3 1/2 vs 3 in

[KRT]

I always heard bigger is better?

[Islandboy]

That's what the little guys say! [img]graemlins/headbanger.gif[/img]

[dukmon]

i shot 2 3/4" tungston this and last season and thought they were better than 3.5" tungston. faster too.

i may try the new 5" next season.

[Fish]

Originally posted by Duck Tape:
3 1/2 shells kick more therefore they are best shot out of a gas gun. Gas guns are more sensitive to cleanliness so I would get the Benelli. Pumps will kick your butt.

If you're motivated by recoil why would you get a Benelli? Those guns will make your nose bleed with light field loads. Again, the ballistic advantage goes to the ten gauge. If you are buying a gun to push 2 onces of payload at ducks, the 10ga is what you want. I have two of them, a BPS and a Ithaca auto and they both have enough weight to reduce recoil to a NON-ISSUE. The BPS can be had for a song. Last time I saw one in a store it was around $600 and that gun is infinitely better than anything Mossberg has or will ever make.

[KRT]

Originally posted by FishWhistle:
The BPS can be had for a song. Last time I saw one in a store it was around $600 and that gun is infinitely better than anything Mossberg has or will ever make. [/QB]

In your opinion maybe?

[Sportin' Woodies]

If you're motivated by recoil why would you get a Benelli? Those guns will make your nose bleed with light field loads.

have you ever shot one? i experience no such thing. have never even noticed 3.5 steels recoil while hunting.
and as for the huge debate....
shoot what you kill birds with first, then look at power/range/recoil options.
i love 3.5's esp on those coots that refuse to land IN the decoys. you can always shoot 23/4 outta the 3.5 chamber.

to agree with fish...
we spend thousands of dollars on boats, motors, decoys, hunting leases, liscenses, as well as time away from work on duck hunting. why not get the ONE duck gun that you love. spend the extra couple of $100 instead of buying a mossberg or charles daly etc.

[quackaddict]

if i were you i would get a 3.5" 870 cause like someone said earlier you can always shoot 23/4 through the bigger chamber and on top of that youve got a remington. cant beat that with a stick. if you wanna be a big guy and shoot the big shells, dont complain about the kick and stick with a pump.

[Fish]

Yes, I have shot them SportinAShortDick on numerous occasions. Benelli automatic shotguns for the most part kick far more than the automatic shotguns made by their parent company, Beretta, which incidentaly KRT, like the BPS is an infinitely better shotgun. In my opinion, there is no opinion surrounding the fact that Mossbergs are cheap and are not built to the same quality and standards of the aforementioned guns.

[KRT]

Why in the hell do you shoot a 10 gauge? Skybusting?

That sums it all up about you. Hell I thought you bought a layout to get on em, not shoot at them a mile away?

If your gonna pay that kinda money for a pump, why not buy a nelli?

BTW my mosseburg has killed a many of ducks and I paid 275.00 for it and no problems as of yet

[Fish]

I shoot 2.75" or 3" shells. I don't need all that horsepower. The 10 gauge guns are from that era that lasted from the end of lead shot to the beginning of the new nontox shot. I haven't used those 10s in at least 6 years.

My point is...if you feel the need to shoot ducks with all the firepower you can muster and recoil is a problem for you, the 10ga is the answer.

Mossberg is and always will be crap. [img]graemlins/devil-flip.gif[/img]

[CPiper]

I am by NO means an expert, just a plain ol deer hunter that prefers to use a smoothbore to shoot deer.
As far as a pump for 3.5", Id go with a 870.
For a Semi, Id go with a Benelli SBE, or maybe a Browning Gold. Im sure other have their opinions, this is just mine.

Last year in the NWTF mag, cant remember which month, there was a article on 3" vs 3.5" and it was eye opening.
A Mossberg 835 with a 3.5" 2.25oz load of #4's kicks harder then a Winchester .458 rifle.
IMHO, why in the world would you punish yourself and possibly work into a flinch situation with that sort of HEAVY recoil.
And if memory serves me correctly the only area 3.5" had over 3" was pattern density, or maybe a longer/shorter shot string, that was all, OH, and HEAVIER recoil!!
In fact, for avg turkey loads, the 3" out performs the avg 3.5" per NWTF's tests.
I know for me, it just aint worth the headache, particularly at the range!!

