long barrel vs shorter

[Comfortably_Numb]

OK...this thread clinches it. On the top of my bucket list is a French trade gun with a 51¼" barrel, 20 ga. (quatre pieds). Heck, I might even go 57½" (quatre pieds et demi) I'd expect the gun to top out at 7 US st'd. pounds at most. Oh...btw I'm 5' 5¾" tall. About the size of a first generation French settler. If they could heft, load, & clean such long guns, by golly, so can I. This is gonna be a hoot!

I have made at least a half dozen of that exact gun over the past decade. Lots of crazy people out there!
.

The most accurate muzzle loaders ever made had barrels under 30" in length.

That's odd. I have a gun I made here that holds an NMLRA national record since 1999. It has a 44" barrel.
Also , the most accurate gun I have ever shot was a .40 with and oct/rnd 46" barrel. 50 and 4X at 25 yards off hand.

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

Got to love those old Douglas barrels. I have a .45 that has never been in a rifle. Got all the parts to make it but then I also have all the parts to make 4 other rifles and a pistol. I see no advantage to a longer barrel and when I can go through my books and find shorter barreled rifles don't try to tell me they aren't traditional. Most of the old originals had a shorter LOP because the average height was shorter why aren't they claiming that the LOP must be shorter to be traditional?

"Modern " folks generally order rifles with too long of pull. I used to think I needed a 14" pull. I now shoot 13" to 13 1/2" pull the best. I'm 6' tall.
Although "Most" originals had 13 to 13 1/2" inch pulls I have seen them go 14" on a regular basis.
Shorter pulls can be "school specific" as well. It's rare to find Lehigh's with a pull over 13 1/4 or so. And, that's the length I build them.
I also have a Brandenberg jeager on the bench with a 12" pull, just like the original I'm copying. I see no problems shooting a gun that short. I have shot guns with pulls as short as 11" with no difficulty.
As I have stated earlier in this thread, height has no impact on length of barrel, now I'll also add height has no impact on length of pull.
I once built a gun with a 17" pull....bizzarro looking thing to say the least.

 

[tenngun]

I recall the first time I shouldered a Charley. Very short pull, and by the forth or fifth shot I didnt notice. My newest dog lock has a short pull, feeling of being short went away very quick

 

[Cruzatte]

I have made at least a half dozen of that exact gun over the past decade. Lots of crazy people out there!
.

Hey! I resemble that remark.

 

[Pete G]

I have never had trouble with any barrel length. I have had guns with 28 inch barrels and 72" barrels and everything in between. No problems with any of them.

Mike, I had no idea that you were that short.

 

[NorthFork]

"Modern " folks generally order rifles with too long of pull. I used to think I needed a 14" pull. I now shoot 13" to 13 1/2" pull the best. I'm 6' tall.
Although "Most" originals had 13 to 13 1/2" inch pulls I have seen them go 14" on a regular basis.
Shorter pulls can be "school specific" as well. It's rare to find Lehigh's with a pull over 13 1/4 or so. And, that's the length I build them.
I also have a Brandenberg jeager on the bench with a 12" pull, just like the original I'm copying. I see no problems shooting a gun that short. I have shot guns with pulls as short as 11" with no difficulty.
As I have stated earlier in this thread, height has no impact on length of barrel, now I'll also add height has no impact on length of pull.
I once built a gun with a 17" pull....bizzarro looking thing to say the least.

YES!!!!!

Most modern folks shoot or order guns that are too long in LOP!! Especially if they hunt. The added clothes of late season deer hunting means you NEED a shorter LOP then you might think!

 

[NorthFork]

Mike, I had no idea that you were that short.

You might want to rethink that. I'm 5'6" and my proper length of pull is 12 1/2 to 12 3/4". Most modern shooters are using a LOP far to long for them to be 100% effective at target and afield.

edit- I will add I can effectively use a rifle/smoothbore up to roughly 13 or 13 1/2" LOP but am not happy once winter clothing gets put on for late muzzleloader season. Most folks using 14 to 14 1/2" LOP are either giants or uninformed.

