# 24" barrel too short for Ducks/Geese??



## Sloane Ranger

Guys.. 
I have a 24" advantage timber Benelli SuperNova that was a steady grip gun bought for turkeys. 
I bought an advantage timber comfortech stock for a SBE2/M2 and a cast/drop shim kit to be able to use it for wingshooting. (I do have a Beretta 686 SP 12ga. also) but the SN is for waterfowl. 
I have used the SN on a pheasant hunt where I let my dad use my SP and I got 5 and made 2 long shots with 2 3/4" no. 6 shot on pheasants. One was flying left to right and I knocked him down at 40 yds. I also knocked one down at 50+ yds that was flying straight away from me. So I know I can knock down birds with the short barrel. 

However, and here's where I need the help, I have made MANY shots on ducks and alot of geese while waterfowl hunting with both 3" and 3 1/2" No.2 remington steel shot and I cannot hit anything. We had geese all over us and I didn't knock down anything. 
I was using a factory 'Modified' choke and have switched in an 'IM' choke from the Silver Pigeon as the SNova only had Full, Mod and IC. 

Is my barrel just too short? I am frustrated. I am normally a decent shot. Should I try a $100 patternmaster choke? I may up to BB's for the gees but fear that they're too big for the ducks. 

Even though we have decoys most of our shots are pass shooting over the decoys. 

Thanks, 

E


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## alphachief

Sloane Ranger said:


> Guys..
> I have a 24" advantage timber Benelli SuperNova that was a steady grip gun bought for turkeys.
> I bought an advantage timber comfortech stock for a SBE2/M2 and a cast/drop shim kit to be able to use it for wingshooting. (I do have a Beretta 686 SP 12ga. also) but the SN is for waterfowl.
> I have used the SN on a pheasant hunt where I let my dad use my SP and I got 5 and made 2 long shots with 2 3/4" no. 6 shot on pheasants. One was flying left to right and I knocked him down at 40 yds. I also knocked one down at 50+ yds that was flying straight away from me. So I know I can knock down birds with the short barrel.
> 
> However, and here's where I need the help, I have made MANY shots on ducks and alot of geese while waterfowl hunting with both 3" and 3 1/2" No.2 remington steel shot and I cannot hit anything. We had geese all over us and I didn't knock down anything.
> I was using a factory 'Modified' choke and have switched in an 'IM' choke from the Silver Pigeon as the SNova only had Full, Mod and IC.
> 
> Is my barrel just too short? I am frustrated. I am normally a decent shot. Should I try a $100 patternmaster choke? I may up to BB's for the gees but fear that they're too big for the ducks.
> 
> Even though we have decoys most of our shots are pass shooting over the decoys.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> E



A little shorter than I would go out and buy for a duck gun...but if I already had it, I'd shoot it until I saw for myself that it didn't work with ducks.  The chokes will let you reach out and touch them...even with a shorter barrel.  I got a buddy who totes an old Model 12 12 Ga. with a 21 inch barrel and fixed IC choke into the beaver dam swamps.  Very few wood ducks make it by him!


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## Wild Turkey

It's the shooter and not the barrell length.
A longer barrell gives you a longer sight line between the front and back ends. Practice more and you can overcome a short barrell.

Also pattern your gun, the pattern may not actually be what the choke says. Most all production guns shoot close to the pattern on the chokes but vary each way.


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## killerv

It's also steel as opposed to lead, shooting pheasant with lead and ducks with steel are two different things. Length of the barrell doesn't really affect your pattern, buy a good set of choke tubes. Length will affect your swing or muzzle velocity but not by much.  Remember also, steel patterns usually a choke size tighter than lead does, for example, a shooting steel through a modified choke gives you a full pattern. That is why you see a lot of full chokes marked "for lead use only". This doesn't apply to heavy shot in my experience. I keep a skeet or improved in my duck gun all season, I never go tighter than that, never had to.


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## killerv

one more thing, if you stand a 3 1/2 inch 26" barrell gun next to a 3 inch only gun with a 28'' barrell, they are going to be about the same length due to the reciever being longer on the 3 1/2 inch gun. So technically, you really have the same sight picture and length if you have the same length of pull. People tend to forget about that with 3 1/2 inch guns.

O/U are relative also. If you take an o/u with a 26'' barrell and an auto with a 26" barrell, both with the same length of pull, the auto will be the longer of the 2 guns probably by at least 2 inches because of the different reciever lengths.

Basically, it's mostly in your head...get our there and shoot.


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## CallieB

*pattern*

Lots of good advice.  But you really need to pattern the gun with several different combinations of choke tubes and loads.  Until you do you will always be guessing and you will never know for sure what the combination of gun+choke+load delivers at your expected range. And every different combination will deliver a different pattern. 

If you normally have 25 yard shots, say, then buy a couple different loads (vary both manufacturer and shot size) and try them each with several different chokes, by shooting into a 30" circle at 25 yards.  You want to use the choke+load combination that provides the best overall pattern -- most pellets inside the circle plus an even distribution with no holes in the pattern.

You are sure to be surprised.  For example, I find that a particular brand of shot patterns better than all others in my 20 ga.  Don't know why, but that's all I'll use.


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## Boudreaux

Yeah, you can use it, but just be careful in a blind or a boat.  A short barrel can cause the guy next to you to go deaf, right Ol' Red????!!!!


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## Hooked On Quack

Try shooting #4s for ducks,  I shoot #6s for wood ducks and #4s for most all other ducks. The additional pellets should help your odds.  All the above posts should be helpful also.


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## Mark Brooks

GA HUnter is right.  I would not want to stand next to you in a blind with a 24" barrel.  

Also, the weight of a longer barrel will assist you in swinging through the birds much smother.

MB


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## 7mm mag 06

i shoot a 24 inch barrel and  i  kill plenty of ducks and geese, its not the gun its the shooter


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## Hooked On Quack

You might consider buying a .015 (I.Mod)  Comp-n-Choke, it will give you another inch or better in length and a better  pattern.


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## Doc_Holliday23

my 11-87 is primarily a turkey gun, but I shoot it for ducks and geese as well and it seems to do fine.  Its only got a 21" barrel and I shoot an extended modified choke which gives me another 3/4" or so..


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## Ol' Red

GA_Hunter said:


> Yeah, you can use it, but just be careful in a blind or a boat.  A short barrel can cause the guy next to you to go deaf, right Ol' Red????!!!!



What was that?  I can't hear you......  "The guy next to you" shouldn't stick his ears so close to the barrel...

Red


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## jbdial1515

Modern gun powder will burn within the first 19 inches of the gun barrel thus not really affecting the velocity of shot.  As you know the pattern of the shot is determined ultimately by the choke in the barrel.

However, a longer barrell does give you a longer sight plane. 

However, in a Benelli product, you will notice the receiver is slightly longer than say a Remington thus why many opt for a 24" barrel over a 26" because the overall length of a 24" Benelli is comparable to another brand 26".

One of the locals who used to come in the gun store I worked in during college would hunt with nothing but a 21" Benelli, but as many stated, you could not stand next to him in the blind.


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