The thing that strikes me as odd in the "debate" of ST vs LW barrels is the lack of experience coupled with unyielding opinions. I hear both sides use theory and conjecture to defend their positions. The truth is that both barrels work, and both are capable of world-class accuracy. I own several guns, having both LW and ST barrels. And, contrary to what you may read, NONE of my guns are professionally tuned or "special". They are all factory stock. My most accurate .177 is my MK4 (LW). My most accurate .22 is a tie between a Royale (ST) and a Wolverine (LW). My most accurate .25 is my Bobcat .25 (ST).
BOTH kinds of barrels shoot well past 100 yards. My Royale and Wolverine .22's are a dead-tie at 25 yards - 50 yards - 100 yards - 150 yards. Neither is better than the other at any range.
I can say definitively that there is less variation with ST barrels. They all shoot well from 600-930fps. You buy the gun - buy JSB pellets - and off you go. No need to try a several pellet brands, or spend hours doing chronograph work.
LW barrels, on rare occasions, have the ability to drive pellets close to 1000fps and remain stable. I have seen this. Kip Perow owns an Air Wolf .22 that slings 16gr JSB's at 1000+fps without any destabilization. But, his gun is exceptional. It is the gun I did so well with at the first Extreme Benchrest, and it is the gun he won the US nationals 50m contest with last year. I have offered him $5000 for that gun because I KNOW it is one in a thousand (Kip declined). There are some guys out there who have had a similar experience with their LW barrels, and I am envious of their luck. But, their guns are the exception; not the norm. And, the flip side of that coin is that some LW barrels are inferior - there have been "good batches and bad batches" over the years.
The winner of Extreme Benchrest last year was Tim McMurray. The year before that, the winner was Chris Warwick. Chris scored 237 (2013) and 235 (2014) out of a possible 250. Both years he shot his [stock] FX Boss .30. Tim won the competition last year with one of his own .30 creations (neither LW or ST barrel on his gun). Had Tim and Chris swapped guns, I would bet their scores would not have been much different.
Additionally, last year the three highest scores at 25m were achieved by Shane Kellar, Mike Manabe, and Bob Corcoran. Shane used a .22 Royale (ST). Mike used a .22 RAW (LW). And Bob used a .177 USFT (barrel unknown).
My point to all this rambling - do NOT obsess over this "debate". Get the gun that suits your needs, wants, and likes. And, if you ever want to be humbled, or think that your gun is not living up to your expectations, put it in the hands of a shooter like Tim, Chris, Shane, Mike Bob and in all likelihood you will soon find out that the gun is not the issue.
