The right gun

[hendon ratter 3]

hi there im after a shotgun for pigeons,im going to view one at the weekend its a rizzini 12g m/c, barrel lenght is 32inch,is this any good for woodys,as a friend told me that the barrels is to LONG,does barrel lenght make a difference?as i am a novice to shotguning your help would be greatfull,do you think its worth going viewing or not..........

 

many thanks HR....................

[goldfinger 135]

My personal choice,I find that shorter barrels (say 26")are better for hide and roost shooting also bolting rabbit,28" a good all rounder,30/32" barrels you will find are a bit slower to pick fast moving targets at close range but good to use on high targets.

Remember that longer barrel length don't mean longer distance,choke choice and the ability of the shooter determines that,a good general choke set up for pigeon is 1/4-1/2,at the end mate yes listen to what experienced shooters have to say but when you pick up and put to your shoulder the gun you are looking to buy if it dos,nt feel right or is uncomfortable to handle when you site up don't buy it,choosing a gun is a personal thing not all guns suite all people,good luck.

[Sidelock 10]

At 32" it sounds like it could be a TRAP gun ,,,,, if it is then the drop and cast will be different to a sporting gun ,,,, trap guns "dont" make good all rounders. As Goldfinger said fit is most important and feel if it feels right it is. Having said that for many years i used a Browning 32" SKEET for ISU and English the barrel length did Help it slowed down my swing and stop over lead.

As for choke, well theres a lot of talk about choke and range and all kinds of folk lore about it. The truth is a single pellet of No 6 shot has the same range and power no matter what choke you push it through. All choke does is concentrate the centre of the patteren, ok a full choke gives 100% of the shot in a 30" circle at 25/30yards a cylinder gives around 50% BUT that doesnt mean youve lost 40% its still there still killing but you now have a greater margin of error full choke = 30" killing zone cylinder = 60" killing zone, why hit the bird with 30 pellets when 2 or 3 will do,,, dead is dead.

As for THE RIGHT GUN ,, no such thing we all need or think we need something different to each other, the only adivse one can give is an opinion,,, Heres mine, I now use a Hatsan 28" fitted with a skeet choke ( not true skeet as it has 5thou of restriction) it handles well loads easy and kills cleanly out to 40 yards, i use 1 1/16 6 shot over a fibre wad. This set up has killed a lot of pigeon and never given me a moments trouble

[hendon ratter 3]

thank you very much lads for ur repleys,like i said im a novice so ur thoughts are very much greatfull,i was thinking myself that this gun would be far to big for as i am a short arse :tongue2:lol, but as i am only going to be shooting from a hide, as i thought a 26,28in,would be ideal for me............

 

nice1 lads much appreciated

Edited August 26, 2010 by hendon ratter