Barrel Lengths

[Walks with fire]

I am curious about what length of barrel that everyone uses for hunting deer size game? Who cares to elaborate on the length of barrel that they use for hunting and why they prefer their choice? Does the type of cover and terrain influence your choice? Things such as swamped barrels,full vs. half stock, balance and handling charistics, caliber, sights, twist rates and such could be included as well.

 

[shortstring]

30" .58 cal, 1 1/8" at breech, 13/16" at muzzle,turn in 72, patent breech, .100" peep sight. I made this up a few years ago to hunt with here in Michigan. Shots here are commonly under 50 yds. This carries much like a BB gun & does a good job on the white tail.

Paul

 

[No Deer]

42 inch smoothbore trade gun is my hunting choice for all game. For deer I have not needed a shot longer than 50 yards (probably can't see any further than that anyway ), so the smoothbore does the job for me.

 

[Keppy]

I have a 33 inch and a 29 inch barrels. And both work well sitting or stocking game. My 29 inch is a 1X48 twist. I prefer my 1X66 twist and longer 33 inch barrel. The longer barrel will burn more powder. And of course I shoot PRB so the twist is better suited for that. I also have a 12 ga shotgun that I have not tried PRB in yet but it also has a short barrel. But should be fun out to 50 yds. Will try that soon.

 

[jdixon]

I am curious about what length of barrel that everyone uses for hunting deer size game? Who cares to elaborate on the length of barrel that they use for hunting and why they prefer their choice? Does the type of cover and terrain influence your choice? Things such as swamped barrels,full vs. half stock, balance and handling charistics, caliber, sights, twist rates and such could be included as well.

.50 cal., non-tapered/swamped barrel 36" 1:70", full stock with a 3/8" cast off, buckhorn sights w/ a thick brass front sight (works better in the woods and low light) I usually hunt travel routes and funnels in thick cover but, occassionally will hit openings and other such feeding areas in the evening. This gun does well in both environments, ground or tree stand.

 

[roundball]

32" / 33" rifle and smoothbore barrels from TC & GM in .40 to .62 calibers...I like the longer length for the longer sighting plane, good balance / handling, additional weight for steadiness/accuracy, and they look good on the Hawken stocks that I use.

 

[playfarmers]

I tend to do a lot of walking/stalking, so I used a 24" .50 cal Deerstalker. At 7 lbs it was great to carry, and real quick to put on target. I have since got a 28" .54 cal Lyman Trade rifle, and used it for the first time this year. I found it a little slower to bring on target, but still managed to drop 2 whitetails. With a little more use I think the new rifle will be just great. I did have a 32" Austin and Halleck flinter for a while, but found the length and 9 lb weight was not to my liking.

 

[roundball]

I tend to do a lot of walking/stalking, so I used a 24" .50 cal Deerstalker. At 7 lbs it was great to carry, and real quick to put on target. I have since got a 28" .54 cal Lyman Trade rifle, and used it for the first time this year. I found it a little slower to bring on target, but still managed to drop 2 whitetails. With a little more use I think the new rifle will be just great. I did have a 32" Austin and Halleck flinter for a while, but found the length and 9 lb weight was not to my liking.

Mine are 10-10.5 lb range because I also add solid 3/8" brass ramrods to them, but I rarely still hunt with them...basically just walk in to and out from a deer stand...still hunting with them for very long would probably work on me :grin:

 

[Rancocas]

I have about a dozen muzzleloaders, but my number one favorite deer/hog/blackbear rifle is my .50 percussion. It has a 42" straight octogon barrel. I made this gun myself, from scratch parts, about 12 years ago.
I often hunt in thick forests and have had to sometimes crawl on hands and knees to get through jungles of underbrush. I use the long gunbarrel to help part the brush ahead of me.
I also sometimes use a .62 flintlock fusil that also has a 42" barrel.
I have other muzzleloaders with shorter barrels, but I don't care for them as much.
My next rifle will be an Issac Haines style in .54 flintlock with a 38" swamped barrel. I think that may be the optimum hunting rifle for my purposes.

 

[Mike Brooks]

I have never shot a deer with less than a 42" barrel except for the first one which I took with a TC. I've used guns with barrels as long as 48". I have never had any problem with the "brush" that everyone seems to worry about. All the deer I have shot I've taken with a smoothbore, except the first one and the last one.

