God bless Texas and God bless Rusty!

One thing no one has yet mentioned is that short barreled rifles are handier getting in and out of a treestand. They also provide a smaller arc of movement when moved, which might help a bit. For hunting coyotes, I prefer a short barreled rifle because it is easier to get in and our of the truck when I am trying to hit a lot of stands.

I bobbed my .416 to 22 inches; why on earth anyone would want a 26 inch barrel on a DG rifle is a bit puzzling.

On the other hand, my long range guns all have long barrels. I am moving more and more to longer barrels on my shotguns simply because it is easier to connect (and I need all the help I can get!).

I see a place for both, a carbine is a truck gun for sure and God Bless the Mod. 94 Win Carbine;short tubes are just dandy in a saddle scabbard, if your a cowboy and can jump off shoot in one movement; Some say they are great in the thick stuff but Ive never noticed that, guess I just don't know where the intervening sticks are in the brush..Lots of pros and cons for both..I have both, I like both, but for accurate shooting off hand and on running game gimme a 26 inch tube most of the time

I don't think a 20 inch barrel is that short.
I have a 20 inch .257 Roberts that actually shoots the same loads faster than my 24 inch Roberts.
But 20 is as short a barrel as i could ever see myself wanting for hunting.
I had a couple of the early Remington model 7s with 18.5 inch barrels. In .308 and 7mm08.
They just had way more muzzle flash and reduced velocity.
But to each there own . I like 20 inch and longer for my hunting rifles...tj3006

Use a Ruger No. 1 you get 26 inch barrel in a 22 inch frame..

For hunting and shooting I prefer a rifle with a barrel in the 20-24 inch range.

I came across this interesting article from the CMP which is auctioning off authentic sniper rifles. The Marines came out with an 18 inch barreled sniper, the XM-3. Here's the link to the write up (too long an article to cut and paste):

http://stevereicherttraining.com/darpa-xm3/

Here's the auction, a nice piece if you have the $$$ to play:

http://cmpauction.thecmp.org/d...niper-Rifle-S6528662

quote:

Originally posted by cooksey:
Use a Ruger No. 1 you get 26 inch barrel in a 22 inch frame..

Use a Ruger No.1 in .45-70, 9.3 X 62 or 9.3 X 74R. They all have 22" barrels at 38.25" in length!

I love mine in .45-70.

I owned one GG in a Marlin 18.5" with the porting. It went down the road as soon as I could exchange it for another 1895 Marlin Classic in .45-70 with a 22".

To me, the best of both worlds is my Tikka T3 Lite in 9.3 X 62 with a 22.5" barrel, and all-up with a 3 - 9 X 40 scope, a nylon sling and 4 cartridges comes in a 7.7 lbs. With either the 286 NP or 250 AB it still produces over 2000 ft-lbs at 500 yards using RL-17 and pressure at .338 Win Mag levels (The same rifle is in .338 Win Mag).

It's about the quintessential rifle for "all things" in tight quarters or open tundra. It also makes an excellent mountain rifle.

To put that in perspective: Over the past 65 years, apart from shotguns and .22 LR's, I've owned rifles in .22 Hornet, .223 Rem, .25-06, 6.5 X 55, 7mm Mauser, 7 Rem Mag, 7 Wea. Mag, 7-08, .30-06, .308 Norma, .300 Win Mag, .300 Wby, .338 Win Mag, .340 Wby, .35 Whelen, 9.3 X 62, .375 H&H, .44 Rem, .45-70 and .458 Win Mag. And several of those in multiple versions.

My favorites of all of those are two: my Tikka in 9.3 X 62 and my Ruger #1 in .45-70 IMP (long throated). Both are short and handy with a 22.5" and 22" barrels.

Bob

www.bigbores.ca

well -- at 25 fps per inch, 16 vs 26" is 250 fps -- and LIKELY less

And all these years I have been reading that the added velocity from a longer barrel is very important...

I have a Browning 78 with a 26" barrel that shoots by 150gr load at 3070 average..
The same load out of my 22" bolt guns is 2963 average.

So 25 fps per inch is pretty close.

Both guns group the load great.

I humbly ask Saeed to delete every post in this thread excep ZekeShikars, it sez it all. Im Ray Atkinson and I condone his post! Hows that for politics?

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
I humbly ask Saeed to delete every post in this thread excep ZekeShikars, it sez it all. Im Ray Atkinson and I condone his post! Hows that for politics?

AMEN ! NOT HARDLY roger

Jeffe makes a very valid point. I don't like giving up velocity.

I'm not a big fan of short barrels.

The short-barreled rifles I have serve a very particular purpose.

I've never had a branch strike the last 4" of my barrel in the crud. I'd rather have the extra length.

Rusty,
Would you kindly refer to me in the future as the patron saint of walnut as opposed to oak and blue steel..I bar b que with mesquite, but I do like some oak furniture I suppose...

This short barrel thing is not a problem with the likes of us, as we have both at hand and at all times. That's the long and short of it!

you can blame Mr. Winchester for all this short tube biznes, him and his damn mod. 94 win, of which most of us still own a couple...At any rate its entirely his fault, he added true meaning to balance, handy-ness, and beauty..Damn him..