short barrel??

[peterw]

I have barrel: .54, eight grooves, depth 0.006, 1:66 twist, 24" long. It could be nice jaeger with such barrel, but what accuracy can I expect? Isn't it too short for target shooting at 60 yards?

[BrownBear]

Lots more than barrel length is going to determine your accuracy.  Assuming it's a quality barrel in all other ways, then it boils down to a question of fit and balance of the rifle for your frame and shooting style.  Most folks want a little extra muzzle weight for offhand target shooting, and that might be harder to design into a rifle with a shorter barrel.

For hunting though, you just might have a prize on your hands.  I hunt deer in dense brush, with often very quick moving shots.  A rifle built with the weight distributed right between your hands like a fine shotgun is likely to swing and point like a dream.  My favorite range gun weighs 12 pounds and has a 36" barrel and a lot of muzzle weight, but it stays home for the most part once the deer season opens.  My favorite deer rifle has a 26" barrel and weighs only 8 pounds, a full 4 pounds less than my range gun.

[smokinbuck]

I have a full stock .50 caliber with a 22" barrel that has made meat for me. I shoot 75grs of FFFg and it is dead on out to at least 75 yards. Great to carry in the woods, weighs in at about 6 pounds. The question isn't, can it? the question is, can you? It will shoot as well as you can hold it.
Mark

[Daryl]

Agreed with everything said.  Mount the rear sight as far back as you can and still see it, and the front sight as far forward as possible to maintain as long as sight radius as possible, within the design perameters, of course.

[peterw]

Thanks. Daryl, I thought about aperture sight for this rifle. Of course it made sense only for good barrel.

[bs2]

Thanks. Daryl, I thought about aperture sight for this rifle. Of course it made sense only for good barrel.

I have a 25" barrel that works fine with a "peep sight"

[beleg2]

This is just my humble opinion:
Normal sights on a 24" barrels should be OK as most .22LR have only 16" barrels and shoots OK.
The Winchester barrel I put in my son's Francotte is 20" long and 15" sight radius.
Not a target rifle indeed.
Just thinking.
Martin

[Dphariss]

I have barrel: .54, eight grooves, depth 0.006, 1:66 twist, 24" long. It could be nice jaeger with such barrel, but what accuracy can I expect? Isn't it too short for target shooting at 60 yards?

Sight radius will be the biggest factor. The barrel itself should be as accurate as any.

Dan

[Daryl]

As I've noted before, the 24" bl. on my Musketoon shoots just fine too, but with sights as close as they are, I cannot achieve as good accuracy as with, for instance, a 30" or 40" barreled gun.   Sight radius does make a difference, but probably not as much as will make a difference within the ranges most people would use a round ball.