Barrel length 693 vittoria

My wife is looking at a 693 vittoria. She is just not sure what barrel length to go for. Either 28 or 30”. She is 1.73mtr tall. The gun would be used mainly for skeet and parcours. Later on perhaps also to hunt with. 

Just let her try a few guns with different barrel lengths, and let her decide what she prefers.
I think 30” is the better choice for a combination of the mentioned disciplines , but she might disagree.
 

Personally, I'd go for the 30. I used to shoot a 28 barrel gun. The longer barrels are just a bit steadier and more 'pointable' on longer targets.

I told my wife its not the length that matters, its how you use it !

Go for the 30”, steadier all round

A gun designed for ladies - such as the 693 vittoria - will be lighter than a standard 693 and this may have involved weight being removed from the stock which will change the balance and may make 28 inch barrels a better choice. Also, if your wife doesn't shoot much, a 28 inch gun may suit her better. Height is not really the issue but build etc will be and how easily she copes with the guns weight. You can always remove some weight from the stock or add some external chokes if you need to balance it up to get a bit more front end weight - it is however hard to remove !!. Generally skeet is easier with lighter (shorter) barrels and the same maybe true if out hunting for any length of time. All three of the 'girls' in my family prefer a 28 inch gun thought the keen shooter has external chokes on hers to add a bit more weight. If she doesn't shoot much a gun which is 200g lighter may make help her no end when she does.

All of this may sound contrary to the advioce above. If your wife will shoot on a regular basis and has the muscle strength to use a 30 inch gun, she will benefit from the extra weight making the gun steadier. If not a lighter gun (with shorter berrels) could be balanced out to feel the same.

If you look at the 686 and 686 Vittoria specs it just says from 3kg for both of them.  I don't think they have changed the weight with the Vittoria, just comb height, length, pitch and grip radius.  A lighter gun isn't necessarily an advantage - you get more felt recoil for the same cartridge size with a lighter gun.

I (female) shoot a 30 barrel gun, Donna I think has 32 barrels on hers (although we are both Kreighoff shooters rather than Berettas).  I'm about 5'4, but am not of a slight build.  Donna is under 5ft and there is nothing of her.

She really needs to handle them both and make her own mind up

Thank you all for the answers so far. All comment are helpfull in the process of making a decision.

Charliedog said:

She really needs to handle them both and make her own mind up

Click to expand...

You are very right. That would be the ideal way. But so far we have not found the way to try them both side by side here in Holland. She has been lucky that she has been able to try one in 28".

You can try Voskuil (Aalten) and/or Colenbrander (Halle).
Both are family owned shooting grounds with a shop, located approximately 15 minutes from each other.

Normally no problem to try different guns at Voskuil, and I’m pretty sure that Colenbrander will give you this opportunity as well.

Bosch and Vollenhoven (Vorden) might also be an option.
A few years ago they’ve bought a shooting ground.
Never been there, so can’t comment on possibilities.

As far as I know, van Rhee (Elspeet) offers the opportunity to try guns at the shooting ground in Didam.
If you’re seriously interested, they’re sometimes willing to offer this service at other grounds.

There are a few other options, but I don’t think you’re looking at options outside The Netherlands.

Good luck searching for the best option.

Joost, 

My recommendation would be the 28", and I'll explain my reasoning. First, I concur with the above on any weight reduction for a "ladies gun" being done at the rear end of the gun, not in the barrels. While I can't account for your SO's preference, most ladies I know don't like a forward heavy gun as it requires more effort from the non-dominant hand and arm. Second reason is the chokes that Beretta makes a really wide selection of chokes, with the usual set being 20mm extended chokes. A 28" barrel is then already closer to 29" than 28". Should she feel the need for more length (and weight), Beretta makes OHCP chokes that are extended up to 50mm, so you can turn a 28" barrel into a 30" if you so desire. The other way round requires a hacksaw.

I realise all preferences are personal, but as my skeet game improved I went the other way and swapped the extended chokes for flush ones. (Saving all of twenty millimeters and a bit of weight at the barrels end, but it felt better to me.) I have at times wondered whether I should have bought a 26" and a set of 50mm extended chokes for the odd round of sporting.  

Enjoy the search and congrats on being able to share the fun.   

I'm finding it quite entertaining that the two female shooters that have responded to this thread have recommended 30" barrels and all the blokes are saying 28".

May I suggest you also consider the fabarm n2 , I know some one with one , tried the various options from beretta and others first and in their words just didnt feel right , tried a fabarm and bought it , doing well with it and certainly the cast etc etc suits them well , they have the 28" barrels which are light , so in that it would be personal preferance depending on your physical fitness/size what you go for,32" also available.  these are multi choke , worth noting that not like years gone by they are super long thin wall so dont affect balance and throw superb patterns going by the hits.   Other makers could do with looking at the quality of work on these chokes and upping theirs thats for sure. I have teague thin wall in mine and they are better quality than that in my eyes ,which is saying a lot about fabarms quality as teagues is excellent.

