You can get longer K32 screw-ejector barrels used -- 30 inchers for around $1200 to $1500, 32 inchers for maybe $1500 to $2000 depending on type and condition, and they're usually relatively easy to fit to your receiver, so you can always upgrade for a reasonable cost. As for the gun you're looking at, an older standard, unmodified K32 receiver and fore-iron assembly in good working shape is worth maybe $1500 to $1700; a basic K32 "red fence-post" stock and fore-skin is worth maybe another $300. 28" K32 barrels are essentially worthless -- seriously, tough to sell for even $700, nobody wants them anymore. So if a standard engraved gun is in good condition and everything currently functions properly, if it costs anything less than about $2500, it's probably a pretty safe buy. (Edit: with "7 gold inlays" it sounds like it's a higher grade and may even have some exceptional wood -- as such, it would be worth significantly more than I've indicated above.)

That out of the way, YES you can definitely shoot sporting clays with a 28" barreled gun! You can learn a lot with it, and even work your way up through A class pretty quickly with it -- but most of all, you can have a lot of fun shooting it for the next few years! By the time you're in A class, you'll know better what you want in your gun and barrels, and can make the upgrade decision at that time.

 

I recently shot sporting clays with a Browning Citori Red Label 20ga. with 24" barrels. I could have sold that gun a dozen times based on shooters reactions. Incidentally, in the right hands that gun will break any target presentation. I only hit 36 of 50 but I'm a mediocre sporting clays shooter. I remember a time when 26" barrels were considered optimum for skeet. Opinions change over the years but like a#%#$%*s, everyone has one.

 

I know a guy that shoots a 26.

 

buy it right so you can get your money back at a later time, where I shoot K-32,s are dead, but the market changes from location to location.

 

the shorter barrels are a blast with Long Shot powder.

 

I personally shoot 28,30 and 32” barrels in my k guns, I shoot them all the same honestly. Sporting and skeet is all I shoot.

 

One item I haven't seen in the other replies. If you decide to shoot subgauge events, which I personally have more fun with, those 28" barrels with tube sets would be nice. You can always find a 32" barrel down the road if you just have to have one. Back when I shot a tournament every weekend, I had a 32"/28" 2 barrel set. If we ran in to one of those "blazing fast targets between the trees" that were reflex tests, those 28's were lightning fast, while the 32" saw the most use. But, at that time, everyone thought you had to use 30" barrels for sporting. All the big guns were shooting 30" guns. Kruger, AJ Smith, Tony Booth, Dan Carlisle, Gil Ash, and a ton of other guys I shot with were all 30" shooters with the exception of AJ. He had a custom set of 34" fixed choke barrels on his Winchester. Most of the others used Classic Doubles at one point or another and they were the hot setup. If you find one, buy it. Still nice shooting guns. But they didn't even offer a 32" barrel on the Sporting gun. I shot a Classic Doubles and one day a guy brought in a European Browning 325. It had 32" barrels which had been lightened by back boring. This was before everybody jumped on the bandwagon with the gimmick of just making the entire barrels bigger causing them to swing like pigs. Anyway, as soon as I swung that gun I saw the writing on the wall and began looking for one or a good stand-in. So, barrel lengths weren't always where you find them today. And you know what? People broke a lot of targets with those short barrels.

 

You couldn't LAW a 32 in over under on me for ANY clay target game. They are usually heavy,hard to get started swinging and unwieldy in general. Lots of people like heavy barreled guns because its hard to stop swinging once its started and it carries them through. I like fast swinging,lively in the hands shotguns easy to start swinging but I am a fast shooter to begin with....I don't smoothly and consciously TRACK a target making sure of my leads or "bird/bead" relationship......I see it,my brain says kill it and the gun goes off with no awareness of pulling the trigger. If you are PROPERLY shooting a gun that hits where you look barrel length is unimportant. DON"T think a 32 in barrel will get you any more targets or that you MUST have a 32 in barrel to excel . If you shoot a 32 in barrel and if the gun fits you and you break more targets with one then buy it. It suits you. Just realize that barrel lengths change in popularity over the years.....26 in barrels were a "must have" on a skeet gun 30 years ago.

 

Barrel length is not as important as barrel weight affecting swing dynamics. E.g., a 28" barrel with a weight of 1.7 K.G. may be just as effective as a 32" barrel with a weight of 1.55 to 1.75 K.G. It is how the gun fits and swings for you, not the barrel length that is of primary importance.

