Ray--I know you love those long tubes-fact is so do I in some configurations.



However, I also do plenty of offhand shooting-to me the length is not the only factor in making a gun easy to shoot offhand. In my experience I'll take a short (say 21") tube that has some weight to it (somewhere between .65 and .7 at the muzzle) for off hand shooting every day over a longer tube that is either too skinny or too heavy. A tube like this will not bounce all over heck-one lighter will you bet but not one with some weight to it!



My 6/06 has a 4 weight Schneider on it and cut at 25" it balances quite well to me and the gong shot offhand at 450 is in big trouble way often. So I do appreciate the length in some cal's and some weights but not in all.



Just my thoughts-but barrel length is not the end all IMO. Also I've found the lil extra speed picked up with a longer tube is quite insignificangt for the most part.



When I put together a gun, balance is the first thing that comes to mind and there are many variables that comes into play here. Length of the tube is just one of them.



Just my thoughts and something to think about.



"GET TO THE HILL"



Dogz



Snowcat I love my lil mtn rifle in a G33/40 for what it is worth. Keep the weight in the tube and not in the action or the handle and you will love the rifle (IMO).

the 9.3x62 utilizes the 26" barrel about as well as any caliber I have delt with...and I get some absolutly fantastic velocity from my 26 inch barrel...Not a bad price to pay for the extra 4"s of barrel, my pocket knife is longer than that...

Another plus is a 26" barrel handles faster, and holds better for off hand shooting than any short barrel gun, our forefathers and the guns of yesterday required that..Those old boys used them offhand, not off the bench that todays shooters make all their decisions from...

I have used 26" barrels in the thickest of bush in Africa and the black timber of Idaho and have yet to feel at any disadvantage at all...The only place I prefer a short barrel is when I hunt horseback, then I want my Savage 99 in .308 or 250 Savage or even a 25-35 or 30-30 depending on what I am hunting...

This short barrel thing is mostly from reading gun magazines and theorizing IMO...It has no real substance..A short, light gun will bounce all over hell when your out of breath from a run or on a snap shot damn near every time.

Mark-
If I could only FIND a 33/40, havn't seen one reasonable in years. Dennis Olsen says he can "33/40" any 98 by turning the ring and hogging out metal below the stock line but it really ads cost to the action.

Ray-
I've got longer barreled, heavier rifles, but I noticed this year I grabbed the rifle I built for my wife quite a few times when heading up the montain. It's under 7lbs in '06 and has a 20.5 inch medium contour barrel. It'll spend some time in the scabbard too.