Hunting with 44" barrel

[Onojutta]

What is it like deer hunting with a 44" barrel? Is that practical to carry through the woods all day?

 

[hoochiepapa]

Give yourself enough room to swing it. I hunt turkey with a 44" barrel, and have to sit where there's lots of space.

 

[hunts4deer]

I don't know, my barrel is 56 inches. :wink:

 

[Boomerang]

As long as the deer don't trip over your barrel, you should be good! :rotf:

 

[B.Habermehl]

Unless you like to drive deer around like some of us do up state you should do fine. I have a short gun for driving with a gang and a long rifle for my tree stand. Then again friend Allen Martin uses a long gun on the drive too. Longer sight radius makes some difference for working accuracy too. BJH

 

[B.Habermehl]

One more thing to kick around is how thick is the woods you plan to hunt? In reality a long gun has never been a issue for me. My main reason for building my short English rifle was weight and just because I wanted one. BJH

 

[MikeC]

My fowler has a 48" barrel, no problem carrying, taken squirrel, pheasant and woodcock with it.

 

[will5a1]

Not for me, at least I have a difficult time still hunting/stalking with my rifles with 36" barrels. A long barrel for me is a hassle getting in and out of a tree stand and is difficult, for me, when I am in a blind and trying to move it around. I usually hunt pretty thick woods, so I need to be able to duck under and around brush, a long barreled rifle would be a hindrance, at least for me and my hunting conditions.

 

[Patocazador]

My flintlock has a 42" barrel. It's OK for stand hunting but bangs on all the saplings, palmetto fronds, etc. when trying to still-hunt.

 

[Thing]

I have several flintlocks . Barrel length from 36 inch to 44. Never had a problem with the 44 inch barrel. As long as you have the correct weight barrel or it be a swamped barrel. Holding out a heavy 44 inch barrel will be quite challenge to hold steady.

 

[kemart17]

35" on a half stock, works just fine, driving or standing

 

[tenngun]

My are 36 and 42, I dont think I would notice a 44. I live in the ozarks and have hunted in persemmin groves and moved through some thick brush and never found a 42 to be a problem. The longer barrels are a little heavier, but not much and balance easier in the hand when carring. I have found my FDC eaiser to carry then my NWG with a 36 barrel even though the FDC is a few oz heavier. Neither fouls in the brush.

 

[Stumpkiller]

That's what my rifle has: swamped 44" in .54 cal. I carry it all day, though my preferred system is to sit a few hours at dawn and dusk and move slowly in between. My woods in NY are probably similar to what yours are in PA. Normally I have time to shift back a bit if there is a tree or obstruction.

The Pennsylvania longrifle started out 20 minutes ride from you un in Bethlehem/Allentown. Obviously it worked then - back when Elk, bears and cougar lived in PA before guys wiped them out before percussion rifles had much caught on.

For gunning on birds and rabbits I prefer a shorter 42" barrel. ;-)

 

[Spikebuck]

I have a 44" swamped barrel on a Virginia .54. No issues moving through the woods or sitting on stands. Weight of that rifle is about 2# less than the weight of my Hawken with a 34" barrel.

The only time I have found that a longer barrel is an issue is the few times I sit in a pop-up blind...but then reloading a muzzleloader in one of those is pretty much an issue regardless of length and most will be protruding out the window when sitting unless in one of the largest pop-ups.

 

[nwtradegun]

NO I had a lankaster 54 cal flint lock. it had a 44 inch barrel. it was a bear to site in the woods. catching on brush. it had been made by Jackie browne. I bought it for a good price. owner needed money. traded it for a 31 in 24 ga. northwest tradegun.

 

[Walks with fire]

My hunting is in Crawford county PA and the area is a mix of good size timber and a real heavy thick cover of brush. A long rifle in the brush would be hard for me to shot quickly but a longrifle would be fine (even preferred) in the open timber areas.

My current rifle is a Lyman Deerstalker 24" .54 shooting ball. It works well in both types of cover for me. We also do deer drives a lot so the 24" tube works well for that. Even my 32" barrel works ok in the brush but I sure like the 24" for that. It's all about the cover you will hunt and the distance you will shoot. They all will work but each length has it's pro's and con's. If I were to purchase a custom built .54 it would be 38" swamped.

 

[wvbuckbuster]

Got 38 and 42in bbls. and never had a problem just kept my eye looking ahead picking a route pointing the gun where I wanted it to go. My bag and horn gets hung up more than the guns do. :rotf: Dan.

 

[Eric Krewson]

My main rifle has a 42" barrel, I hunt clear to very thick stuff and come out after dark most of the time through the brush. The barrel length has never been an issue.

I find it interesting to watch my rifle get a progressively more "distressed" look over the years from being used like the originals were.

I like the look, it gives my rifle character.

 

[Vaino]

I've used a LR w/ a 42" bbl and had no problems. When deer hunting, I don't walk through the thick stuff unless I was on a drive and then it's not likely to get a shot. Most of my time when deer hunting is spent sitting...bbl length is then irrelevant.

When small game hunting w/ this same LR, moving slowly puts more game in the bag, so again the 42" bbl doesn't get in the way.

There are no doubt times when a shorter bbl is advantageous.....but, I've never needed one....Fred

 

[Blackbruin]

If your hunting nasty places on the move it might but doesn't matter to me, more than not I've been ok, same goes for others I hunt with..