26" vs 28"

byf43 · Oct 20, 2016

Personally, I like the 26" barrel (or shorter) on the 870.

I sold an 870 SuperMag to an MDS member a few years ago, NIB. It had a 26" barrel.
I took possession of another 870 SuperMag a little over a year ago (NIB) on a debt owed to me.
It's got a 28" barrel on it. (It's still NIB, in the safe.)

My 'standard' barrel on my 1100 is an old Hastings 24" barrel. That particular barrel has been on that 1100 (except for the slug barrel) since 1984.
The 30" barrel has sat in the back of the safe.
I've been told (by friends), "When he carries that 1100, if it flies..... it dies."
This scattergun just FITS me.

To me, a shorter barrel swings better and is a lot easier to carry.

IF it were "me"............. "I" would cut the 28" barrel. They're more common than the 26". But, then again, that's my preference.

giggity · Oct 20, 2016

jimbobborg said:
Just out of curiosity, what are you cutting the barrel length to?

12.5" I have a stamp.

This is getting a little more complicated then I thought it would. I'm glad I asked. I also have a smooth bore bead sight 18" barrel that I'm keeping and don't want to cut. Don't really have a need for either the 26" or 28" barrel but I figured I'd keep one just incase. Originally I was going to keep the 26" and cut the 28" but from what I'm getting here is that the 28" is more common and normal. Now I'm leaning towards the keeping the 28" and cutting the 26" barrel.

I appreciate everyone's help

jimbobborg · Oct 20, 2016

Trade the 26" for an 18". You'll be money ahead.

giggity · Oct 20, 2016

jimbobborg said:
Trade the 26" for an 18". You'll be money ahead.

Already have a 18" barrel

BUFF7MM · Oct 20, 2016

Ok so here goes my take
Cut the 28" to 26"
Cut the 26" to 18"
Cut the 18" to 12.5" and call it a day
That about the only route you haven't explored yet.

fabsroman · Oct 23, 2016

Buff7mm said:
Ok so here goes my take
Cut the 28" to 26"
Cut the 26" to 18"
Cut the 18" to 12.5" and call it a day
That about the only route you haven't explored yet.

lol

It appears that Remington offered a 12.5" barrel for a short time frame.

Then, there is the option of spending $79 for this 12.5" barrel, no cutting, and the other barrel can be saved or sold.

https://www.canadaammo.com/product/...-dominion-arms-grizzly-remington-870-shotgun/

Edit to add: That barrel is sold out. lol

giggity · Oct 23, 2016

I didn't realize that they made a 12.5" barrel. I'll have to look into that. I still prefer the vent barrel but it is something to consider. If I don't go with a new 12.5" barrel I'm cutting the 26" barrel.

fabsroman · Oct 23, 2016

giggity said:
I didn't realize that they made a 12.5" barrel. I'll have to look into that. I still prefer the vent barrel but it is something to consider. If I don't go with a new 12.5" barrel I'm cutting the 26" barrel.

Yeah, i didn't realize how nice the 12.5" barrel would look on the 870 with it fitting flush to the mag tube. Otherwise, I would have recommended going with the 14" barrel that seems to be a lot more abundant. Regardless, I think I would hold out for a new 12.5" barrel before chopping down a 26" ventilated rib. Also, on a home defense gun, the vent rib is going to look somewhat silly. There is a nice YouTube video out there of an 870 with a 12.5" barrel.

No vent rib and you can use a rear ghost ring with it for slugs/buckshot. It just pains me to think of cutting down a barrel. An acquaintance of mine did it and it looked like crap. Did a hack job with a hacksaw.

Fox123 · Oct 23, 2016

You can do a lot with an extra 2".....

But I would sell the 26 and buy a cheaper barrel (doesn't matter the length as long as it's cheaper than what you sold the 26 for) and cut the new one to length you want.

giggity · Oct 23, 2016

fabsroman said:
Yeah, i didn't realize how nice the 12.5" barrel would look on the 870 with it fitting flush to the mag tube. Otherwise, I would have recommended going with the 14" barrel that seems to be a lot more abundant. Regardless, I think I would hold out for a new 12.5" barrel before chopping down a 26" ventilated rib. Also, on a home defense gun, the vent rib is going to look somewhat silly. There is a nice YouTube video out there of an 870 with a 12.5" barrel.

