Barrel length?

[screamin]

Guys, I have a Lyman Deerstalker in 54 cal and am considering getting a longer barrel. I do believe the Trade Rifle barrel will drop right in, anyone know for sure? If it will I'd go from a 24" length to 28". The plan is to shoot patched balls and I realize that 1:48 twist is not the ideal twist for balls so I could drop in a 32" GMB with 1:70 twist but I'm trying to avoid that because of the added weight. The gun weighs 7 1/2lbs now which is a joy carrying in the mountains. The 28" barrel would probably take it to a little over, or at, 8lbs. The 32" would probably take it up over 9lbs.

The question is though, at longer ranges is a longer barrel consistently more accurate than a short barrel?

 

[Jim Evans]

Why not just buy a New Trade Rifle I'd think it would cost less in the long run.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Why not just buy a New Trade Rifle I'd think it would cost less in the long run.

Thanks for the link. I had never seen a Trade Rifle pic. Very familiar look, sans the patchbox.

 

[screamin]

I've thought about that, but the stock on this deerstalker fits me so well that if the drop is not the same on the trade rifle I'm not going to like it. Besides, it's still cheaper to buy a barrel even though that is a great deal..

 

[gl1200a]

There is nothing wrong with 1:48 for prb.
"Drop in" may not be drop in.
I'm going through this right now with a Investarm Hawken. Hammer to nipple alignment is off. Also having a bedding issue. Just a heads up if you go with the GM IBS barrel, it may require some tinkering.

 

[ebiggs1]

1:48 twist is not the ideal

That is nonsense. You must shoot any barrel before you can say is isn't good. Your barrel will probably do just fine.
Some of the real original rifles had 1:48 ROT barrels. Try it first. I am not trying to talk you out of getting a different barrel but you just may be surprised. :wink:

 

[BrownBear]

The question is though, at longer ranges is a longer barrel consistently more accurate than a short barrel?

The longer sighting radius might help, but I'm not aware of any correlation between barrel length and accuracy other than that.

Oh, wait a minute. If the extra weight out front helps you steady the gun for offhand shooting, then it might improve your offhand accuracy even if there's no difference between the two from benchrest. My "most accurate" centerfire gun for offhand shooting barely manages 2" at 100 yards from a bench, but I shoot it much more accurately than any of my guns that shoot less than 1/2" groups from the bench. You could "test" that effect before spending money on a barrel by taping a pound or so of weight to your barrel out near the muzzle.

One point on that Deerstalker 54- It's my wife's favorite gun, and she has her choice of lots. Shoots it better than most guys I know, but in my hands it's nowhere near as accurate as my GPR's. That's because I don't get along with the trigger. I haven't found any drop-in replacements (double or single), but I bet I could improve it a lot with some trigger work. Trouble is, my wife would break my fingers if I changed a thing on her rifle! :rotf:

 

[Dphar]

There is a reason "chunk" rifles have long barrels (48" or longer is common) and its not to put the muzzle closer to the target.
A long sight radius in more accurate. Try shooting groups at 50 yards with a 1 7/8" barreled S&W K frame and a 6" barreled K frame. All other factors being equal the two may produce the same mechanical accuracy. But the longer sight radius will shoot better groups on average.

Dan

 

[Bill Hall]

Pertaining to accuracy versus barrel length, Dan and Brown Bear make some good points. The length of a barrel has no inherent effect on accuracy. The only thing that matters is what that bullet or ball is doing when it leaves the barrel. A longer barrel does add a more optimum sight radius, but that has nothing to do with making the bullet twist and fly straight as it leaves the bore, just helps us see what we're doing a little better.

On the down side, it can be argued that a longer barrel adds more "barrel time", which means the recoil has more time to move the barrel before the bullet has time to exit, thus affecting the bullet's path. Probably neglegable though, since we don't hear much about it among shooting circles. Mostly guys like me mentioning it in an attempt look smart. :surrender: :rotf: lol.

I've often wondered if it were possible to make a short barreled rifle, or even a handgun, more accurate by extending the front sight way out in front of the muzzle. Just as an experiment. I think, at least theoretically, you could increase the accuracy just by adding a longer sight radius. But in reality, the front sight would probably be blown off from the pressure of the blast. This is how my mind works. Bill

 

[BrownBear]

Just as an experiment. I think, at least theoretically, you could increase the accuracy just by adding a longer sight radius. But in reality, the front sight would probably be blown off from the pressure of the blast. This is how my mind works. Bill

Boy, there's something to that I think! I leaned across the hood of my truck for some informal "benchrest" shooting, about half way down the hood with the barrel reaching a little less than half way across. There was a rock chip over on the passenger side of the windshield with one tiny little crack starting to spread from it.

