This is a sporter, field carry, build. I do not want a long, heavy bbl. I’ll be carrying the thing more than shooting it.
Generally speaking, if on the fence, are you better off with more twist out of a slightly shorter bbl, or does it matter?
The barrel length doesn't matter when it comes to twist. More twist is better than too little, any supposed accuracy loss with light bullets and fast twists is theoretical at best. The only time a fast twist might hurt accuracy with light bullets is if the bullet is poorly balanced which isn't the case with most good bullets today. I've got an 8 twist .223 that shoots 40 gr ballistic tips into one ragged hole, it wouldn't do that if fast twists caused accuracy problems. More and more long 7mm bullets are coming out, Barnes has the 168 gr. LRX, Berger now has a 184 gr. and Sierra has a 197 gr. Years ago a 9 twist would handle most any 7mm bullet but today that's not the case. You're not going to hurt anything with an 8 twist instead of a 9 but you will limit your options if you go with the slower twist. It's a no brainer in my opinion.
I agree with you about the 24" barrel. Mine's 24" and I wouldn't go longer for a hunting rifle, it wouldn't even bother me if it were an inch or two shorter. The velocity loss is overblown but longer barrels are significantly more of a pain to carry.