Bebo - It is interesting and equally could be seen as a bit sexist !! It is not intended as such at all.

Much comes down to the person involved and amount of shooting. Guns are not light. It is very easy for someone to be put off by a heavy gun when a little weight saving would have made the day longer and more fun. I know a fit & able bloke who takes his light B25 when its a full day out (250+) for that reason and personally I do weights & swim to help reduce fatigue.

I wouldn't dream of telling my youngest what length barrels she needed - she know how guns feel - but when she comes back from Uni it always takes 3 ot 4 trips out before she is Ok shooting 100 plus in a day. She knows that and doesn't expect to get back to her 'A' game until her fitness is up. I also recall the process of 410, 20 & finally 12 guage, balancing out the guns weight with her size & in particularly her strength. Equally my wife shoots once every 6 months and hates my youngest's heavy Winchester when a light 686 Essential game is available. I also recommend the 686 for any men who come along (often the girls boyfriends etc) because no matter what they think they will get tired.

The question tended to suggest to me that the OPs wife was no able to decide herself which suggested she may not be a regular etc.

From a personal perspective, I prefer 30 inch barrels but I have also put some weight in the stock bolt hole. I agree entirely that anybody fit enough for 100 plus a day once a week is better served with longer barrels subject to the comment about skeet.

Part of the issue with weight for beginners is the amount of time they take mounting the gun and getting comfortable before calling pull.  If I held the gun up that long I'd probably struggle.  However, as you get more confident that time reduces and holding up an 8lb gun for a round of 100 clays isn't an issue.  My upper body strength is crap, but I have no problem managing my Parcours.  

If you go for the shorter barrels now, be aware that if she gets into it and starts taking comps seriously that you might end up having to change it in the future.

If the lady in question is going to “ hunt “ ( shoot game I assume  ) she is going to be shooting gun down . From that assumption the most important thing is that she has has a gun that fits her anatomy as her shots are going to be made from gun down , so she will be bringing the “  wood to face “ , not “ face to wood “ . The 30” barrels make it much more versatile for everything from a clay to fur and feather  .  More importantly than the barrel length if the gun is going to be used for “ hunting “  ensure that the grip radius is such that as she brings the gun into her shoulder she can operate the “ safety “   From safe to fire  and back again . Totally irrelevant on a clay gun but vital on a gun for the field .

For what it’s worth my late wife shot a proper  old school 30” 682 gold , and shot it into her late 60s . It had been properly fitted to her . If someone had given her the “ little lady” talk , they’d have had their 28” shoved where the sun doesn’t shine .  . 

Neither my wife or I would qualify as "small"...   I've (we've) shot 28"/72cm barrels for 25+ years now.  I've tried 30" and 32" in a variety of weights and configurations and I always return to the 72cm.  My wife shoots an MX8 with 72cm barrels and factory screw-ins in both barrels.  The gun has added as well a 75cm fixed choke barrel (that is only 0.02kg heavier by the stamping) and a Tula choked 70cm skeet barrel that is the same weight as the 72cm barrel.  She has never expressed any great liking for either of those and uses the 72cm with changed choke tubes for everything.

We have always shot fast target games and pigeons and just never got on with long barrels for any game with tricky targets.

JMO of course

Oh - and people always mention that longer barrels resell more easily.  I'd suggest that if you're worried about resale you're not buying the right gun to start with.  Again, JMO

AND barrel length alone alone is no indicator of how the gun will feel and handle.  Barrel weight, gun weight, weight distribution, fitting considerations, etc all add up and to say a particular barrel length (in isolation) is the hot set-up may not be the most valuable advice.  And of course there is no ballistic advantage to anything longer than maybe 24"-25" barrels.

be safe and have another day

Bebo said:

I'm finding it quite entertaining that the two female shooters that have responded to this thread have recommended 30" barrels and all the blokes are saying 28".

Click to expand...

No implications intended. I think that those who shoot sporting are reading that it will be used for "(...) and parcours", whereas I'm reading "it will be mainly used for skeet". Hence my suggestion to try 28" barrels for skeet and have the extended chokes on hand where sporting would benefit from 30". Best of both worlds. 

Does she already have a gun, or will it be her first one?
If she already has one, she’s probably able to explain what she likes/dislikes about it.

If she wants to use it mainly for clay shooting, the 693 seems to be relatively light.
I’ve seen quite some shooters that have bought a ‘hunting’ model for clays, as these weren’t so heavy compared to competition models.
Most of them regretted this choice after a while, especially the ones shooting a lot.

In the end your wife is the only person that can decide which gun will be the best choice for her.
Only thing I can recommend, is to let her try as many guns as she can.
After this you might be surprised about what she prefers.

I was so stupid to buy my first gun based on recommendations from others and after only trying two guns.
I thought it would be my last gun.
What was I thinking...