Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Long or short barrel

I'm having trouble with this, i ask people if it is better to have a long barrel or a short one and everyone has something different to say. what do you think? Is it better to have a longer barrel than a shorter barrel?

Build for balance,the rest will fall into place.

I've struggled with that in the past also! I've pretty much decided to do 30" barrels on everything.

What?

You are in well over your head...kick back towards the shallow end,before it is too late.

Uhmmm, Long or short?

[bleep] floats,you'll be OK.

Oh my god!

That's something to be decided after many other things are already settled. By itself the question is nearly meaningless.

im not getting the picture, ive decided on the gun i want but the barrel is 22" is that too short

What rifle, and what calibre?

R.

sako 85 finnlight, 30-06

22" is plenty for getting most of the ballistic capability of a 30-06. As mentioned before, the overriding consideration is balance. Does the rifle handle the way you want it to?

As above. That rifle should balance an inch or so from the front of the trigger guard. Nice rifle, lots of barrel.

R.

Ok I gotta sell my rem m700 so i have money

It should be in seven em em

........Depends on the how, the where and what the rifle will be used for and the personal preferences. You should also know the advantages with a shorter barrel and the dis-advantages.

The only real or main advantage for a longer barrel vs a shorter one is added velocity. A longer barrel does not necessarily mean better accuracy, but on the other hand, shorter barrels can be inherently more accurate because they have less barrel length to writhe, vibrate or resonate due to their shorter lengths.

Shooting from the bench, the shorter tubes will heat up faster than the longer barrels, which is why I take at least 2 to 3 minutes in-between my shots with my compact Ruger. And, I certainly don`t do any rapid fire while on any hunt.

Yes! They will be noisier. But all this biz about additional muzzle flash is over-rated and over exaggerated hype. My 300 WSM compact has no noticeable daytime muzzle flash and I don`t hunt in low light or in darkness anyway.

If you`re thinking of a shorter barreled rifle, certain cartridges imo, are well suited and are great performers from the shorter tubes without sacrificing too much velocity to the longer barrels. The overall velocity loss difference between my rifle and two 24" 300 WSMs I`ve tested, was only 4.2% to 4.5% using identical loadings.

Where the shorter barreled rifles really excel is with their carrying ability, handling in the field, manuverability in their quickness to point, manuverability as truck guns, saddle guns, as stand guns and are better suited for the thicker timbers and brush. When the rifle is slinged on my shoulder, the muzzle is well below the top of my head which is great in the brush. I can also carry the rifle by its pistol grip, with my arm down at my side, with the muzzle well above the ground when pointed at the ground.

I happen to really enjoy carrying around and hunting with a 35.5" long rifle that has the performance of a 26" barreled 30-06 AI which is about 11" longer in OAL.

I`ll gladly compromise a little velocity along with having a louder report, in return for more important advantages.

In any discussion between longer vs shorter barrels, velocity loss is the top subject of conversation. Most criticize the shorter tubes because of what is automatically perceived as an enormous amount of velocity loss, which is simply not true. Maybe in the `ol days, but not anymore with todays more modern and refined powder technology.

As a further thought. If you had in mind going from say a 24" barrel down to a 22" er, you`re not really exploiting any real true advantages of the shorter barrel. Might as well stay with a 24 inch. To really take advantage of the benefits I mentioned above, the maximum barrel length should be no more than 20" long and imo preferably shorter. A 20" barrel will reduce the rifle OAL by at least 4 inches.

I've got two Ruger 77 Compacts. They have 16.5" barrels. They are my FAVORITE bolt guns for hunting. They pack extremely well.
Virgil B.

22" barrel is good for me. I have a 23" a couple 24" and a 26" and they bang on the safe, the other guns in the safe, the furniture and the truck doors plus they get hung on fences and brush and everything else.

24", 26", and + may have a place, but not with me. I'll keep the one's I have but I'm not especially looking for any more. To say I'm a klutz is an understatement but these days I just don't need long barrels.