Sidearms & Scatterguns For the upland bird hunters: 28" or 30" barrels?

[748rpilot]

I've just about made up my mind on a new shotgun, a Beretta 687 SP III, Joel Etchen Signature series. 20/28 gauge combo set. Initially I was pretty set on 28" barrels, then it was suggested I should strongly consider 30". The 30s have a mid-bead and wider rib than the 28s.

My use case is mainly hobbyist trap shooting and this year I am planning on getting into upland bird hunting, such as Snipe, Woodcock, Quail and Pheasant.

I'll almost certainly do less hunting than trap shooting, though hunting is arguably more important/serious due to costs and real, live game.

I'm not really sure what the hunting areas would be like, as I haven't done it before. It'd mainly be in IL, Southern WI and maybe OH or IA.

Is 28" vs 30" splitting hairs or should I seriously consider one over the other?

 

[Pav67]

I have the same gun in a 20 gauge sp2.I prefer 30” barrels in all sxs and ou shotguns.The wider rib is also nice.Either way you go you’ll love the gun

 

[748rpilot]

I have the same gun in a 20 gauge sp2.I prefer 30” barrels in all sxs and ou shotguns.The wider rib is also nice.Either way you go you’ll love the gun

Any chance you know the weight of the gun? Or would be willing to weigh it?

 

[Pav67]

I’ll check tonight and shoot you a pm

 

[bmash]

If woodcock, the shorter the better! You will be in cover, most of it tight cover.
And don’t look at a bead! You mount the gun and hard focus on the bird. My sight came off one gun - it really isn’t needed except for turkey or some other application where you aim.
Ok, second edit! I have no idea what your shotgun experience is and don’t mean to insult you, but be sure the gun fits you - I have long arms and neck and modern factory shotguns don’t have enough drop, so I physically can’t get my face far enough down, and therefore shoot high. I am so glad they strapped making adjustable drop shims on semi autos!

 

[03machstock]

I have mostly 28”, a 30”, and a 26”. I find myself wanting shorter. The 26” now is on an 1100, but I have my eyes peeled for an over under in 26”. My labs are flushers so im right on top of all the action because they don’t range far; they stay very close. But I have a buddy that runs pointers and he runs a 26” over under. They’ll all kill birds, pick what you like.

 

[dzeke]

Almost always for sub-gauge guns, I would prefer longer barrels. I have two 28ga shotguns that are my go to upland shotguns, one O/U and one SxS both are 28" barrels. That is all that they were offered in, I would have gotten them both in 30" had that been an option. You lose so much weight in the barrel compared 12ga that 30" barrels really smooth out how a sub-gauge shotgun swings. The one gentleman mentioned woodcock, if you will be hunting in that type of habitat, shorter may be better. But if you will be chasing pheasant or quail in typical upland habitat, my recommendation is 30". And as stated before, gun fit trumps all else with smoothbores!

 

[calling4life]

26" unless it's solely used for canned pheasant hunts, then 28". Though trap shooting, you could convince me to go 28 or so there but I better not be hunting with it or I'll be back to 26".

For normal hunting for grouse, quail, woodcock, ducks, geese, on and on, 26" for me, which is what I have and use.

 

[Baron23]

so I physically can’t get my face far enough down, and therefore shoot high.

Look into getting an adjustable comb....leave the gun (and the recoil impulse) down in your shoulder pocket and raise the comb to get your head upright.

@748rpilot - I hunted quail for quite some time with a Beretta 682 Gold two barrel set....so, 20 ga barrels on a 12 ga frame (12 ga is for 5-stand and SC). I'm not a big guy and it would get heavy after carrying it all day but 30" it shot beautifully.

I still have that gun (and won't sell it) but I currently shoot a Krieghoff K-20 with their Parcours barrels in 30" (Parcours are their lighter weight barrels as Krieghoffs were traditionally very barrel heavy...like my K-80 skeet gun). Again, I'm 73 and not a big guy and can handle this shotgun on fast breaking quail (as in not planted preserve birds) without problem.

For quail/pheasants/chukar/similar I'd go with 30" and never look back.

If you are hunting ruff grouse in dense woods....well, then a 26" barrel would be good.

There really isn't a do-all shotgun configuration, IMO. So figure out what you will do most with. Trap/skeet/5-stand....def 30" barrels.

 

[Modoc]

I’m a bit odd in that I hunt with; 18-1/2”, 20, 26”, 28”, and 30”. Brush busting for quail is either the 18-1/2” 870 or 20” Stoger and Rossi Coachguns (870 for Turkey and Coyotes too). Everything else falls in the 26” to 30” range depending on how the mood takes me, Beretta BL-2, Browning Gold 3-1/2” Magnum, and CZ Ringneck SxS. Tbh the browning is becoming a safe queen due to the weight. The big key is fit, I saw this with the wife when she co-opted my Win 1300 youth model.