 

[Pete G]

You might want to rethink that. I'm 5'6" and my proper length of pull is 12 1/2 to 12 3/4". Most modern shooters are using a LOP far to long for them to be 100% effective at target and afield.

edit- I will add I can effectively use a rifle/smoothbore up to roughly 13 or 13 1/2" LOP but am not happy once winter clothing gets put on for late muzzleloader season. Most folks using 14 to 14 1/2" LOP are either giants or uninformed.

I was referring to the photo of Mike holding the Fowler.

 

[NorthFork]

I was referring to the photo of Mike holding the Fowler.

Sorry, misunderstood.

 

[Appowner]

Simple fact, barrel length does indeed impact the performance of the gun. Be it a modern smokeless powder rifle or an old black powder muzzle loader. However, so does a number of other factors. All of which need to be tested and "tuned" if you will to achieve optimum performance. Of course proper testing would require a number of barrels of different calibers and lengths. Not inexpensive for the average shooter.

 

[mushka]

I have found that the accuracy of a rifle is most affected by the person trying to shoot it. I've seen numerous occurances of a poor rifle shooting fairly well with a good shooter and an excellent rifle shooting very poorly with a poor shooter. Sometimes it ain't the guns fault.

 

[waksupi]

Translation;
It ain't the arrow, it's the Indian!

 

[Pratt]

I shoot a 44 inch .45 barrel. i use a 15 patch and Crisco for a lube,. I dont see what the question can be? I have no issues

 

[smokepolehall]

I just put my 13/16" by 32" barrel on my Under-Hammer to see how heavy n the balance was. I actually could have been ok with a 36" length in the diameter. Now a 7/8" at 36" would be too nose heavy for me. Its a .40 caliber. That being said going with a .50 the barrel weight would be ok at 36" x 7/8" Now a .45 with a 7/8" x 36" would be too nose heavy for me.

 

[Appowner]

I have found that the accuracy of a rifle is most affected by the person trying to shoot it. I've seen numerous occurances of a poor rifle shooting fairly well with a good shooter and an excellent rifle shooting very poorly with a poor shooter. Sometimes it ain't the guns fault.

Agreed! In fact I find most often the gun shoots better than the shooter.

However, that isn't the question the OP asked.

 

[Hermit Tim]

I have never had trouble with any barrel length. I have had guns with 28 inch barrels and 72" barrels and everything in between. No problems with any of them.

Now that's a barrel.

 

[nkbj]

About off hand shooting, I'm well passed retirement age at six foot (that's tall, not deep) and still comfortable to drive tee posts or handle post hole diggers, but there's limits to being comfortably steady. A .54 caliber Great Plains Rifle rebarreled to .40 bore (keeping the original barrel length) is right at my limits. How our forebearers handled those pieces you see in museums with small bores and over an inch across the flats just blows my mind.

 

[smokepolehall]

About off hand shooting, I'm well passed retirement age at six foot (that's tall, not deep) and still comfortable to drive tee posts or handle post hole diggers, but there's limits to being comfortably steady. A .54 caliber Great Plains Rifle rebarreled to .40 bore (keeping the original barrel length) is right at my limits. How our forebearers handled those pieces you see in museums with small bores and over an inch across the flats just blows my mind.

Most of them were young, then as those who were still alive went to lighter rifles i assume.

 

[tenngun]

Most of them were young, then as those who were still alive went to lighter rifles i assume.

That is food for thought.
We see a lot of light guns made in the Federal period, 1790- 1812
A guy who is twenty in 1775 living in The trans frontier area, goes off to march with Morgan or Green. He is forty in 1795, and may well still be kicking in 1815 at sixty.
Did he drive the market to lighter guns?

 

[ronaldrothb49]

About off hand shooting, I'm well passed retirement age at six foot (that's tall, not deep) and still comfortable to drive tee posts or handle post hole diggers, but there's limits to being comfortably steady. A .54 caliber Great Plains Rifle rebarreled to .40 bore (keeping the original barrel length) is right at my limits. How our forebearers handled those pieces you see in museums with small bores and over an inch across the flats just blows my mind.

Personally I don't think they were doing as much offhand shooting as some think. They were probably looking for something to use as a rest.