 

Absolutely......when you have the gun mounted and are focused on the target and not on aiming, you don’t see 34” vs 32” vs 30”, etc...... you see the blurred bead. It’s the balance and other gun dynamics that factor most. At a certain point though, too short of a barrel really does become too short. I think 28” is about as short as I’d go for any shotgun barrel length. The Sporting course at Griffin & Howe that I shoot at has more target presentations geared for faster swinging guns, than the long-ranged crossers.
Aside: The London gun firm of Churchill, who didn’t have the cache of H&H or Purdey, began a movement with their “XXV”,....a well balanced gun with, as you’d guess it, 25” barrels, and a very good between-the-hands feel. The gun had a tapered rib to give the illusion of looking down a longer pair of barrels.....it never really caught on in the long run, but it kept the firm alive during the post-War years. Gunners using the then-new Churchill method of focusing on the target with a full and quick follow-through, broke outstanding scores at clays, pigeons, and driven birds. It was revolutionary. Bottom line, don’t go with public opinion or what so-called experts of today are using; get what feels right for you. The experts of yesteryear broke scores just as high as today.

For me, at 6’4”, I prefer longer barrels barrels for their balance and feel. Although, I own a Merkel 247SL with 28” barrels and I shoot extremely well with it.......so go figure.

 

Gold inlays like engraving are nothing more then added cost and do nothing to make a firearm shoot better or worse.

 

Well thank god I am not buying or selling,
I have shot sporting with a 26" barrel set for years,
Odd thing is I hit a damn fair many targets, The ones I miss,,, I missed

DGH

 

I used a 26 inch O/U the first time I shot sporting clays. Don't do it! The sun dimmed, volcanoes erupted and tornado's instantly formed from a clear sky while earthquakes rumbled. But I shot ok

 

I own and like to shoot beautiful guns, to me they are a work of art. Like many others have said if the price is right, and the gun fits you extra barrels are easy to find and resonably priced, especially model 32 barrels. Buy it! if you don't it will always be the dream gun that got away.

Buster

 

Homer Clark, Jr. won the World Championship at Pigeons several times with a 26" barreled SxS. 70cm and 72cm barrels are still quite common in the ring. The 72cm will likely work for about anything. The fads and hype for longer barrels make for some fantastic buys on 28"-30" barreled guns. I'd be less a couple deluxe guns if the fools didn't think that 32" barrels were what made George Digweed the monster that he is.
My thanks to the faddies, one and all

 

Do some research on the prices in your area, get it for a good price and try it out. If it doesn't work then go for different barrels, or flip it. Returning it isn't an option so bid with resale in mind.

 

32 ''over/under is the best for me.

 

--------------- Plus it has seven gold inlays.

A very good option for some shooters . If you can not out shoot the other shooters you can all ways impress them with the inlays .

 

Thanks to everyone who has shared their wisdom with me. Here is what I have done. I bought this k80 the set has a 28" and 30" barrel 10 chokes and briley 20,28,.410 plus a couple of gold inlays on the receiver. For$4500. Hopefully I didn't get screwed too badly. Thanks again for everyone's help.

 

Will you autograph my Pirate Flag ??

 

If you like the gun and shoot it well what does it matter what anyone else thinks of it or the price you paid ? If you are pleased with it thats all that matters .

 

Good luck with your purchase if you are happy that's all that matters!

Shoot well! Mike

 

None of these answers take into consideration the variation in sporting targets and courses. FITASC shooters prefer longer barrels for long crossers or trap shots, but short , quick windows the 28" is an advantage.

 

Barrel length is not as important as barrel weight affecting swing dynamics. E.g., a 28" barrel with a weight of 1.7 K.G. may be just as effective as a 32" barrel with a weight of 1.55 to 1.75 K.G. It is how the gun fits and swings for you, not the barrel length that is of primary importance.

I agree 100%. In my early days at skeet, 100 straights were run regularly with 26" barrels. Now it seems no less than 30" is the norm. Personally I think the barrel length thing has more to do with what is in style.

 

For when you can not stand missing you can hop on the bandwagon,,

DGH

 

I'll give you $4650 if you don't like it. You might need another stock to make it fit but there available if you look.

 

I shot a 26" Browning Skeet model for sporting clays for many years and usually shot in the high 80s. I'm a point shooter and the short barrels worked way better for me. Lot depends on the style of shooting you do. If you are a point shooter you want less weight and length to get on the birds quickly. I became a point shooter from being a Grouse hunter and a gunner in field trials years ago. The guys with the dogs loved to have the birds downed quickly and close for their dogs to retrieve. I also shot trap the same way and it worked for me using a 32" KS5. If you are a pass-through shooter the extra length and weight of 30" or longer barrels will help you keep your swing more smoothly and momentum to keep them moving.