It doesn’t show well, but Jr has claimed the 28” Browning and I’m running the 30” CZ in this photo.

 

[Hoser]

26 is about as long as I like to hunt upland birds with.

My 28 gauge is a killing machine. My 12 gauge only comes out to hunt ducks and geese anymore.

 

[Budrichard]

You are taking two vastly different games, Trap and Upland Bird hunting/
For Trap it's a 12 gauge game.
ANY 20 or 28 is going to be too light for Trap shooting.
Most shotguns even in 12 gauge are too light for Trap.
My Kolar's are almost 9#'s with 34" barrels.
Joel sells this which mimics my Kolars at a third the price! 8#8oz.
Take the money you were goin to spend on the combo and buy this.

687 Silver Pigeon III Deluxe Trap 34" Unsingle Only | New Beretta Shotguns Online | Inventory | Joel Etchen Guns, Ligonier PA | Joel Etchen Guns, Ligonier Pennsylvania | Shotguns Online

Browse Joel Etchen Guns collection of new 687 Silver Pigeon III Deluxe Trap 34" Unsingle Only shotguns.

www.joeletchenguns.com

Buy a heavy 12 for Trap with the longest barrel you can order , learn to shoot and then a 20 gauge 28" for birds.
Forget the 20/28 combo.
I have CSMC A-10 'Rose & Scroll' 20/28 30" set and never use the 28 gauge barrels.
For Northern Wisconsin and Upper Michigan tight cover it's 26" barrels for me.
-Richard

 

[bmash]

Look into getting an adjustable comb....leave the gun (and the recoil impulse) down in your shoulder pocket and raise the comb to get your head upright.

Been there done that…Adjustable comb fits flush and goes up. I need the other direction. (More drop at heel allows butt to be in pocket and raises barrel to my face?) I cant start to explain why, but I know what worked. I got measured in Houston by a professional with an adjustable gun and bought a custom stocked sxs shotgun made to fit me. (for my 50th birthday!) I shot it so well I got a custom made 28 ga o/u as well. (Ah, the stuff you can buy before you retire!) My shooting improved dramatically. I also took some lessons which point out what you are saying. Especially for those of us who didn’t grow up bird hunting, a few lessons from a good professional trainer are worth it.

 

[roostercogburn98]

I use a 28 inch 20 gauge O/U and it works when I need it to for dove

 

[Baron23]

Been there done that…Adjustable comb fits flush and goes up. I need the other direction. (More drop at heel allows butt to be in pocket and raises barrel to my face?) I cant start to explain why, but I know what worked. I got measured in Houston by a professional with an adjustable gun and bought a custom stocked sxs shotgun made to fit me. (for my 50th birthday!) I shot it so well I got a custom made 28 ga o/u as well. (Ah, the stuff you can buy before you retire!) My shooting improved dramatically. I also took some lessons which point out what you are saying. Especially for those of us who didn’t grow up bird hunting, a few lessons from a good professional trainer are worth it.

Ah...drop at heel...sorry, I read that as drop at toe.

And yes, nobody can really say anything definitive (or even useful in my case lol) without actually seeing you.

Best of luck....glad you got a fitted custom stock.

 

[748rpilot]

I went to shoot a few rounds of trap this morning, one of the guys that joined our squad let me shoot his 686 SP-I 12ga 32" for a round. I immediately shot better. The gun fit better, felt better, swung and pointed better, and I was really smacking em'.

It was like driving a BMW instead of a Toyota. I'm pretty well sold now!

I'm entertaining the idea of either a 12 or a 20 instead of a 20/28 combo. I already have 12ga and 20ga pump guns I can/do hunt with. The 28ga really only makes sense to hunt with. I could see taking it open field or light cover hunting but am I really going to crash through brush and briars with a $5k gun?

Just thinking out loud I guess. But amazed at how much easier it was to shoot trap with an OU than an 870 pump.

Thanks for all the information you guys have supplied.

 

[748rpilot]

@Modoc Please post more doggo pictures

 

[Budrichard]

Joel's '

687 Silver Pigeon III Deluxe Trap 34" Unsingle Only'​

Pretty much fills your wants and with the adjustable comb should get you close to a 'made to measure gun'
Kolar will fit a stock for you at an upcharge and is a gun for way down the Road if you become a serious Trap Shooter.
You can then test it in the 50 yd above ground proof/pattern room.
-Richard
BTW Kolar's are made in Racine Wisconsin about 20 minutes away from me.
All the serious competition guys shoot a Kolar.
.

