Jeff,

I have a custom 308 Norma Mag (ballistically identical to 300 Win Mag) with a 24" barrel and it is perfectly balanced for me. I've never seen the need for anything longer in a normal hunting (not LR hunting) weight rifle. I've never hunted Africa (but is a dream) so I cannot comment on whether 26" barrel would get in the way.

But you might like to know that one of the greats of trophy hunting (of yesteryear now), Elgin Gates favoured a Weatherby MkV in 300 Weatherby Mag (these had 26" barrels) and I never read of him complaining of the extra 2". He is reported to have collected the No 7 all time best African Elephant with his favourite rifle (see http://www.safaripress.com/page51.html ).

On the other hand, the gunsmith who built my 308NM many years ago had another customer who went freqently to Africa with a 378 Weatherby Mag. After each trip he would get my gunsmith to lop another inch off the barrel. The last time I saw and fired this rifle its barrel was 19" and the muzzle blast was something to behold.

It all comes down to what you are comfortable with and what is balanced for you. Balance to me is the big thing. As a nornal hunting rifle it must shoulder properly and quickly and swing smoothely. For some that is a long barrel for some it is not so long. Whilst I think a 19" 378 WM is definitely an acquired taste, 24" or 26" depends on individual preference. The extra velocity is meaningless in normal hunting conditions anyway.

Magnum

I agree with ku-dude, a barrel band makes a 26 inch barrel very manageable indeed. If you look back on the older hunting guns, some even had 28-30 inch barrels, and they managed just fine.

I have a barrel band on my .416 and I shot it sitting with a shooting sling (the only kind I hunt with) and was shocked to see the impact 6 inches low at 200 yards.

That change means I will never shoot that way in the field, but it is no great loss on a .416. However, on a .338 or .300 there is no way I would ever have a barrel band. I saw a gorgeous custom rifle at Cabelas in SD (Dale Goens job) for $2995, but it had a barrel band, so as much as I thought that was a steal, I passed.