A question - are longer barrels more accurate?

[ctshooter]

I won't say all other things being equal - as we know nothing is equal in shooting sports, even barrel to barrel. What I have been wondering is how barrel length affects accuracy (and/or precision)?

It's obvious that a longer barrel will make it easier to push a projectile faster and a short barrel will have physical limitations which prevent efficiently going a certain speed. But say you have a long and a short barrel airgun setup the same for X pellet at Y speed. Would the longer barrel be more accurate, and why?

Would twist rate come into play as well? Would the shorter barrel need a faster twist rate than the longer barrel?

I know I have pistols that are just as accurate as rifles at shorter distances. But it's harder to hold a pistol as consistently steady as a rifle. What if I were to put both in a gun vise? Would they shoot the same accuracy out to 40-50+ yards?

I don't think there is a mathematical equation that solves all of this so I hoping the more experienced shooters and tuners will add some input here. 

 

[hawkeye69]

This has been discussed before. As far as I know, barrel length has no effect on accuracy if it is sufficiently long enough to provide the required amount of twist for the projectile. 

 

[Flintsack]

That is truly a big huge gnarly question.

others are going to have much more technical answers than I will.

if you look at firearm benchrest shooting, In the olden days it was thought that a longer barrel was better. All of the different divisions have weight limits, except unlimited. What they have found is that a shorter fatter barrel, allows the shooter to shoot smaller groups. I firmly believe a big part of this is lock- time. Which I am defining as the time it takes for the bullet to exit the bore after the trigger is pulled. A longer barrel, means a longer lock time. Which means any errors you make in your trigger pull and follow through are going to be magnified by the longer barrel. It is also believed by many that a shorter stouter barrel is stiffer. And I’m not talking about a 5 inch barrel, I’m talking about an 18 to 20 inch barrel versus a 25 to 27 inch barrel.


take a look at spring piston air guns. They used to have very long barrels. Now they all have shorter barrels. Why? Less weight, shorter lock time, and with a spring piston rifle the same velocity.


obviously, FX Put long barrels on their impact, to get more velocity. I believe if you could accomplish the same velocity with a shorter barrel they would use it.

My 2 cents. 


mike

 

[JCD]

No. But then again you have to take all those other factors into account. If you try to fire a .30 pellet from a 4" barrel at 1,000fps your gonna run into problems 

 

[Guest]

25yd rested, 75 shots, 15" barrel.

 

[Motorhead]

At realistic speeds and common AG calibers .... NO DIFFERENCE.

We're talking ACCURACY and not power, which will near always be less with a shorter barrel.

 

[ctshooter]

No. But then again you have to take all those other factors into account. If you try to fire a .30 pellet from a 4" barrel at 1,000fps your gonna run into problems 

You find me the airgun that can shoot a .30 at 80fpe+ with a 4" barrel and I'll buy that sucker in a heartbeat. But it has to have a min 8 round mag, be semi-auto, get 500 shots per fill and not have an external air tank. LOL

 

[bandg]

JMO

Inherently more accurate? No. Possibly "easier to shoot"? Yes. Longer barrel MAY be more stable and longer sight radius might help for open sight situations. Conversely, any additional stability could also be associated with more barrel harmonics.

 

[Centercut]

This has been discussed here before. The answer is absolutely not. 

Scientific study link below:

https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/the-truth-about-barrel-length-muzzle-velocity-and-accuracy/amp/

 

[TNT19]

The billion dollar controversial question!!! . As a long time powder burner user, I have a 6.5 mm with a 18 inch barrel and a 20 inch barrel. 1 round is 123 gr going 2400 fps and the other is 130 gr going 2800. I can hit a tsrget at 800 yards consistently with the 18 inch barrel but at a 1000 yards maybe once. The 20 inch barrel I can hit the 1000 yard target consistently so it seems the longer barrel makes it easier to be more accurate at distance. 

 

[Vetmx]

No. But then again you have to take all those other factors into account. If you try to fire a .30 pellet from a 4" barrel at 1,000fps your gonna run into problems 

Thankfully we can’t. 

 

[Vetmx]

The billion dollar controversial question!!!

. As a long time powder burner user, I have a 6.5 mm with a 18 inch barrel and a 20 inch barrel. 1 round is 123 gr going 2400 fps and the other is 130 gr going 2800. I can hit a tsrget at 800 yards consistently with the 18 inch barrel but at a 1000 yards maybe once. The 20 inch barrel I can hit the 1000 yard target consistently so it seems the longer barrel makes it easier to be more accurate at distance.

