Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Thoughts on short barreled hunting rifles

I am of the camp that sees little advantage in short barrels on rifles. Any handiness gained by going below 22” or so exists mainly in someone’s mind. If you’re hunting in brush so thick that six inches of barrel makes a difference in how well you can get through, you’re in the wrong place. You won’t be able to see anything, much less shoot at it. I have rifles with barrels as short as 16 inches and as long as 26. Most are somewhere in the middle. I much prefer shooting the longer ones. I find even the couple of 20 inch.223’s I have to be unpleasantly loud.