No vent rib and you can use a rear ghost ring with it for slugs/buckshot. It just pains me to think of cutting down a barrel. An acquaintance of mine did it and it looked like crap. Did a hack job with a hacksaw.

The 12.5" won't be a HD gun, it's just something I want. If it ends up being a hack job then so be it but that's not going to stop me from trying. I like the idea of buying a 12.5" barrel only because it comes with a modified choke. It'll save me money because I won't have to take a cut barrel to a gunsmith and have them modify it to accept the interchangeable chokes. Other then that it doesn't do anything for me. The sights mean nothing to me for this particular gun.

Fox123 said:
You can do a lot with an extra 2".....

But I would sell the 26 and buy a cheaper barrel (doesn't matter the length as long as it's cheaper than what you sold the 26 for) and cut the new one to length you want.

If a 12.5" vent rib barrel is what I want then how is selling a 26" vent rib barrel going to save me money? Is the 26" vent rib barrel that much in demand that I can sell it for more money then another vent rib barrel?

byf43 · Oct 23, 2016

giggity said:
Is the 26" vent rib barrel that much in demand that I can sell it for more money then another vent rib barrel?

The 26" 870 barrel, and even more, the 21" 870 barrel, are LESS prevalent.

The 28" barrels are much more available. That's exactly why I would cut the 28" and keep/save the 26".

lazarus · Oct 26, 2016

I'd cut the 26". Mine has a 28" and it is nice for some stuff. Deer hunting, not so much. A 26" would probably be a lot nicer, but if you are going to cut one anyway, I'd probably rather keep the 28" since it is better than the 26" for some stuff and cut the 26" to something like 23" or whatever. Whatever length gets you a smooth finish on the vent ribbing.

Also it isn't entirely true that there is no difference on patterning with the same choke but different barrel length, longer barrels still tend (TEND, not always) to forms somewhat better patterns than shorter barrels.

Also a longer barrel is going to generate slightly higher velocity than a shorter barrel.

You want a long barrel for turkey hunting.

fabsroman · Oct 26, 2016

lazarus said:
I'd cut the 26". Mine has a 28" and it is nice for some stuff. Deer hunting, not so much. A 26" would probably be a lot nicer, but if you are going to cut one anyway, I'd probably rather keep the 28" since it is better than the 26" for some stuff and cut the 26" to something like 23" or whatever. Whatever length gets you a smooth finish on the vent ribbing.

Also it isn't entirely true that there is no difference on patterning with the same choke but different barrel length, longer barrels still tend (TEND, not always) to forms somewhat better patterns than shorter barrels.

Also a longer barrel is going to generate slightly higher velocity than a shorter barrel.

You want a long barrel for turkey hunting.

Most turkey guns are 24" barrels or shorter to allow for easier movement through the woods and less weight.

The question on velocity is at what point will a 12 gauge shotgun have burned all of the powder in the shotshell load. Off the top of my head, I do not know this answer. To give an extreme example, a 40" barrel is not going to give you any more velocity than a 30" barrel.

As far as the patterning of longer barrels is concerned, the only thing that really matters in that regard is the length of the forcing cone and the choke tube selection. The longer forcing cones help to prevent shot deformation, which is the leading cause of fliers and less dense patterns. A smooth round ball will fly through the air quite differently than what used to be a smooth round ball but with a flat spot on it after being forced down the barrel. So, if one barrel is 24" and another is 30", and they both have the same length forcing cones, then they will pretty much pattern the same.

byf43 · Oct 26, 2016

Turkey guns -
My youngest son wanted to go turkey hunting, and I set up my 1100 that I bought and 'cloned' a "Competition Master", right down to the Competition Master 22" choke-tubed barrel.

After deciding on a load, I went down to the farm and shot a few rounds at 25 yards, to see how it shot/patterned.