 

[boar]

Used the hawken with 28" barrel for years, now carry a .50 Bobcat last two years for deer, 26" barrel Its a old age thing, like the 6lbs better then 8lbs. Real easy to carry. Killed a deer each year with it. I have a 42" barrel, never shot it yet. Be the last one I take deer hunting. We hunt in the in the wild roses, and most of woods are cut out, lots of brush and roses. These roses tear carharts right off of you, nasty. Dilly

 

[bucktales]

I have used a White Mtn Carbine for many years and have taken quite a few deer with it. When I bought it, at the time I prefered short barreled rifles. Most of my centerfires are mannlicher stocked carbines so it seemed like a natural thing for me to do. Lately, I lean towards longer barrels.

 

[wvbuckbuster]

First deer I took with a ml was with my .40 which has a 42in. 13/16 straight bbl. My .50 has 7/8 38in. straight bbl both of these are full stocks. Bought a .54 flint english sporting rifle with 31in. swamped bbl. last year. I'm still getting used to the .54 because all I have used were longer bbls but I do like the way it handles and carries. I have taken deer out to about 90yds. or so with my .50 The only drawback I could see of the shorter bbl. is the reduced sight plane but again this is something I will just have to get used to. :wink:

 

[Smk50]

I have a fullstock rifle,34 inch long 1 1/8 straight barrel, .62 cal 1-48, or the other barrel(same gun) .50, 1-70. Its the one I shoot all year long, I know where it hits on a good day or a bad day, thats the only thing that influences my decision on what to carry.

 

[Mike Brooks]

These roses tear carharts right off of you, nasty.

Get yourself some Filson Tincloth Chaps, ends the multiflora rose problem. I found it's still easier to go around them than through them, even with the Filson Chaps. :wink:

 

[paulvallandigham]

My rifle has a 39 " barrel. Unless I see deer tracks and sign( fur pulled off by briers) going into a thicket, I don't bother to go through it, on my belly, knees, or stooped over. I go around, just like the deer do. In fact, because I am always reading sign, and tracks, I usually follow the same patch around the thicket the deer take. Its a bit of a squeeze sometimes, because even the biggest buck is half my height, but I manage to get where I need to go. My long barrel has never been a handicap. My first rifle had a 25 " barrel, and was one inch to short to legally be used to hunt Deer in Illinois. I sold it, and bought my current rifle.

 

[cptleo1]

After using a lot of different combinations.

Best all around

34" 15/16 .54 cal

38" "C" weight .54 cal

A swamped bbl seems to hold/point much better than a strait bbl.

As far as bbl length goes I think it only matters in two places

a. Weight of the entire gun.
b. Reloading
1. probably 90% + of my hunting is done from a climbing tree stand and reloading a 44" bbl ML 25' off the ground, while standing on an 18x18 platform is not for the faint of heart.

2. I know,I know, how often do you reload while deer hunting? Easy - every time I shoot.
Even if I see the deer laying there I still have a loaded gun when I approach it.

As far as the short bbl in heavy cover, I can't really buy into that either.

I keep hearing that the guys are hunting in thick brush and the longer bbls get in the way.

If the brush is that thick that the difference between long and short bbls (10" maybe) that you can't get the shot, how much brush is between the muzzle and the target 50yds away ?

As far as good handling guns, I have been killing deer with a ML since 1964 don't really know how many I have taken.

What I do know about ML deer hunting east of the Mississippi is that it is much like bow hunting. It is best done up close and personal, at a STATIONARY target. I have found that shooting at running/moving whitetails is a low percentage shot at best.

As far as caliber goes I think the .54 PRB is the best balance between power, penetration and recoil.

That being said my newest and greatest hunting rifle. (I got invited to go grizzly hunting this year)

A .62 Jaeger 31" bbl - She seems to like 120+ gr of fff so I don't shoot it as much as should. I need to work on a different patch/lube combo and get it down to a 90gr plinking load.

If I had to pick the perfect hunting rifle it would be:
a .54 "C" weight Isaac Haines,
followed closely by
a .54 Hawken with some sort of tang/peep sight.

Sorry I got long winded here.

After all this is just one mans opinions

 

[rdoggsilva]

32" GPR in 54 cal. I like the extra weight out front. I do mainly still hunting here in Utah.

 

I hunt with a .58 caliber percussion Hawken with a 39" tapered barrel or a .45 caliber Flintlock Dickert with a 44" swamped barrel. Open iron sights and real black powder and patched round balls only fer this child. Not a problem. I have been through places a rabbit couldn't go at times. Ya poke yer smoke pole in the hole before ya crawl through yerself. I'm the best derned tracker around and nothing ever gets by me. I can out jump, out cuss, out drink, out run, out ride, and out lie any one a ya.......

 

[Rod Lassey]

A long barrel has never bothered me hunting on foot. Riding a horse through trees, though, and that long barrel can make life interesting. But we don't have too many trees to worry about in North Dakota, we've very nearly completed the tree removal project :haha:

Rod