Youth Models for clay

[twoblink]

I'm looking at buying a Urika AL391; but I happened to see that they have a youth model with a 24" barrel instead of a 27", which is attractive to me; but wondering if using that for clay will put me at some sort of disadvantage or not? Or no big deal?

 

[drsfmd]

Shorter barrels give a shorter sighting plane. They are also lighter, and in a clays gun, that's not a good thing.,

 

[twoblink]

Ok, thanks.

 

[Fu-man Shoe]

I think it can depend. I have a 20 ga. youth model Mossberg and it's the best thing ever for shooting clays. It's light, it's easy to mount up to your shoulder, and it has very little recoil.

I've taught many people to shoot backyard clays with that 20 ga. "bantam" model, and it's one of my personal favorites because it's so easy to hit with.

That's the thing however. I'm shooting at backyard clays. It's not very high speed or formal. It may not work for you if you're going to a "real" competitive clay range.

 

[Bud Tugly]

It mostly depends on what you're going to use it for. Longer and heavier barrels give a smoother swing, which is great for shooting at game or targets that are visible long enough for you to follow their path before shooting. More weight also means less recoil so that's a plus for high volume shooting. O/U and semi-auto guns weighing 8+ pounds with 30-34" barrels are commonly used for competitive clay shooting.

Then there's hunting upland game in fairly dense cover. Here you have a very short window to shoot and possibly no chance to track the bird's flight so short and light are a big plus. Most guns used for this purpose will weigh no more than about 6 1/2 pounds and barrels are often 26" or less. The classic gun for this purpose is a lightweight SxS double, Ithaca 37 featherweight pump, and similar models.

I've hunted grouse in dense cover for over 45 years so I love short light guns and even a 28" barrel feels live a telephone pole to me. OTOH someone used to hunting waterfowl or flatland pheasants or shooting competition clays would hate my type of guns thinking they felt like toys.

 

[oneounceload]

A short barrel, being shorter and lighter, has different inertia and swing dynamics than a longer heavier barrel. While faster to get moving, they are also faster to stop moving - not always a good thing.

On the sporting clays fields where folks are using a semi, the gun typically has 30 or even 32" barrels. These would approximate the barrel length of a 32 or 34" O/U respectively.

I would try to go with a standard 28 as a minimum - good all around for clays and birds except for the tightest grouse coverts.

 

[twoblink]

I have a 20 Gauge Browning BPS (I'm left handed) so I'll still be looking at a 20 Gauge. But things to think about. 28" might be the way to go.. I tried a 32", VERY long.. It didn't look it on the rack, but it felt very long when I held it.