waterboy said:
I have a nova as well, with a 26" barrel. how does length of barrel affect your patterns if at all, and how does it relate with different choke tubes? On the opener I used my modified choke tube and shot 3" Kent 2 shot. I had a hard time knocking ducks out to 30 to 35 yards.
I would say that a barrel's length has a very, very limited effect on your pattern. I would imagine if you took 2 guns and everything was identical with both except the barrel length, the pattern would be more open with a shorter barrel. How much more would depend on the difference in lengths but I can't see it being much without a huge difference in lengths simply because how much does a pattern spread per inch of flight? Not much right? But in theory there should be a minute difference.
Have you patterned your gun with those shells? 30-35 yds with a mod should be very lethal. If anything, I'd guess the pattern is a little tight but still good density wise. I'm not sure if you're saying you were hitting them but they weren't dropping or you were just missing them. If your gun is patterning good and the birds are within range, which they certainly are, the shooter's probably to blame. I've been shooting for years and still suck ( I used to REALLY suck), but I've learned alot by shooting clays. It doesn't matter what you're shooting if you're not shooting it correctly. Dead pigeons= dead ducks.