Advantage of shorter barrel length?

T

teumessian_fox

New member
I'm contemplating buying a deer rifle (I've owned several, but sold/traded for whatever reason) and like the Marlin lever action.

The ones I like are the 16 inch, 18 inch or 20 inch barrels.

Is there truly that much of an advantage in portability in the 16 inch barrel over the 18 inch? Why would somebody want a 16 inch over the 18?

According to Marlin's web site, each barrel length all weight the same: 7 pounds, so there is no weight advantage.

Which would you choose for woods hunting and why?
 
J

jimbob86

Moderator
Marlin Levergun?

In what caliber?

Short barrels lose some velocity/energy potential.... but if you are shooting under 150 yards, it's nothing significant (unless you are using a pistol caliber carbine like .357, which needs all the help it can get!).
 
M

mete

New member
The 45-70s IIRC are 18 or 24 and there the 18 is noticeably handier in the woods. 35 is better than the 30-30 and of course the 45-70 is better than the 35.
 
G

gaseousclay

New member
I was wondering the same thing. i've seen some rifles with 22" barrels and others with 24" and 26". what's the maximum distance a bullet can travel with a 22" barrel versus a 24" or 26"?
 
M

MacGille

New member
Distance would be the same, Velocity would be less as the barrel gets shorter. I personally like longer barrels for hunting since I hunt in the mountains. A shorter barrel is handier when getting it in or out of a car or truck but aside from that I haven't noticed any advantage.
 
F

FairWarning

New member
Performance decreases as barrel length decreases, so think hard about just how handy you really need for your gun to be. I personally like 22+ inch barrels for high performance rifles. The only way I'd consider shorter would be for handy "assault" rifles.

Remember, YOU also have to walk through heavy brush, would a couple inches of barrel length make you walk through a certain area that you'd otherwise avoid? Probably not, so why scarifice performance? It's illegal to shoot game from vehicles in many(most?) states, so that's not a factor for me in hunting. I suppose in an Apocalypse/Zombie scenario it would be useful to have a 16-inch barrel for ease of shooting from your car.......then again the longer barrel would help you score head shots on the zombies before they reach you!! :D
 
B

Bailey Boat

Moderator
IMHO..... It's all about balance!!!! I've seen longer barrels (24's and 26's) that felt like someone was sitting on the front end and 16's and 18's that felt like there wasn't a barrel there at all!!!!! All rifles will balance differently but when you find the "perfect" one it feels like it weighs nothing and will literally jump to your shoulder and automatically be pointing where you're looking.

Finding a rifle that feels like a fine, fitted shotgun is the utopia we all seek.....
 
C

cougar gt-e

New member
The effect is minimal. Probably under 50 ft/sec between 16 and 24" barrels for a 30-30.

There is a site that has ballistics information for pistol rounds as the barrel length goes from 2 to 18". The 327magnum round is the hottest one tested at 2186ft/s from an 18" barrel and dropped to 2063 in a 12" barrel. The time in the last few inches of the barrel is minimal. For a bullet traveling at 2100 ft/s it's 1/25200 of a second or 0.00003968 second to travel one inch ---> that's minimal! The pressure is dropping rapidly as the gas expands and cools so the ability to increase speed drops too.

The big thing is to match the barrel length to the round you are using to get the best accuracy. Harmonic vibrations will be unique for each length and round combination. Some will put the barrel back on target when the bullet leaves and some will have it pointing elsewhere. That's why some rifles are inherently more accurate than others.

http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/327mag.html
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top