The effect of barrel length

[PARidgeRunner]

I have a T/C Pa Hunter Carbine with a 22 inch barrel. I have not hunted with this gun but at the range it is a sweet shooting, accurate rifle. My question is how the 22 inch barrel effects performance in a hunting situation particularly the range.

 

[TDM]

What caliber is it?

 

[The Crisco Kid]

If it's sweet shooting and accurate that's all you need to know. It will work fine for hunting. Very long barrels are highly overrated in my opinion.

 

[64Springer]

If you like the rifle and have confidence in what you and the rifle can do, then there's nothing wrong with a 22 inch barrel.

Go put some holes in Bambi.

 

[PARidgeRunner]

I appreciate the good feedback. Thank you. The carbine is a 50 caliber

What caliber is it?

It is a 50 caliber.

 

[chorizo]

As a carbine fanatic, I have been studying it. You will lose about 125 fps from 28" to 22" with FFg

If you use FFFg you will regain some of that so maybe 50 to 60 FPS will be loss.

Insignificant. As far as accuracy goes, the faster twist helps a carbine, but accuracy should not be an issue with the load that works for the gun,

Here are my carbines....three 21"..two in 50 cal, one in 54 cal, a 58 cal that is 24" and a 24" 54 cal

 

[TDM]

I appreciate the good feedback. Thank you. The carbine is a 50 caliber

It is a 50 caliber.

Exactly as @chorizo says.

 

[PARidgeRunner]

Hi Chorizo, Wow! I am envious. Beautiful carbines! Thanks for the helpful information. The load I use is 75grains of FF with patch and ball and 80 grains of FF with Maxi Hunter (275g). I hunt with a T/C Renegade and have taken shots out to 100 yards. Will the carbine reach out that far? Thanks again for your help.

 

[tenngun]

I hate short guns. That’s me and it’s because they don’t look right
Using open sights long barrels have a longer sight radius, so that makes it easier to sight.
This is an issue with the shooter not the gun. Short guns shoot as well as long
Velocity
You can add about 10 fps per inch, sort of. That’s just an average and doesn’t hold across the board. You get plenty of deer killing power in short gun, charge for charge
The first rifles were pretty short, and most stayed that way until Americans made long rifles a ‘thing’ then they went back to short, tasteless bas~~~~s.
You will find nothing wanting in your over sized pistol except one old gray beard don’t think it’s as pretty as long guns

 

[Ballshooter]

I like short lol...It didn't hurt my accuracy! Plus it's a handy .54 cal.

 

[chorizo]

Well, my answer is a profound maybe. I use a 385 grain Hornady Great Plains conical in a 1:32 twist in my 21" carbines. Those will reach out to 125 yards...but they are also travelling at about 1600 FPS with 95 grains of FFFg Triple 7 A much stouter load than you are using. Click on the pdf below for a ballistics table

The RB I would hold to 75 yards (not much retained energy) and the maxi hunter not much further. I suspect you are leaving the bore (a guess now) around 1250 fps not very fast and the bullets are light so they just won't have the energy you need to bring down deer reliably.

My opinion, others will chirp in...not many bashful folks here.

 

[chorizo]

I hate short guns.

HAHAHAHA More for me then. I am busy having Bobby Hoyt cut barrels off to 21" to 24". Want my cut-off pieces...you can glue them on the end of yours!

 

[PARidgeRunner]

Thanks for your response, tenngun. I appreciate your thoughts and insights.

 

[tenngun]

Well, my answer is a profound maybe. I use a 385 grain Hornady Great Plains conical in a 1:32 twist in my 21" carbines. Those will reach out to 125 yards...but they are also travelling at about 1550 FPS with 95 grains of FFFg Triple 7 A much stouter load than you are using.

The RB I would hold to 75 yards (not much retained energy) and the maxi hunter not much further. I suspect you are leaving the bore (a guess now) around 1250 fps not very fast and the bullets are light so they just won't have the energy you need to bring down deer reliably.

My opinion, others will chirp in...not many bashful folks here.

Tim Murphy reached out at three hundred yards and left his mark in history with a ball.
Not for me. I agree keep round ball at close range, no matter how long your barrel is

 

[The Crisco Kid]

I must be doing something right, my 32" barrel is about halfway between a 21" and a 44"!

 

[chorizo]

Interesting video on barrel length for muzzleloader

 

[SlidePicker]

Interesting video on barrel length for muzzleloader

He had his chrony right in front of the target. I'm not sure what range he was shooting, it looked like perhaps 50 yards. Round balls shed velocity rapidly, and more so as the velocity goes up. Muzzle velocity would have shown somewhat more spread. Of course, velocity at impact is what counts.

 

[TDM]

Interesting video on barrel length for muzzleloader

I gotta have one of those semi-auto muzzleloaders!!!!

 

[GBG]

He had his chrony right in front of the target. I'm not sure what range he was shooting, it looked like perhaps 50 yards. Round balls shed velocity rapidly, and more so as the velocity goes up. Muzzle velocity would have shown somewhat more spread. Of course, velocity at impact is what counts.

I think using more than fifty grains of Pyro would increase the muzzle velocity difference also. I'd love to see the test repeated with 75 and 100 grains. Great video and it confirms a favorite quote of mine: "One good test is worth a thousand expert opinions." - Wernher von Braun.

When I was young and strong, my personal preference was very long barrels. With advancing age, I appreciate medium lengths and carbines more every year.

 

[chorizo]

Hi Chorizo, Wow! I am envious. Beautiful carbines! Thanks for the helpful information. The load I use is 75grains of FF with patch and ball and 80 grains of FF with Maxi Hunter (275g). I hunt with a T/C Renegade and have taken shots out to 100 yards. Will the carbine reach out that far? Thanks again for your help.

@PARidgeRunner Here is some off the cuff ballistic calculations. As you can see the ball is dropping rapidly after 75 yards, indicative of rapid loss of velocity. One is for 1250 fps the other is for 1350 fps. Not much difference in the two.

Here is a ballistics calculator specifically for Patched Round Balls. https://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/ctml_experiments/rbballistics/web_apps/rb_ballistics.html
The two .pdf below are not and have some inaccuracies for PRB