unique to about Herco. This powder will be completely burned in 16-18 inches of barrel.

Longer barrels are primarily used for balance and ergonomics. The Benelli M-4 used by the USMC has a 14 inch barrel.

When defining ideal, we must ask, Ideal for what?

locutus said:

Ideal is somewhat of a nebulous term.

Typical powders used in shotgun shells run the the medium-fast burning range, from unique to about Herco. This powder will be completely burned in 16-18 inches of barrel.

Longer barrels are primarily used for balance and ergonomics. The Benelli M-4 used by the USMC has a 14 inch barrel.

When defining ideal, we must ask, Ideal for what?

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i agree with this. through some of my own informal testing, chokes are the primary factor in shot pattern and distance, not barrel length. the difference in many short barreled shotguns is they have fixed chokes and longer barreled shotguns have screw in chokes.

another plus for a longer barreled shotgun is the natural swing and the longer sight radius. a shorter barreled shotggun is much easier to manuever in tighter confines.

Mossberg makes a 20ga with a 22" barrel with interchangable choke tubes. It's a very good shooter and can do double duty as a HD gun also. Another plus is it comes with a 13" LOP wood stock. Model #54132 Mossberg 500