A 20" barrel should be fine for turkey/HD double duty. Barrel length with a shotgun is mostly about balance and handling, modern shotshells won't lose significant power until you get extremely short - shorter than is usually possible with an 870. You'll want to find one with sights that'll work for both roles, like rifle sights or a vent-rib (the latter might need to be a custom job, there aren't a lot of 12ga 20" vent-rib options out there), and interchangeable choke tubes would be a good idea too. Chokes for turkey hunting have very tight constrictions, and defensive ammo like buckshot does better out of more open chokes like Improved Cylinder or Modified (your 28" barrel likely came with at least one of those tubes).TyStick77 wrote:I was wondering if a 20" would be too short to shoot Turkeys with? If its not, my Son would be able to hold it better than the 28" that's on it right now and I wouldn't have to change it back and forth as much. I could just use the 20" for the house and the 28" for Trap. Originally I was going to get a 18.5 for the house but if a 20" would work it would be perfect. An inch and a 1/2 isn't that big of a difference unless, well you know. lol
Got to love how flexible an 870 is, right? There's almost no reason to own more than one unless you want different gauges.
Very nice. My dad's gun is a 12ga Model 37 pump, but I have a friend who owns an old SxS 20ga Ithaca. Sweet little thing with a Mod x IC choke setup. She and I both use our 870s for trap, but she'll bring out that little 20ga occasionally, so I get to admire it and have a chance at beating her score.TyStick77 wrote:Synch. The first Shotgun I ever fired was a Ithaca 20g side x side. My Dads also... It was my favorite gun growing up and sits proudly in my gun case now!!