Your bullet weight and load has more to do with it in your situation. More than likely your 123 that is already going slow, is getting unstable around 900yrds.

 

[AirNGasman]

My 10" barreled .221 Fireball Contender pistol consistently outshoots my 21" barreled .222 Remington Contender rifle. The pistol averages .65-.75" groups at 100 yards (with only a 7X pistol scope); the rifle averages .70-.85" groups (with a 14X rifle scope).

And while one example does not a scientific conclusion make, I have enough other examples to know that longer barrels introduce or exacerbate variables adversely affecting accuracy. 

Speaking more airgun specifically, here is a five-shot group measuring .34" center-to-center shot with an air pistol... at FIFTY YARDS.

 

[TNT19]

The billion dollar controversial question!!!

. As a long time powder burner user, I have a 6.5 mm with a 18 inch barrel and a 20 inch barrel. 1 round is 123 gr going 2400 fps and the other is 130 gr going 2800. I can hit a tsrget at 800 yards consistently with the 18 inch barrel but at a 1000 yards maybe once. The 20 inch barrel I can hit the 1000 yard target consistently so it seems the longer barrel makes it easier to be more accurate at distance.

Your bullet weight and load has more to do with it in your situation. More than likely your 123 that is already going slow, is getting unstable around 900yrds.

Good point. Not that I am shooting game at that distance but I know some dudes who are SF and they are ridiculous with guns lol. Once this calms down I am going to get a tutorial on hand loading my ammo. I am interested to see how good I can get them at less than 500 yards.

 

[JoeH]

Not sure about air guns, but a longer barrel on my 4 pistols are on most guns used in competitions. For open sights, the extra distance between the rear and front sights can give a more accurate aim. The longer barrel also adds weight and balance (less "felt" recoil). All 4 of mine have 6"-7" barrels (S&W 686, S&W model 41, S&W 617, Ruger Super Blackhawk Bisley).

 

[bandg]

As with most things, there is probably a "sweet spot" for most individual guns. Overly short or long might not perform as well as some intermediate length that provides the best balance of stability and harmonics. Certainly an uninformed opinion.

 

[mtnGhost]

My 10" barreled .221 Fireball Contender pistol consistently outshoots my 21" barreled .222 Remington Contender rifle. The pistol averages .65-.75" groups at 100 yards (with only a 7X pistol scope); the rifle averages .70-.85" groups (with a 14X rifle scope).

And while one example does not a scientific conclusion make, I have enough other examples to know that longer barrels introduce or exacerbate variables adversely affecting accuracy. 

Speaking more airgun specifically, here is a five-shot group measuring .34" center-to-center shot with an air pistol... at FIFTY YARDS.

I have never really been into air pistols, but that one right there is a game changer! Very cool

This has been discussed here before. The answer is absolutely not. 

Scientific study link below:

https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/the-truth-about-barrel-length-muzzle-velocity-and-accuracy/amp/

Great article! Thanks for sharing

 

[ctshooter]

Great replies - thank you. I was pretty sure that barrel length had no impact on accuracy and this was well clarified. I do agree 100% with the opinions that a gun with a longer barrel may be easier to shoot because of more inherent stability, but think more along the lines of taking the barrels and locking them in a vise with no other external forces and aside from increased elevation of shorter barrel airguns due to lower power it is down to the barrel and not its length.

A few people mentioned powder burners and I specifically was not including them as barrel length can be directly related to a more complete burn of the powder behind the bullet. So please keep it to airguns for this discussion.

 

[bad_lighting]

No, longer barrels are not more inherently accurate. Of course there's limits to everything- if the projectile isn't sufficiently stabilized before it leaves an extremely short barrel then there will be issues. When using iron sights longer barrels allow for increased sight radius and *that* does indeed allow for increased accuracy over a short sight radius. 

I have a 16" barreled .223 with a full bull profile barrel that used to be a 26" barrel. It's just as accurate or more so now than when it was at 26".

 

[boscoebrea]

No and No....my advice ,because this is an interesting question and one that needs to be expanded is to research it....do your homework,it is a great learning experience.

a longer barrel give you a better site picture,it does not make the gun more accurate it helps You to be more accurate.

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