Barrel length vs accuracy
- Thread starter Nathan
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Bill DeShivs
New member
Barrel length has almost nothing to do with inherent accuracy.
Longer barrels just have a better sight radius.
Longer barrels just have a better sight radius.
What Bill said.
A shorter sight radius is just harder to shoot with iron sights. With a red dot however, I would think barrel length would be somewhat irrelevant. But that's not all together true if your hunting or target shooting and are looking for a certain velocity. Then of course you'll be back to wanting a certain barrel length to achieve a desired velocity.
A shorter sight radius is just harder to shoot with iron sights. With a red dot however, I would think barrel length would be somewhat irrelevant. But that's not all together true if your hunting or target shooting and are looking for a certain velocity. Then of course you'll be back to wanting a certain barrel length to achieve a desired velocity.
Bob Wright
New member
Regardless of sights, longer barrels have a couple of advanages when using magnum performance ammuniton. First is that the extra length adds more weight out front, and helps dampen recoil. Second is that it moves the muzzle blast slightly farther away from your face. Minor points, but they help the shooter get a better "feel" for his handgun, and makes him (or her) a better shot. That's accuracy of the shoooter.
Bob Wright
Bob Wright
When I first got into CF revolvers/ magnums when I was a kid I had to have the longest barrel available in model I was buying. I ended up with a complete set of S&W and Ruger
SAs. Then I got a m29, 6” on a trade and found I could shoot it as well as 83/8”. One step further tried some 4-45/8” guns. That was point I decided 5-6” was my sweet spot.
I have tested the short barrels including snubs of rest. They are as accurate as the long barrels but I can’t shoot them well. I also don’t like the full lug barrel that make gun muzzle heavy.
SAs. Then I got a m29, 6” on a trade and found I could shoot it as well as 83/8”. One step further tried some 4-45/8” guns. That was point I decided 5-6” was my sweet spot.
I have tested the short barrels including snubs of rest. They are as accurate as the long barrels but I can’t shoot them well. I also don’t like the full lug barrel that make gun muzzle heavy.
In fact, I shoot my 4" SW post war (pre model 10) better than I do my 6" Ruger Security Six. Even shooting the same .38sp ammo. The Rugers trigger leaves a bit to be desired, but ive grown accustomed to it. The SW wins though. And they're both iron sights. I chalk it up to the trigger.
It's not moving the blast away from the shooter with a longer barrel but allowing the powder more time to burn and that reduces the amount of blast coming out the end of the barrel. So does using a faster powder in magnum pistols. Longer sight radius and more weight out front to reduce recoil are as stated by others 2 more benefits with the drawback of being a bit heavier to carry and more prone to catch on a seat and twist on your belt getting into and out of a car.
jetinteriorguy
New member
Especially if using Power Pistol.
Hopefully somebody else read the article since I can't remember now where I saw it, but I do recall reading that someone pulled off an experiment and decided that a bullet only needed an inch of rifled barrel to stabilize a bullet. Seems it was a 10" target at 10yds. Along with most of the other details, I can't remember if they were using a .38 hardball or a .22 LR.
It would be interesting to spend some time with a Ransom Rest and a couple of snub nosed revolvers.
It would be interesting to spend some time with a Ransom Rest and a couple of snub nosed revolvers.
A longer barrel does move the blast further from the shooters face. It ALSO gives the powder more time to burn, but more burnt powder does not decrease the muzzle blast, it actually produces more gas, but being farther from one's face makes it seem less.
I don't use "faster" powders in magnum loads. The fastest powder I use in those loads is Unique or sometimes Blue Dot. Mostly its 2400, or Win 296 or sometimes AA No 9. I want the slower powders to get the most possible and practical from magnums.
I also want my magnums to be heavy handguns, and don't care about how they might catch on a car seat, as I don't wear them in cars or usually on a belt.
The length of a barrel doesn't usually have as much of an effect on the mechanical accuracy as the quality of the barrel and the load.
Where it does matter is in the "shooter accuracy" with iron sights, mostly but also to a degree with optics, by moving the muzzle farther out, and changing the balance of the gun, along with the additional weight and its recoil reducing properties.
Also keep in mind that the differences resulting from different barrel lengths are only comparable in guns of the same type. With revolvers, there is, to me, a difference in balance and feel between SA and DA types, so comparisons between barrel lengths should be held in each class respectively, and this gets even more important if you include other action types in the discussion.
For example, I have a 6" barrel pistol in 9mm Luger. Accuracy of that gun (groups size) is better than any other 9mm I've ever seen, or shot. I put this down to a good barrel, but mostly to the fact that when that gun fires, nothing moves when the cartridge goes off, or after, until I open the action.
Its a T/C Contender. Shot to shot repeatability in that gun is very precise, more so than any semi auto or revolver with parts moving or multiple chambers. Not saying there isn't a 9mm pistol more accurate than that single shot, but I haven't met one, yet.
Yes, it does, almost entirely due to a longer sight radius.
No.
A 4" red dot can be placed more precisely than a 10", so it should be more accurate. The advantage of a 10" is it's faster to acquire.