Practicality of different rifle barrel lenghts

[Stumpkiller]

I hunt in pretty thick woodlots with a 44" barrel. With old fart accountant eyes the front sight out near the deer is actually easier to see.

A well balanced rifle with 44" barrel will hold offhand better than an imbalanced 36" barrel. Swamping helps, and the stock and butt weight and thinning of the forestock will get the balance point between your hands.

 

[longcruise]

This is what I would do and it may not fit with your ideas at all, but you asked for ideas so here you go.

If your target shooting will be match shooting or you think it may evolve into that, or you just would like to shoot absolutely as accurately as possible, then I'd say go with this;

.45 cal., 36" long straight barrel 15/16th across the flats, square bottom rifling, lands about 1/4 the width of the grooves. Mount it into a stock design that you know will fit you. Allow yourself a good quality set trigger.

Should shoot all day without wearing you down too much and should be adequate for whitetails.

I shot my .50 and .54 guns in matches for many many years but have now gone to a .45 caliber. Lots more fun to shoot. Does not need heavy charges for excellent accuracy and is economical to shoot.

Forty cal is supposed to be the cat's meow for match shooting, but it can be windy where I shoot!

 

[tenngun]

My center mark tulle has a 42 inch barrle as does my southren .50.I find them both easer to carry them my leman .54 with a 35/1inch barrel.I just built a 36inch nwg that I've not shot yet but hanndles well in my man cave.Longer barrels look nicer.When you train your arms to hanndle he gun,short or long will make no difference.I have found the longer barrelseems to hang on the tarrget eaiser and the shorter seems to weave around easier,but I think thats only technique imho

 

[Col. Batguano]

The precision rimfire shooters generally feel that 4-8 cm forward of their support hand is the ideal balance point in offhand shooting. While having the CG forward of that point tends to slow down wobble, it also increases the amplitude of it.

 

[sumoj275]

Mr. Pierce,
You got that right.
Looong barrels are a pain in the a$$ transporting.
Even on horse back!
Try and get a long rifle in a micro car, even in a Buick Regal
Fred

Yep, the wife has an 97 Malibu and my 38" brl .54 cal barely fits length wise across the back seat. I really need a new truck!

 

[Amikee]

:rotf: Yup, get a new one!

 

[flyfisher76544]

Go with a swamped barrel, not all matches are shooting from a bench and you will appreciate the balance the gun will have when you have to shoot off-hand.

 

[Dean2]

Long looks nice, short is far easier to live with. I have a 24" Deerslayer that is a pure pleasure to carry, get in and out of the truck etc. For hunting it works great. For a target rifle from a rest I use a different gun and for off hand matches I go with a different gun again.

My advantage is I can have separate guns for each discipline or job. Since I can, I do and I optimize the gun for its specific job. If you can afford to, I suggest you think about doing the same.

 

[Col. Batguano]

My advantage is I can have separate guns for each discipline or job. Since I can, I do and I optimize the gun for its specific job. If you can afford to, I suggest you think about doing the same.

:thumbsup: Your first gun (or three) ought to be an all-around gun(s). After that, you can start getting guns that are more specialized.

 

[Amikee]

Well, that's my ultimate goal.
42" swamped is the choice.
Now just to pick a caliber! That's a tough one.
I think it was easier to choose my wife :rotf:

 

[Amikee]

And another bad one is that CT small game is .36 max and deer min is .45. So can't really do much with that. Turkeys and other birds must be shotgun/fowler 20ga minimum.
I guess it'll be a dedicated deer hunting/plinking rifle. Looks like I can't go wrong with either one, but .50 will give some advantage in yardage if needed; however, .45 would be more pleasant at the range. :rotf:

 

[nkbj]

Oh my what a collection of hoops.
Go for a .62 smoothie?

 

[Amikee]

I want a rifle. I'll be ordering smoothie as well.