Ideal turkey shotgun barrel length?

The shorter the better? I've got a gun I use now and the barrel is way too long. Either 28 or 30". Trying to figure out how short I want it. 18.5" would be the shortest legal length, I suppose.

IMO 21-24 inches is perfect for autos and pumps. O/U's 24-26.

I'd say 22ish. My Winchester 1300 is 24", plus like an extra 1" or 1.25" for the extended choke. Does barrel length affect shotgun ballistics as much as it does with rifles? If this 20ga Stoeger becomes just a turkey gun instead of a do-it-all gun, I'll have the barrel cut down to probably 22".

I've got a 21" barrel on my 870 Youth. To me, that's about perfect. It makes shooting it with a bead much tougher for me. A red dot did away with that issue, though.

I’ve always used 24 or 26 and I like em but many like the really short barrels

26" on the 10 Gauge....plus the choke tube.....but I also use it for Waterfowl.

You just made my shoulder hurt reading about that!

I have an 18.5" barrel on my 870 20 gauge. No way I would go back to something longer.

Found a 20" SPT remington barrel NIP for my 20ga 870 on ebay and it does everything the 26" I took off did, but much easier to maneuver.

21”

My opinion, if it’s a dedicated turkey gun, 21-24”. If it’s a do anything gun, 26”. I went with 26 on my sx3 because I occasionally duck hunt with it and shoot doves opening day. $1000-$1200 is a lot of money to me, so I wanted one that could do it all.

say you like short barrels Chad? 🙊

You like long black ones.

Na, that’s James

I sent a gun to Stan Baker, the US Olympic Skeet teams gunsmith in Cali in the late 60s/70s. He chronoed an 870 bbl by the inch and told me to make it 25" because the velocity loss from 30 to 25 was slow and gradual but below 25 it dropped off fast. So he cut my bbl to 25 and installed one of his custom chokes in it...building the first modern turkey gun in the US, or world as far as I know. His choke system was later bought by Winchester and became WinChokes, the first commercial screw in choke.

I have found a few things, in life, that always hold true.
Your work shop can never be too big.
Your wife can never want too much lovin.
You will never have too many toys.
And the barrel of your favorite turkey gun can never be too short.

Don't necessarily like it. But I have lots of experience wielding one though....a lifetime's worth!

Girth is better than length.

Well played pal! 👏🏻

With todays denser than lead shot there is no problem getting a great pattern out of a short barrel. And a shorter barrel is way more maneuverable if you have to set up in thick cover. The barrel on my turkey gun is 20 inches.

Thanks for the info, fellas. I’ve got a gun I’d like to cut down and cerakote.

I think 22" may be ideal. No doubt more convenient in thick cover, and honestly, if you're in thick cover you're likely taking a shot inside of 30 yards; so it's not like shot pattern is as critical, plenty of loads and chokes out there for a good pattern inside 30 yds. I hunted turkey in earnest for the first time this year with my old 28" Maverick 88. I really didn't find myself wishing I had a shorter barrel though, and enjoyed the added sight radius (using 3-dot adjustable).

Also, it irritates me how the market is - it seems like the "turkey" guns command a premium compared to the equivalent "field" gun setup with a longer barrel. I know there is a lot of voodoo involved in the making of a good shotgun barrel, but it really seems like you're paying mostly for the trademarked camo finish. As a new turkey hunter, if I had to recommend gear to someone else getting into the sport - I'd say buy the cheaper, longer-barreled 870/500 and spend the extra change on some 3-dot adjustable sights, a good choke tube, ammo, and a handful of Woodhaven mouth calls.

As a new turkey hunter ...... you just haven’t gotten hung up in enough vines, limbs, fences, and sticks or gotten binded up and pinned down enough times to fully realize all the benefits of a short barrel. You will get there if you stick with it though I promise.

Some lessons are best learned through experience. I think that's part of what is so fun about turkey hunting

That'll preach Brother.

I think it’s notable that a shorter stock can be as important as a short barrel when you are in a bind.

anyone who cannot effectively use a 24/25 inch barrel turkey hunting needs to take up knitting and stay out of the woods. That statement is based on 50+ years and a couple hundred kills in the turkey woods. Nuff said.

Great point. My stock got hung up under my arm pit this spring right before trying to put a bead on a gobbler's head. It resulted in unneccesary stress.

I killed a truck load with a 1976 28" barrel shiny stocked1100 (2 3/4" chamber), but I sure do like hunting with that short barrel a lot more.

No I get it, like I said 22” might be ideal. I’m just saying it’s not the end of the world if all you’ve got is a 28” barrel. Some people might be watching this thread thinking about trying for their first gobbler and thinking they won’t be successful without a purpose built turkey gun.

Just think about how many you could have killed with a 21” barrel!

somewhere I have a 12 1/2 with a screw in choke....ought to be hell on those close in briar patch birds......

Me too...It ain’t so much barrel length as it is overall length. Length of pull factors in almost as much. I’ve killed ‘em with an Elmer Fudd special but vastly prefer a compact 40” overall length or less gun. Mounted with a dot, it’s an oversized “pocket gun.” Only worry is I’m gonna shoot myself in the foot one day...

24" on a O/U or SxS.

I’d say 18-24. I got the 18-1/2 now but I had a Super Mag 870 with a 24- inch barrel that was Pure Death on anything you pointed it at. Deer, turkey, ducks, geese etc.

A back bored 30"full choke barrel