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30" barrel for 3 gun


beans_and_bullets

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Hi there I have not done any competitive shooting yet but am gearing up. I found a stoeger m3000 that has a 30" barrel on it that I can trade an older carry gun I dont use anymore for. Would the 30" barrel be to long for competitive shooting in 3 gun? I would be adding a +8 tube so the tube would only stick out about 2-4" past the barrel with a 30" 

Thanks

B

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I shoot a 26" M2 in 3 gun with a 12 round tube.  The go to seems to be 24"  I got a good deal on the 26" and went with it.  I have not seen any negatives with the 26" at all.  The tube is still several inches past the barrel so other than a few ounces of weight, there's very little difference.  24" and 21" still seem to outnumber 26" but 26" isn't looked at funny anymore.  I'd suspect the 30" would be similar.  The way I see it, if the tube still sticks past the barrel (as in you aren't adding more overall length to the gun with the barrel) and you can handle the weight, it shouldn't be a huge issue.  

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1 minute ago, hitman_usmc said:

 if the tube still sticks past the barrel  it shouldn't be a huge issue.  

 

I don't shoot shotgun, but if the tube is a 33", why not have a 30" barrel ?

 

Actually it would be better support than having a 24" barrel and the tube

sticking 10" past the barrel.    :) 

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I agree they look goofy with the tube sticking past the barrel but it's the norm in 3gun since a 12 round tube is the most common.  So i agree, if the barrel isn't sticking past a 12 round tube, you aren't hurting anything other than adding a few ounces of weight with a longer barrel.  

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I believe my M2 has a 28" barrel and I believe those pattern better and hit harder than a 24".  As a point of reference you see NO clay shooters running 24' barrels as a rule, they use 28' and up.  A 30' barrel might swing a little slower arguably but you already have up to 12 shells in the mag tube below it.  I would pick a 30" and run it if the trade was good for you.  The Stoegers I see in the game run good.

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4 hours ago, toothandnail said:

Barrel length has no affect on pattern, very little to do with velocity, a 12" barrel with have virtually the same performance  as a 26" over 26 you start losing. 

I've seen a lot of data to support this but every time I've mentioned it to any clay shooters they try to lynch me.

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6 hours ago, toothandnail said:

Barrel length has no affect on pattern, very little to do with velocity, a 12" barrel with have virtually the same performance  as a 26" over 26 you start losing. 

I'd have to totally disagree with barrel length having no effect on pattern as I would say a good number of IPSC Shotgun shooters here in the UK and Europe would too.

 

I've personally done extensive pattern testing of ammo, chokes and barrel lengths and found it does make a significant difference from a 24inch (min length here in UK) to a 28inch. So much so that with the tight placement of no shoot targets in IPSC Shotgun it could be the difference between hitting the no shoot or not.

 

 

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After reading the test data saying there was no discernable difference, I kinda agreed, as my experience dictated, I had done some shooting with a 14" barrel .

 

To make it more concrete, I re-shot a 3 gun match( Missouri 3 gun championship) with a 12" MKA 1919 shotgun, slug target at 100 yds, falling steel from 12-20 yds, flying clays.

Used the same chokes as I did in the actual match. 

 

Actually did slightly better with the SBS, than in the match. ( less pressure, already shot the stages)

My biggest concern was slugs at 100 yds, so I did a side by side with my 19" barrel MKA 1919. 

there was not enough group size difference that it could not be attributed to ammo, or shooter input. A RDS at 100 yds is hard to keep a consistent aiming point.

If I remember correctly it was about a 1" difference at 100 yds with slugs, shooting off a Vtac barricade. pretty sure it was 3 shot groups, don't think I did 5.

steel and clays were no difference as well.

 

If you're using different chokes in different guns, that alone can make a big pattern difference, same with slug impacts.

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I went with a 26" barrel and like it much better than I thought I would.  I was worried it would be too long, being used to a 20" barrel previously.  The only concern I might have is the stages where you have to maneuver in tight quarters for example (fast forward to 25:40):

 

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16 hours ago, barrysuperhawk said:

I went with a 26" barrel and like it much better than I thought I would.  I was worried it would be too long, being used to a 20" barrel previously.  The only concern I might have is the stages where you have to maneuver in tight quarters for example (fast forward to 25:40):

 

Looks like you might need a new shotgun soon. Every time you shoot, the forearm slides back.?

