Is Longer Really Better?

[Hoyt]

Don't know about black powder and shot..but the modern shotguns stopped making the long barreled turkey guns yrs. ago and now the standard for 3" and 3-1/2"mag. Turkey Guns are 21" to 26" barrels.

 

[bigbang1]

Mike The reason that gun shoots better is that the ball is half way to the target when it leaves the barrel :rotf: Just how long is that thing anyway Neat looking gun though. :hatsoff:

 

[Mike Brooks]

Just how long is that thing anyway

60" 16 bore barrel. 76" + or - overall

 

[bigbang1]

Mike What cal. is 16 bore it sounds big to me when I hear bore instead of guage or caliber

 

[musketman]

"It is likely that barrels longer than 42 inches begin to lose velocity. Some modern makers think this is the ultimate length...."

You need a powder charge large enough to push the projectile the whole length of any given barrel, if the charge isn't of sufficient quantity to do this, the projectile will encounter drag (from the barrel) and slow down before it exits the muzzle...

Assuming this can be done and still stay within the maximum load limitations of the barrel's design, that is...

 

[Mike Brooks]

Mike What cal. is 16 bore it sounds big to me when I hear bore instead of guage or caliber

.66 cal.

 

[robinghewitt]

:rotf:

 

[Mike Brooks]

Just you wait you Sassy British Fellow. :cursing: I've got a 72" barrel waiting to go into a block of wood that is 72" WITHOUT one of those sissy namby pamby patent percussion breech thingies on it. We'll see then who has the longest..... :rotf: :winking: :blah:

 

[Stophel]

I agree, most barrels are more accurate than their shooters, but theoretically, the shorter one would be more accurate, given that it would be stiffer with less barrel "whip". PRACTICALLY speaking, I doubt it matters one whit. :winking:

 

[Gary]

Wallace Gusler told me the Germans got it right the first time with their short barrel jaeger rifles and that the only advantage of the longer barrel rifle is the longer sight radius.

 

[flashpanner]

even with a barrel THAT long, if you miss the shot you can just joust it!! :rotf:

 

[rabbit03]

Just a thought for yall out there: Wouldn't I be able to get more shots per pound of powder out of my long barreled rifle versus my short one since the powder charge can be reduced in the long barrel to achieve the same velocity in the short barrel!

rabbit03

 

[rabbit03]

Another thought or so about longer barrels.

All barrels will warble to an extent no matter the length. This is a normal reaction of the barrel during the explosion occuring and the barrels containing it. Since this can not be overcome logically then it is said, that the barrel will shoot better at a certain load, this being called the sweetspot or tuned.

Another thought is that not only is the longer sight radius benneficial but the ball has an added bennefit of staying engaged in the rifling longer thus stabilizing it longer making it (in my opinion) more accurate. The longer barrels are more forgiving if you will just like when you have a long barreled shotgun used for goose hunting it holds the shot together tighter this too used the same principle I feel.

Personally I have dry balled (did I just admit to that?) and used only a minute amount of powder poured down the niple hole to expell the patch and ball. This means that you would have to have an awfully small charge in the rifle to ever get the ball to stop its acceloration before exiting the barrel. Perhaps I am wrong about this but I am sure that in order to get to the diminishing return you would need a rediculously small charge in under the patched ball.

I have seen rifle versus pistol (smokeless) hit a steel target using the same .357 cartridge and without a doubt the rifle will leave a much deeper dent in the steel equating to higher velocity in the rifle. Just like the finding of velocities of various barrel lengths above this is true to a cerain extent but for our purposes here I do not think you can reasonably make a barrel long enough not to get higher velocities and which would reach their point of diminishing return.

The big reason for the shorter barrels were the need for bigger beefier guns during the westward expansion and the bigger game. The early slender small caliber rifles were not very well suited for the buffalo, elk, grizzly, and all the dangerous game in the west. And to carry a big bore heavy barrel of the length as of the slender early models would have been very cumbersome to say the least. This is the major reason I think they started using the shorter barrels in later years not because they were found to be just as accurate as the long rifles.

Just a few thoughts on the subject of barrel length for the ones in the know, and debates?

rabbit03

 

[Hoyt]

I'm just now finished deciding which way to go on new .58cal. and the picture below is what I'm going to build. I did a little cut and pasting to see what it would look like.
Buck's County with 31" Jaeger swamped Rice barrel.
I was discussing this gun with Rice and the short barrel and he told me that the barrel had done all it was going to do performance wise in the first 24". Don't know if he knows what he's talking about or not..but that's what he told me.
I like the looks of the longer barrel guns..38" anyway..but I want a lite-weight .58cal. hunting gun with a slim type profile so am going with this.

 

[Wehrmacht]

I think that Musketman is pinging on target here with his comments about burning time of powder in the barrel.

Somewhere in the distant past I remember reading that the greatest accuracy was achieved with a charge of powder which had expanded the gassess released with burning/exploding just as the ball reached the muzzle. If the gassess had expanded to the maximum with the ball any distance still down the barrel,then friction would start dragging the ball and ball drop would start earlier affecting accuracy. If the powder gassess were still expanding as the ball left the muzzle,then the expanding gassess would possibly give the ball a little wobble with uneven pressure on the backside. This made sence to me years ago when I first read it,and it still does. I think when we work up a load and get to the point where the ball is right at the muzzle when the gassess have expanded to the maximum then we have reached that magic spot! Other factors affect accuracy also for sure....sight radius et al. Just my thoughts.

 

[sniper68]

I've heard several times that most serious target shooters say a 39" barrel is the optimum lenghth. To me 36" bbl is a carbine, I'm comfortable in the 39" to 42" length. I seriously think length is not of a performance fatcor ta worry about. Get what floats your boat, and "MOST" important work up a load for "THAT" rifle... :thumbsup:

 

[3 stinky dogs]

So do you Carey a 5 Gal. bucket to stand on when you shoot that or do you need something taller ?

 

[CrackStock]

Nah. Just lean her over a tad and she's easy to load.

CS

 

[spitfire]

Couldn't said it better. :v

 

[roundball]

"...If the powder gassess were still expanding as the ball left the muzzle,then the expanding gassess would possibly give the ball a little wobble with uneven pressure on the backside..."

I've thought that's what's been happening to a .54cal Flint smoothbore I have....15/16" x 33" GM drop-in for a T/C Hawken stock...shockingly accurate for a smoothbore, single ragged hole at 50yds with:
70grns Goex 3F
Oxyoke wonderwad
.015" lubed cotton patch
Hornady .530

BUT:
80/90 3F and I always get 1 or 2 flyers in a 5-shot group at 50yds that are 5-6" off to the side;

and 90/100grns 2F do the same thing;

But with the 70grn 3F load above, it's so accurate it's unbelieveable, particularly for a smoothbore.

I've also tried using .010" patches and/or two Oxyoke wads, no difference...don't know if barrel harmonics are coming into play, or excess 'gas push' at muzzle exit, but something about using those higher powder charges is causing flyers.