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Some years ago, the NRA Technical Staff did a test on what effect barrel length had on shotguns.
They bought a Marlin Goose Gun with a 36" barrel and mounted a choke on the end.
They fired the gun for pattern and velocity, then cut the barrel off one inch and re-mounted the choke.
They continued this in one inch increments until they got the barrel down to about 12 inches.
Their results:
Anything that is going to happen inside a shotgun barrel will happen within 18".
Anything over about 28" and you actually start to lose velocity due to friction.
Barrel length has no effect at all on patterns. An 18" barrel can shoot the same patterns as a 36" barrel. Patterns are determined mostly by the choke.
Things didn't "get out of hand" until the barrel was down to around 12".
The idea that a longer barrel will shoot "harder" or "farther" is a left-over from the days of black powder when longer barrels burned the black powder more effectively.
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