870 20 gauge barrel length....21" or 26"

[VALongbeard]

Guys,
Just looking for some opinions. I currently have a Remington 870 20 gauge with a 21" pipe on it. It is definitely shooting acceptable patterns with 1 5/8 oz. of TSS 9s. For those that have experience with different barrel lengths, how much benefit do you guys think I would gain going to a 26" pipe on this gun? I know velocity will increase slightly, and also patterns typically get a little better. What has your experiences been with short vs. longer barrels and patterns? Would the benefits of the longer barrel justify the cost? Just curious what you guys think. Thanks for any advice or opinions.

[JTown21]

I don't know how much the patterns will differ between the additional 5" of barrel, but I do know I prefer to carry my 870 Youth with the 21" bbl rather than my Affinity with the 26". My 870 is just so much more easier to carry and maneuver around in the woods. The Affinity seems to snag on every branch I walk by and can be sometimes cumbersome if hunting in a blind. Take note as well that if an aftermarket extended choke is added to the muzzle, this could easily add an additional 2".

[JTown21]

.....more importantly I wanted to add the fact that taking the time to find the right choke/load and properly patterning it is most most important in my opinion. Aftermarket choke tubes (along with some factory) work wonders with TSS and it's all about what type of pattern you want to achieve. As I stated earlier, I would rather have a shorter barrel with the proper choke and load to the pattern I want.
I'm sure you already know but a lot of members here shoot the 870 Youth and have multiple patterns posted. Maybe you can find some info on the 26".

[Swampchickin234]

Remington super full 21"bbl 9.5s= 260-90 ish
Remington super full 26"bbl 9.5s= 260=290 ish

Ill try to dig up pattern pictures if I can find/have them anymore. If I can ill pm you pics.

Now that's 2 dif guns, same choke, same distance. Dads is a 26" and the short bbl tested was mine. Almost identical patterns.

I'm with jtown21 though.....I can't hardly stand to carry that big long barrel any more. For me, even if patterns got slightly better, I would loose a bit of pattern to enable me to tote the short bbl


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Reloader]

Every bbl is an individual, so it's hard to say one will out do the other. I'd say in my experience the longer barrels seem to pattern a bit better on average and provide a bit more speed, but on the flip side some short bbls will pattern better than a given bbl a bit longer on the same action.

Just this year my good friend took the 26" bbl off his 870 20ga and replaced it with the 21" bbl. Both barrels looked great inside, they were both polished to a mirror shine, and the exact same chokes were tested in both barrels. He hated the short barrel at first as it would not pattern anywhere close to the longer bbl(50-75 +/- less in the 10). He also had very inconsistent numbers shot to shot in the shorter barrel. Before he gave up he tried my Lil Hammer load and the numbers came back to what he wanted, so he kept the bbl.

Funny thing was my 21" bbl did just fine with the loads he was using as well as the new load. Each bbl is an individual. Heck, the same choke in 3 different barrels of the same length can give different patterns in each barrel. It's kind of like rifles and pet loads....

[Johndoe]

Every bbl is an individual, so it's hard to say one will out do the other. I'd say in my experience the longer barrels seem to pattern a bit better on average and provide a bit more speed, but on the flip side some short bbls will pattern better than a given bbl a bit longer on the same action.

Just this year my good friend took the 26" bbl off his 870 20ga and replaced it with the 21" bbl. Both barrels looked great inside, they were both polished to a mirror shine, and the exact same chokes were tested in both barrels. He hated the short barrel at first as it would not pattern anywhere close to the longer bbl(50-75 +/- less in the 10). He also had very inconsistent numbers shot to shot in the shorter barrel. Before he gave up he tried my Lil Hammer load and the numbers came back to what he wanted, so he kept the bbl.

Funny thing was my 21" bbl did just fine with the loads he was using as well as the new load. Each bbl is an individual. Heck, the same choke in 3 different barrels of the same length can give different patterns in each barrel. It's kind of like rifles and pet loads....

What this guy said.

[decoykrvr]

I started turkey hunting with a Browning A-5, 3", w/ a 32" full barrel and killed a lot of gobblers w/ that gun. My other turkey gun was a 10 gauge Stevens w/ a 36" full barrel which also accounted for quite a few gobblers. I hunted some this year w/ a 20 gauge, Weatherby PA TR-459 which has a 18 1/2" barrel and patterns 300, 9, TSS in 10" at 40 yards w/ a SumToy .562-5 choke tube. I really don't miss the long barrels, but I don't think that they cost me any gobblers due to their length.

[Reloader]

I started turkey hunting with a Browning A-5, 3", w/ a 32" full barrel and killed a lot of gobblers w/ that gun. My other turkey gun was a 10 gauge Stevens w/ a 36" full barrel which also accounted for quite a few gobblers. I hunted some this year w/ a 20 gauge, Weatherby PA TR-459 which has a 18 1/2" barrel and patterns 300, 9, TSS in 10" at 40 yards w/ a SumToy .562-5 choke tube. I really don't miss the long barrels, but I don't think that they cost me any gobblers due to their length.

Once in a while I think about grabbing one of the guns I started turkey hunting with, then back out on the idea and grab a youth 20ga of some flavor lol. Just too dang easy to tote around, much easier handling, and way more punch down range with modern loads.