Is 22" too short for this caliber?
..............Nope! But as with all magnum rifle cartridges, you`ll always get slightly better performance from a longer barrel.
If you`re going to hunt in thicker brush country or in thicker timber country, a shorter, handier, more nimble and faster rifle is always a plus.
You won`t lose or compromise that much velocity or long range capability at all with 4" of shorter barrel length. With my 16.5" 300 WSM Ruger Frontier carbine, (7.5" shorter than a 24"), I`m running 4.5% to 5% behind in overall velocity to the 24" barreled 300 WSMs. There should be less an overall percentage of loss going from a 26" 7 mag down to a 22" 7 mag.
Sure! Shorter barrels are noisier and that may be a small downside. But, "WE ALL" should be wearing good ear protection anyway,,,,regardless of barrel length.
Anyone who is hard of hearing due to rifle noise and complains about the shorter barrel noise, has only himself to blame.
