Is it true that barrels longer than 22" are generally..

[HHI 812]

not as accurate as those under 22"?  I want to get a long barrel for my contender, but concerned about worst accuracy if I went say to a 24" barre? Your thoughts appreciated! Dennis

[KN]

If barrels longer than 22" were not as accurate as shorter ones they wouldn't make them. Look at some of the old black powder guns, they have very long barrels. I'm sure barrel length and powder burn efficiency have alot to do with an optimum barrel length. But to generally say that a barrel over 22" is not as accurate as a barrel of say 26" is pure hogwash.  Just my $.02   KN

[HHI 812]

of mine is into black powder shooting, at 600 and 1000 yards, and even with their iron sights, give the scoped high tech rifles a run for their money! What is the longest contender rifle you've seen? Thanks,
Dennis

[thomas]

Generally Barrels over 22" flex too much. The reason for a 26-30" barrel is the added FPS for long range shooting and trajectory.
Most Bench rest shooting is done with a 20-22" barrel. They flex less and have better Harmonics.
My 6BR is 20"
tom

[helobill]

Another factor is that total gun weight is restricted depending on the class you compete in a couple good web sites to learn about it are:

http://www.nssf.org/
and
http://www.myoan.net/shootingart/sm_rifle_overview.html

Someone was interested enough to actually start with a 223 Remington and cut the barrel down and record the results at http://www.accuratereloading.com/223sb.html
There's no analysis with the charts, but looking it over, down to about 15" you can keep minimum size groups by changing powder type and amount.
Helicopter Bill

[helobill]

Here's an article that addresses 300 mag barrel length, pretty interesting. Maybe I don't need a 26 inch barrel for elk after all. Just when I thought I knew what to buy, something like this shows up. :? http://www.tacticaloperations.com/SWATbarrel/
Bill