OT 32" vs 30" Barrels

It seems that most OT shooters favour 30" barrels ,what is the disadvantaged of 32"?

Personally I dont find a problem with 32", as long as they arent stupid heavy, 30" seems quick and pokey at first, If I swop back,

30's are easier to accelerate, direction changes are easier if you misread the target, its a preference thing...

Speed especially with OT 32 inch to much gun that's my thouights.

les will be along in a mo he will explain the ins and out of it.

I have never liked 32" only because it feels wrong on my foot not because of handling characteristics. I think to much is talked about barrell length I cant tell any difference handling wise between my 28 or 30 inch guns. Imo balance is the most important aspect other than the obvious stock fit.

Barrel weight and balance snd fir are more important than 30 or 32. I've used both at various times and not really thought that one is better than the other. 

In fact the fastest gun I had was a 32 with very light barrels. It was difficult to be consistant with.

Currently using 29 1/2 but much heavier barrels. 

Ok this probably going to sound stupid but here goes,i am liking a high gun hold but dont like waiting what seems an age for the bird to get past the barrels ,and some times i am so far in front i have to wait for it to catch up and spot shoot it.

I have used different lenghs of barrels and as stated above if balanced right dont feel any different,so that brings us back to why do most ot shots use 30" if its not to do with gun speed.

cos that has become the accepted length by the makers, one assumes that if ling heading or peel won a major with a 35" or a 27" barrell we would all be placing our orders before the medal was over there head.

length Imo has nothing to do with speed / handling balance is the key.

Until fairly recently long barrels meant that 32" were invariably too heavy and slow. 30" inch was found to be in most cases the ideal weight. Some top OT shooters of the 60 & 70s used 29"  (Matterelli etc).

Modern guns tend to have lighter for length  Barrels than in the past. The guns of  the 60,70s & 80s with 32 inch barrels could be a big  lump to move. whereas modern equivalents such as an MK38 with 32 is spot on for trench, as are some others. However some are still best in 30.  

Of course it also depends on your build, the indiviusl gun and personal preferrnces etc to what will suit. 

On the whole I agree with ips.  I'm not sure balance is the right word since that seems to be related to how the gun feels unmounted - which is BS AFAIC since I shoot mounted gun games.  What IS important is how much apparent weight is carried in the front hand and whether or not that feels right. 

I've had a few 32" things and have never kept one.  The last one was fairly light but it still didn't ring any bells.  For now anything over 75cm and 1.55kg or so is at the why bother point.  And 70cm and 72cm barrels in the 1.4kg range work OK too.  I'm really getting to like the MX1 with the 72cm/1.38kg barrels and the same action with the 75cm/1.45kg MX2 barrels as well.  Guess I'm getting old and wimpy and just can't handle the heavyweights anymore.

Anyway - shoot what you like.  Who cares what other people think?

Leaving weight to one side,if your body is the fulcrum it would stand to reason that a longer barrel would move faster and further at the muzzles than a shorter barrel,with the same input at the body end.Making the shorter barrel more smoother at the muzzles, of course we are only talking fractions but at the speed i shoot my first shot,fractions are a eternity.

Thats how i read it in my head,untill i try a 30 with my set up i wont know for sure.

Paul not an issue for you mate, I'll bring the hacksaw on Saturday.

Gas bottles or TiG welder the following week.

I will need a hammer to swage in the chokes.

paul b said:

I will need a hammer to swage in the chokes.

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Nah, just belt some thin walled teagues in the end and a drop of super glue......

I've used 29.5/ 30, 30.75 and 32. I can miss with any of them! My only OT straight was with 30.75, my best OT score (96) was with 32. I was prob most consistent with 29.5/30 I would think. Its more about balance, feel, weight and distribution of mass and how it affects the individual. Its all down to personal preference and never forget, a Miroku 32 will not handle like a K80 32, every gun is different. Just my own observations, others may take a different view.

You don't see many K80's in Olympic Trap !

Salopian said:

You don't see many K80's in Olympic Trap !

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Not a lot Pete, but they are there! At international level the Americans seem to like em, so do some of the Germans and a Belgian guy did well with one last year, it was a high rib version too.

Les53 said:

Not a lot Pete, but they are there! At international level the Americans seem to like em, so do some of the Germans and a Belgian guy did well with one last year, it was a high rib version too.

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What length did you opt for with the new gun Les?

I shoot a 31.5" inch with 1640g barrels and I think I would like to try a 30" with slightly lighter barrels.

Harry's MX10 is 29.5" and it feels too fast for me. The difficulty is being able to try different lengths, weights, etc as borrowing a gun for half an hour is next to useless. How are you supposed to know what suits you best before you buy a gun? I guess many of us just make do with what we have bought without ever knowing whether it is the optimum solution.

DT

Dog Tyred said:

What length did you opt for with the new gun Les?

I shoot a 31.5" inch with 1640g barrels and I think I would like to try a 30" with slightly lighter barrels.

Harry's MX10 is 29.5" and it feels too fast for me. The difficulty is being able to try different lengths, weights, etc as borrowing a gun for half an hour is next to useless. How are you supposed to know what suits you best before you buy a gun? I guess many of us just make do with what we have bought without ever knowing whether it is the optimum solution.

DT

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Greg my new gun is 29.5, but barrels are fairly heavy due to the step/semi high rib, can't remember the barrel weight, but the gun weighs 8lb 10oz, so not a real heavyweight, but heavier than say a Miroku with 30 tubes. I suppose I've been fortunate enough to have owned and/or used a great many guns over the years, so when the time came to have a gun made for me, I already knew what I wanted. It handles pretty quickly, but not to the point where stability is reduced. Also because of neck problems, I've had to change my gun mount and head position over the past couple of years, this had to be taken into account when I decided on rib and comb height configuration. 

Dog Tyred said:

What length did you opt for with the new gun Les?

I shoot a 31.5" inch with 1640g barrels and I think I would like to try a 30" with slightly lighter barrels.

Harry's MX10 is 29.5" and it feels too fast for me. The difficulty is being able to try different lengths, weights, etc as borrowing a gun for half an hour is next to useless. How are you supposed to know what suits you best before you buy a gun? I guess many of us just make do with what we have bought without ever knowing whether it is the optimum solution.

DT

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1640... ruddy ell