General discussion > Black Powder Shooting
Long vs. shorter barrels
northmn:
John, I think I know what you were saying, maybe. When we were talking about off-hand rifles, most liked shorter barrels. The thing is that a long barrel can catch the wind and blow easier off target, trust me on that as I used to shoot a lighter Pennsylvania and had see the breeze blow it like a sail. That longer barrel works like a longer lever. The issue of sight radius is likely one of decreasing return. Mathematically it may work in theory, but the ability to align may stop at a certain distance. I know that I used to be able to shoot shorter barrels as well if not better than long ones. There were several very good shots I knew that liked the 1X36 inch configuration depending on caliber. As to light we can both agree on that one. Even when I was younger I noticed a fatigue factor in too heavy of barrels for bulleye shooting. While you can work out to a certain point, a heavy barrel is relative to the shooter. My wife could outshoot a lot of men with a 32 inch by 7/8 inch 45. For her it was a heavier barrel, held well and was plenty long. One could create a new theory of relativity for shooting.
DP
Dphariss:
There are a LOT of variables. I shoot long barrels better and I live where the wind blows. Wind could care less if the barrel is a little longer.
Long barrels do have a disadvantage. Barrel time. Heavy recoiling guns with long barrel times can cause recoil induced problems since the gun moves more under recoil before the ball clears than if the barrel was shorter.
While it makes a lot more recoil than the typical RB gun my 15 pound 45-100 Sharps (530 gr PP at 1370 fps 32" barrel) is prone to this and MUST be held very consistently. Errors in holding , watching the wind to close and not putting adequate attention to hold will cause fliers of several feet at 400-1000 yards and with practice one can tell by the recoil and know its going to be off before the target is examined or the dust cloud of a miss appears. I can tell by the way the gun recoils. Not as much a factor in offhand but sitting x-sticks it gets really finicky.
So when people start to talk about very light RB guns with long barrels this comes to mind. But I can still shot a 38-42" barrel better than a 30" if the barrel is heavy enough.
Everything is a trade off...
When one thing is gained another is lost.
Long barrels can be more cumbersome, short barrels lose sight radius and tend to move off target easier. Light guns are fun to carry but not as efficient, for me at least, when actually shooting them.
Dan
Daryl:
The 'drive' towards short, light guns is detrimental to good shooting as you indicated, Dan. Too many times I've seen (or heard of) very light guns being needed for mountain use, but when the time came for the 'shot' the gun was so light, it was all over the place and couldn't be held accurately. Yes, it's a trade-off - light, slim and short, or accurate due to barrel weight and length. I've always been able to hold a heavy gun better when winded, than a light gun when winded.
northmn:
While you can go pretty light in a ML most of the heavier calibers do not permit too light unless you get one of the 13/16 50s I read about and saw the barrel down to 24 inches or some other combination. Use of a 15/16 or 1 inch barrel in a 50 or 54 at normal lengths of about 32 -36 inches are really not all that light nor is 32 inches all that short. Even some of the swamped barrels have a breech heavier than 1" in larger bores. Again it is mostly relative to the individual. Bullseye shooting where one had 20 minutes to shoot 5 shots is different than the single shot "primitive" events and does have a fatigue factor. I would still prefer a slightly lighter rifle than something like the Tryon with a 1 3/16 inch by 35 inch barrel. That is my personal definition of a pig that would want a horse to carry it and sticks to shoot it off.
DP
Daryl:
The Tryon sounds heavy for sure, but then, the ones I've seen didn't appeal to me :Pso there's no chance of my buying one. There were Hawkens to 14 pounds, but again, I'd not own one (unless an original someone gave me). I did have one that seemed close to 12 pounds, with a 34" 1 1/8" barrel in .58. It wouldn't shoot less than 140gr. of 2f and the butt plate points hurt like H---- :'(so I sold it. :-[ Wish I hadn't now, for sure :(. Could have put a great big red rubber ventalated recoil pad ??? on it! ::) :-*
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