A shorter barrel would depend on what its chambered for, its intended uses and whether the loss will make any difference in the performance you want from it. As for handiness... back in the Contender days there was considerable difference between the 16.25" and 21" factory barrels if in tight cover, the weight difference was negligible, but again often at the price of a performace loss. After the early years most of my carbines had custom 20" bull barrels, and that seemed to be a good compromise for handiness and performance with most cartridges on the Contender. Did have a wispy 18" I bought a Choate folding stock set for to make it the most compact for carry though. I only shot pistol barrels on all of my Encores. But since they usually have longer to much longer rifles barrels to start from, getting them as compact would mean even more "cutting" somewhere.
A stock to fit you should be a given IMO and the first priority. So if it was me, I'd get the stock right for me first, then decide on barrel length FWIW.