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4 hours ago, toothandnail said:

My interpretation of that data is different than yours, the was a reduction in velocity measured in hundreds of FPS which is huge.  Your assertion that "barrel length has no affect on pattern" may be true in the test in this link, but bare in mind tighter patterns are where the money is.  What the shot column does when it is constricted in the choke directly results in variances in pattern dispersion, that is the purpose of backboring and other enhancements to reduce pellet deformity when the shot column is restricted.  For that test to accurately reflect pattern, they (should have) would have to install a choke after every barrel cut and preferably test the pattern through a full choke.  I suppose if all you ever use is a cylinder bore that test could be relative.   The use of cylinder bore exclusively is hardly relative to any shotgunning I have ever done in various shooting sports and hunting..  The guys shooting the Saiga shotguns in 3 gun use higher velocity rounds and more choke because of the short barrels on the Saiga.  And again I assert that if there was no difference in barrel length performance, the Clay shooters would have shorter barrels to get quicker swing speeds.  So i respectfully disagree with you on this.

Edited by 12glocks
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53 minutes ago, 12glocks said:

Clay shooters would have shorter barrels to get quicker swing speeds

Not to confuse things, but one of the reasons clay shooters use longer barrels is to keep the weight on the higher side. The heavier the gun the less likely you are to stop when you pull the trigger. The longer/heavier barrel helps to keep a smooth follow through. I personally shoot my Beretta 686 over/under better then my Browning BT99 single barrel when it comes to clays. I believe that's why I prefer my Benelli M1 with a 28' barrel over my Beretta 1301 with a 24" barrel for 3 gun. A 28' barrel my swing slower on the start but it also helps in giving a nice smooth flow. 

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In my experience shooting heavy steel targets at extended distances, longer barrel shotguns will put the steel down at ranges where a 20 or 22 inch barrel just won't.  All else being equal.  (Ammo, choke, etc)

 

If the tube is going to be flush or beyond, you aren't losing any mobility and gaining only a small.amount of weight.

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I find this topic interesting but somewhat irrelevant to 3 gun. Successful 3 gunners have been running 21-28" barrels for a few years now and I've never heard one say they failed to knock over a target for lack of 4" of barrel, they always blame the guy pulling the trigger or extremely negligent choke choice. In a game where cylinder gets me through 95%+ of the stages and loading speed trumps swing or follow through to the point of them being non-issues I'm pretty sure you guys are over thinking barrel length. Give a guy a 21" gun and 10k rounds to practice or give a guy a 28" gun and 10k rounds to practice, by the time he's done it won't matter which he has, he'll be doing just fine.

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If the tube sticks out past the barrel you give up nothing in handling around barricades and walls. Differences in pattern is a lot more a function of chokes than barrel length.  The longer sight radius could be a pulse with slugs when they put the targets way out there. If you got a deal on the gun shoot it.------------------Larry

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Sorry I haven't been posting. Based on everyones feedback I went ahead and make the trade. I now have myself a 30" stoeger m3000. The model came with an enlarged charging handle and bolt release. It also has a ported barrel which is nice! blasted through some rounds right after picking it up just to function test it but primarily so that I could shoot 5 shots as fast as I could through and auto loader as it is my first auto shotgun. 

 

I am very happy with it. Does anyone have any experince with the tac com extension tubes? I love the idea of picking up a 20-24in barrel and using a +4 and then throwing on an additional +4 when I have the 30" barrel installed... thoughts?

 

Thanks again for the feedback I am so excited to be getting into the shotgun world and look forward to gearing up for my first match!

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On 9/11/2017 at 0:29 PM, TonytheTiger said:

FYI, the ported barrel puts you in open.

If that Open class is not what you want then it might be possible to have the barrel cut off behind the ports and rethreaded for some type of choke tubes (so don't rush out and buy any Stoeger/Benelli choke tubes just, barrel wall thickness might dictate some other type of tube if you cut it)

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