Will I need to load down because of the 22" barrel and how "handicapped" am I with the 22" instead of the 26".
Load down? How much powder are you shooting? My wife's Wolverine 209 (22") does well with 100 gr of T7 pellets. I haven't done as much with loose powder, but I'm confident it will burn up to a hundred grains or so. I only use 100 gr of T7 loose in my 26" barreled Disc Extreme.
One suggestion though, if you are wanting to shoot sabots, the ones Knight sells are well matched to their guns. My wife's likes the 260 gr Knight Jacketed sabots, and mine likes the 250 gr Barnes. Both bullets shoot well in each gun, but mine gets tighter groups with the Barnes and vice-versa with hers.