I just sold a very nice flintlock yesterday. It had a 42 inch swamped 54 caliber Rice barrel. It cleaned up very easy, and well as load, because the machining was well done. Great barrels from Rice. Very quick, because it had a quality lock, and importantly it was lined up correctly. Great balance at the rear sight, and that made it OK to carry and hold. Probably easier to carry than you would predict.
So why did I sell it? With the long barrel it was 58 inches long. It was a little bit of a pain to carry in the thicker mountain brush here. It was also 8 pounds 14 ounces, with that long barrel. So again not the best form factor for gray hair and old knees. Typically I can walk 3-7 miles in a hunt on very rough terrain, when I hunt with a crew chasing deer. Light/compact is better.
I have a 54 Jaeger with a 32 inch swamped barrel at 6.5 pounds. It is twice as easy to hunt as the big Virginia form. Again that is me, and my hunts. The long Virginia was a great rifle, but personally I prefer the "carbine". Again, I like a rifle under 7.5 pounds, and a barrel a bit little shorter than 42.