Here is a good read on Magnum SHot Shells:
http://www.discovertheoutdoors.com/h...?articleid=593

Most shot shell boxes will have drams of powder listed as "max" which is typically 4 drams of powder or "magnum" which is typically 3.75 drams of powder.
For 12ga both 3" and 3.5" shells can have 4 drams of powder. The longer 3.5" shells does equate into more shot. This is where all that physics and mathamatical and E2 squared stuff comes into play - the 3" shells usually have a higher velocity then the 3.5" shells; has something to do with velocity/energy it takes to move that heavier load ..... that is why the 2.75" shot shells have a higher velocity.
Any of our local mathemiticans/physics wanna take a stab at that one??!! LOL!!

Compare the 3.5" 10ga to the 3" 12ga and see what Im talking about.

Sorry, dang link wont work ..
let me try this .... maybe copy and paste?
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/resou...s/hibasbal.htm

For example:
Nitro Mag Buffered Magnum Shells
3.5" 10ga has 2.25oz of shot, 4.5 dram of powder and will make the pellets fly at 1210FPS
3" 12ga has 1 7/8oz of shot, only 4 drams of powder and they fly at 1210FPS.
The 10ga has more powder, more shot, MORE recoil, yet same velocity. IF I was going to punished on the back end, Id for one would rather what was coming out the front end be FAR more potent then JUST, lets see, how much does 1/8 of on oz added to 1/4 of an oz weigh?? Only more shot, and if you cant hit the deer/duck with XX amount of pellets, what good is 20 more gonna do ya?? LOL!! Cept give a B&B mark and a headache!


For me, in the long run .... an 870 with 3" shells and Im a HAPPY HAPPY boy!! For what its worth.

[skyduck]

I can't believe I'm doing this but Fish is right about the recoil. It's like pushing cow shit through a rats ass with the 3 1/2 verse the 10. And anyone that thinks recoil doesn't affect their shooting is crazy. I don't understand why your worried about the powder charge. The payload and forcing cones in your gun are where most of the recoil will come from.Unless your shooting some crazy light weight stuff that's so slow it'll bouce off what your shooting at. The gauge of the gun verse the payload and how much it's sqeezed going down the barrel. Example. A standard 20ga load is 7/8 oz of shot. The cheap rem shells from walmart in 12 ga are 7/8 oz. Doesn't it make since that the 12 would kick less as the barrel isn't restricting the light load. My highest averages in skeet are with the 28ga because of the lack of recoil. I'm shooting 3/4 oz of #9 shot at 21 yards. Use the least you need for what your doing. I could be wrong but it doesn't sound like you should be taking shots much past 30 yards so no matter how much shot you throw out there It probably isn't going to help.

[CPiper]

Oh, I forgot to add ..... Mossybergs are pieces of crap ... almost. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Gander]

Originally posted by Fatfish:
I'm far from the caliber of Gander in the smoothbore category, but he is 100% correct. Spend some time busting clays and learing what your gun is capable of, and you'll surprise your partners next season.

As one of Gander's shooting partners is fond of saying "it's not the wand, but the magician". (who would that be Gander?)

That would be none other than JAH.

This thread is kinda funny. You guys will argue about anything. Just be thankful we are all free to shoot what we want. And have a little fun this summer shooting some clays. Duck season is over.

[CPiper]

I WOULD NOT ARGUE ABOUT ANYTHING - NO I WOULD NOT!!
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[img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Sportin' Woodies]

fishfizzle, youve tried the new benelli's?
perhaps you can remove the maxipad from your nether region and apply it to your stock.

[quackaddict]

[img]graemlins/lol.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/lol.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/lol.gif[/img]

nicely put SW's

[Fatfish]

Fish Pickle is in Key Largo scuba diving....feel free to give him plenty of shit whilst he's not around a computer, and he can't argue with you at all

[Wing Nut]

I send all my shot guns off to have the forcing cone lenghtened, it helps in more ways than one.

I have a 3.5" BPS that doesn't kick any harder than a 3" pump gun.

[Gander]

I’m gonna have to disagree with that. Long forcing cones were never intended to reduce recoil. It was intended to produce better patterns with lead shot. A gradual taper is supposed to reduce the probability of deforming soft shot. I had a Gold 10 ga done by Briley and I found no benefit, either in recoil or steel shot patterns. If you want to reduce recoil, you will have to reduce the payload, reduce the velocity or increase the weight of the gun.