Made the shot, and happened to glance at the windshield as I was lowering the rifle afterward. Had four big long spider cracks ranging in all directions with one reaching all the way across the drivers side. Jeeeeeeeezoooopeeeet. :rotf:

 

[Dphar]

Pertaining to accuracy versus barrel length, Dan and Brown Bear make some good points. The length of a barrel has no inherent effect on accuracy. The only thing that matters is what that bullet or ball is doing when it leaves the barrel. A longer barrel does add a more optimum sight radius, but that has nothing to do with making the bullet twist and fly straight as it leaves the bore, just helps us see what we're doing a little better.


On the down side, it can be argued that a longer barrel adds more "barrel time", which means the recoil has more time to move the barrel before the bullet has time to exit, thus affecting the bullet's path. Probably neglegable though, since we don't hear much about it among shooting circles. Mostly guys like me mentioning it in an attempt look smart. :surrender: :rotf: lol.

I've often wondered if it were possible to make a short barreled rifle, or even a handgun, more accurate by extending the front sight way out in front of the muzzle. Just as an experiment. I think, at least theoretically, you could increase the accuracy just by adding a longer sight radius. But in reality, the front sight would probably be blown off from the pressure of the blast. This is how my mind works. Bill

In off hand rifles the reduction on the wobble will more than offset the barrel time problem.
Longer barrels simply move slower than the short ones. Long barrels hang better.
By 26-28" the velocity is high enough that the next 12-20" go pretty fast.
Extending the sight radius?
Look into 22 RF target rifles with "bloop tubes".

Dan

 

[screamin]

hey thanks guys. You know, after I asked this question I got to thinking about the whole thing quite a bit, I tend to over analyze everything. I also had a little range time and I came to the conclusion that I can only see so far shooting with iron sights any way. So what I need to do is switch out some peep inserts to see how well I can see them on a longer barrel verses a short. Cause in the end, I think a guy can only shoot as far as he can see :idunno:

 

[Spikebuck]

Cause in the end, I think a guy can only shoot as far as he can see :idunno:

You can shoot a lot further than you can see....you just can't hit it!!! :grin:

 

[Rifleman1776]

Words like "ideal", "best", etc. are impossible to quantify and prove or disprove.
Twist does affect rifle performance. A 1:48" twist, especially in larger bores using a pbr, can be very finicky as far as optimum accuracy is concerned. However, in museums that post specs of the old guns, you will find many, or most, had a 1:48" twist. My personal theory for that being that 'back then' they used lighter charges to save powder. We have different priorities today. For anythng over .40 cal. I would opt (and do) for slower twists.
As far as adding a couple inches to the barrel, all that will do is increase the 'hang' weight but it will give a better sighting radius. Neither is better or worse. Your preference really.

 

[roundball]

"...is a longer barrel consistently more accurate than a short barrel?...

After using numbers of 28"/32"/38"/42" barrels, in various calibers and smoothbores, my personal experience is that longer barrels have always been more accurate.

Direct personal barrel comparisons have included:
28" & 32" vs. 42" in .45cal
28" & 32" vs. 42" in .50cal
32" vs. 42" in .54cal smoothbore
32" vs. 38" in .58cal
32" vs. 38" in .62cal smoothbore

I'm not talking about drastic differences so significant that shorter barrels should be shunned...only that I did notice that the longer barrels were more accurate...whether from longer sight radius, being more muzzle heavy, or a combination of those things...they were just more accurate.
The longer smoothbore barrels have also thrown tighter shot patterns for me.

 

[longcruise]

I leaned across the hood of my truck for some informal "benchrest" shooting,

:haha: The wife once "benched" her rifle across the white vinyl roof of our Torino. Never could get that spot to go away! :rotf:

 

[Bill Hall]

I hear that. I got in the bad habit of shooting over the hood of my jeep. Even used sandbags and a padded rifle stand, perfect height for me. About a year sgo, I noticed that the paint was looking pretty rough, and it was in a coned out pattern, starting from where the muzzle of a barrel would be. I didn't think the blast was hurting the paint, but then again, it only took 13 years to show up. What the heck, it's a jeep. I'm sure there is still dried deer and elk blood imbedded in all the nooks and crannies. :idunno: Bill