The choke tube that I got is a "Gobblin' Thunder" Turkey Choke.
The load is 1-1/2 oz of #5 shot, and the prescribed charge of Winchester 571 powder, in Peters "Blue Magic" hulls, and RP-12 wads.

This picture is of THREE shots fired at 25 yards.
All but a few pellets hit within 14". Yes, FOURTEEN inches!!!!
You can see one 'wad' (shot column) laying in front of the target. The other two 'wads' went through the hole, and were laying just behind the target paper!

Length of barrel (IMNSHO) doesn't really have a big effect on patterns.

A couple of my friends said that a 2-3/4" 12 ga shell would not kill a turkey.

My son shot a nice turkey at 27 yards. One shot. That bird dropped dead, where he was shot.

IF I remember correctly, he was 17 when he took his first turkey.

giggity · Oct 26, 2016

I'm just going to close my eyes and grab the first barrel I touch. That'll be the one I cut.

lazarus · Nov 1, 2016

Not just an issue of all the powder burning or not, it is drag on the shot/cup and pressure in the barrel. It'll continue dropping as it passes down the barrel and the drag is a lot less on a shotgun than a rifle. i don't even have a guess on how long the barrel has to be to burn all of the powder. Wild ass guess the velocity difference between something like a 26" and a 28" barrel is probably only 20-30fps for something like a 1.25oz 1600fps slug. Between a 20" and 28" I'd imagine it might be more like 100fps difference.

I'd imagine in most cases you don't really need to worry about the differences as you usually aren't caring about a 5-10% energy difference or shooting that tiny bit flatter on something that is going to be a 30-50yd gun with shot or maybe a 100yd gun with slugs (ignoring rifles barrels and sabotted rounds for a minute).

fabsroman · Nov 1, 2016

lazarus said:
Not just an issue of all the powder burning or not, it is drag on the shot/cup and pressure in the barrel. It'll continue dropping as it passes down the barrel and the drag is a lot less on a shotgun than a rifle. i don't even have a guess on how long the barrel has to be to burn all of the powder. Wild ass guess the velocity difference between something like a 26" and a 28" barrel is probably only 20-30fps for something like a 1.25oz 1600fps slug. Between a 20" and 28" I'd imagine it might be more like 100fps difference.

I'd imagine in most cases you don't really need to worry about the differences as you usually aren't caring about a 5-10% energy difference or shooting that tiny bit flatter on something that is going to be a 30-50yd gun with shot or maybe a 100yd gun with slugs (ignoring rifles barrels and sabotted rounds for a minute).

Losing 100 fps on a 1,200 or 1,300 fps load is almost 10% loss of velocity. It really does matter down range when it comes to penetration. Yes, trajectory does not matter too much, but penetration through goose, duck, deer, human, etc. does make a difference.

The appropriate length of barrel to burn all the powder will depend on the load. A 3 1/2" shell probably has more powder, and hence more gas once the powder is burned, so it would need a longer barrel to use all that gas versus a 2 3/4" load.

Thing is, I have never determined what barrel length is needed to effectively use all the powder load. All i know is that geese drop at 60 yards when I am using Hevi-Shot and deer drop at 150 yards when I am using Barnes Expander sabots.

giggity · Nov 11, 2016

Update: I cut the 26" barrel and kept the 28" as is

Doobie · Nov 11, 2016

Damn. I would've cut the 28 and kept the 26 since it is probably much easier and cheaper to obtain another 28. You were thinking like a woman weren't you? LOL Longer is better? :innocent0

giggity · Nov 11, 2016

I just figured since the 28" is more common it's probably more common for a reason. Either way I'm very happy with the way it turned out and have no regrets with my choice. I do appreciate all the advice even if I didn't go that way.

26" vs 28"

The #1 community for Gun Owners of the Northeast

Member Benefits:

SCSC Life/NRA Patron Life

Active Member

Oddball caliber fan

Active Member

☠Buff➐㎣☠

Ultimate Member

Active Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Active Member

SCSC Life/NRA Patron Life

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

SCSC Life/NRA Patron Life

Active Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Active Member

Ultimate Member

Active Member

Users who are viewing this thread

Log in

Forum statistics