 

[Modoc]

@Modoc Please post more doggo pictures

And one with the Beretta

 

[Modoc]

Jr with an M2 Benelli youth

I find that for the majority of my hunting, I prefer side by side and over and under shotguns for carry weight and length. You don’t have 10” of action adding to the length of the barrel/s.

 

[Modoc]

Jr with a 20” Stoger 20g and the Mrs with a 24” Winchester 1300 20g

What’s not normal with this picture?

 

[748rpilot]

@Modoc that's a great looking, hardworking Brittany you've got there. Such great dogs.

@Budrichard sounds like we're somewhat in the same area. There are several guys at the club that shoot Kolar's, all love them. And my are they a pretty looking gun! To be fair, I don't know if I'll ever be "Kolar" serious !

I'm taking a look at the 12ga 30" Sporting and All Around 687s as well.

Been doing some light reading, sounds like Quail and Woodcock like denser, brushier habitats whereas Dove, Partridge, Snipe (technically waterfowl I guess) and Pheasant are more light cover, open field habitats.

I need to get on the horn to some guides and see what the real-world hunting conditions are like in my area.

Kinda derailing my own thread now, though.

 

[vh20]

The 30s have a mid-bead and wider rib than the 28s.

Useless, even harmful if you try to use it. Ignore the beads and focus on the target. If you’re looking at beads/barrels, you’re missing targets because of it. I’m not debating 28 vs 30 in barrel, just that the beads are not a reason to choose one over the other.

 

[Modoc]

@748rpilot , there are a couple generations of Brittany there. TBH either a 28” or 30” break action seems to be ideal for the ground that I cover. Personal preference for fit and weight are Beretta and CZ. Sold the Ruger Red Label off because of weight for hunting, and just haven’t warmed up to the Citori’s fit.

 

[Baron23]

Absolutely love Brittany…especially the Épagneul Breton…French Brittany. More compact and more relaxed than leggy ones bred for field trials.

My fav activity is Georgia quail hunting. Usually English Pointers and an English Spaniel or lab as a flusher.

 

[Modoc]

Ours are registered, but not sure of the lineage. Still prefer the smaller ones, even if they disappear in tall cover.

 

[03machstock]

@Modoc Please post more doggo pictures

I’m not @Modoc , but here’s my kids…

 

[Aftermath]

26" and a barrel that uses screw in chokes.

I say that, and I do have a very nice Beretta Silver Pigeon, and few other shotguns...an 870 Express 3" 28" barrel with chokes...others...but I find myself grabbing the old Wingmaster 30" full choke I got when I was a junior in high school more than anything. It's just familiar.

 

[748rpilot]

26" and a barrel that uses screw in chokes.

I say that, and I do have a very nice Beretta Silver Pigeon, and few other shotguns...an 870 Express 3" 28" barrel with chokes...others...but I find myself grabbing the old Wingmaster 30" full choke I got when I was a junior in high school more than anything. It's just familiar.

I suppose if I want to be optimistic, and not drown in analysis, I could say that judging by the variety of responses, I can't really make a wrong choice.

I currently have a 870 Fieldmaster 20ga 26" and 870 Express 12ga 28", so with whichever new gun I choose, I'll have options for most scenarios.

 

[ToddM]

Also remember that effective length because of the action for a pump/semi is longer given the same barrel length than an o/u.

For example a 28" barrel 870 has an overall length of almost 48", a 28" barrel Citori O/U is only 45". So it's likely that a 28" O/U is still shorter overall than your 26" 870. I personally like a 28" 12ga o/u for a pheasant gun, but it's a huge generalization cause weight/balance change significantly across brands/designs. In smaller gauges I could easily see going to 30", but if it's heavy cover I would not feel handicapped by 26". If I wanted it to do some trap and hunting duty, I'd take 30". I shot my first 100 strait decades ago with a plain jane Citori hunting 28" fixed chokes my grandfather let me use when I first started shooting trap as a kid. Trap is a slow game, with fairly narrow and predictable angle ranges. You don't need short barrels to keep up, even for doubles. Most guys shoot longer barrels to smooth out their swing.

Swing speed and smoothness is really about balance and weight, and the shooter. The extra barrel on a o/u means you can usually get away with a bit shorter barrel and get similar if not better balance compared to a pump/semi. One also can't ignore the shooter, some guys swing really fast and aggressive, and they often benefit from a heavier gun with longer barrels to slow/smooth their swing out. Others naturally swing smooth/slow and benefit from shorter barrels to speed them up a bit. Gauge matters too, you usually need a bit longer barrels in the smaller gauges to get the same balance point.