Does Barrel length help determine Acurracy - your thoughts

[SHOOTALL]

you point out the real deal a gun is a blance of needs .

[Singleshotsam]

you point out the real deal a gun is a blance of needs .

Indeed it is.  My personal marksmanship rifle is a Remington 700 .308 sitting in a bedded HS Precision stock, Tac Ops bolt knob, NightForce 20moa canted picatinny base topped off with a Bushnell Elite 3200 Tactical 5-15 mildot.  It will shoot easily in the .4's using 155 A Max bullets. 

About 800 yards is where this rifle meets its balance of acceptable accuracy and velocity.  I can go out to 1k but the accuracy will suffer due to bullet yaw due to insufficient velocity.  It will still hold under 10 m.o.a at 1000 which is acceptable but not competitive.
 
So as you can see, I'm a huge fan of a short, heavy barrel, but I have to accept that there are times when the boys with the longer bbls will be more accurate than me.

[roper]

If you look at BR group shooting out to 1000yds it's all about weight.   In the F-Class 180gr 7mm bullet need about 2900fps plus to be accuracy @ 1000yds and it take at least 30" barrel to get that with the various 284 cases.  I think Sgt Sherri Gallagher to win the  2010 NRA high-power championship use three different bullet/Loads in a 260 from 200 to 1000yds according to the article on BR site they loaded for accuracy at different yardage not velocity.


If you look at 1000yd groups matches you see calibers winning with 3"/4" groups same you have shooters win BR match with the 6ppc agg(5 targets with 5 shot group each target) groups in the high .1" and real small groups @ 600yds with the 6.5/47 etc.


I'm sure factory rifle accuracy will be less.

[Singleshotsam]

If you look at BR group shooting out to 1000yds it's all about weight.   In the F-Class 180gr 7mm bullet need about 2900fps plus to be accuracy @ 1000yds and it take at least 30" barrel to get that with the various 284 cases.  I think Sgt Sherri Gallagher to win the  2010 NRA high-power championship use three different bullet/Loads in a 260 from 200 to 1000yds according to the article on BR site they loaded for accuracy at different yardage not velocity.


If you look at 1000yd groups matches you see calibers winning with 3"/4" groups same you have shooters win BR match with the 6ppc agg(5 targets with 5 shot group each target) groups in the high .1" and real small groups @ 600yds with the 6.5/47 etc.


I'm sure factory rifle accuracy will be less.

It's not really all about weight in 1k BR.  While weight makes it easier to replicate conditions that lead to accuracy, that's not the sole factor in making a gun accurate.  If you take a cheap Stevens 200 and replace the synthetic stock with a stock carved from a chunk of lead will it win a 1k BR competition?  The answer to that is no.  It's because the factory condition of the rifle is not true.  Can you take the same Stevens 200 rifle, add a quality bbl, bed the reciever to the stock, and replace the internal firing mechanisms with quality precision mfg parts and make it into a 1k BR winner.  Yes you can.  Because you've improved the ablility of the rifle to be as consistant every time as possible. 
 
Next in line is the consistancy of the Ammo.  Then the consistancy of the shooter.  When you get down to the nitty gritty, the science behind shooting is essentially rocket science and that is very cool.

[45-70.gov]

just  speculating........


in  the 1000 meter matches
is the long barrel  more to maintain supersinic velocities?


accuracy  means different things to different people


does barrel length help determine accuracy?
to   me that means group size  with barrel  screwed  into a machine mounded reciever
to  some  it may  mean  open sighted  bullseye one handed handgun shooting


in  a scoped RIFLE  and a sporter or light weight....or even  a t/c or similar handgun
ALL OTHER THINGS  BEING  EQUAL
 the shorter barrel will be more  accurate.......MOST OF THE TIME....not ALWAYS
simply because of the rigidity
don't forget harmonics.....1/4 inch either way will have an affect....not relative to  OP
http://www.shootingsoftware.com/barrel.htm   this was very interesting


not purely accuracy.....but the bullet exits the barrel  sooner  minimizing shooter error
.............longer barrel has less blast........minimizing flinch
.............longer barrels have more velocity...minimizing range estimation 

[roper]

If you look at BR group shooting out to 1000yds it's all about weight.   In the F-Class 180gr 7mm bullet need about 2900fps plus to be accuracy @ 1000yds and it take at least 30" barrel to get that with the various 284 cases.  I think Sgt Sherri Gallagher to win the  2010 NRA high-power championship use three different bullet/Loads in a 260 from 200 to 1000yds according to the article on BR site they loaded for accuracy at different yardage not velocity.


If you look at 1000yd groups matches you see calibers winning with 3"/4" groups same you have shooters win BR match with the 6ppc agg(5 targets with 5 shot group each target) groups in the high .1" and real small groups @ 600yds with the 6.5/47 etc.


I'm sure factory rifle accuracy will be less.

It's not really all about weight in 1k BR.  While weight makes it easier to replicate conditions that lead to accuracy, that's not the sole factor in making a gun accurate.  If you take a cheap Stevens 200 and replace the synthetic stock with a stock carved from a chunk of lead will it win a 1k BR competition?  The answer to that is no.  It's because the factory condition of the rifle is not true.  Can you take the same Stevens 200 rifle, add a quality bbl, bed the reciever to the stock, and replace the internal firing mechanisms with quality precision mfg parts and make it into a 1k BR winner.  Yes you can.  Because you've improved the ablility of the rifle to be as consistant every time as possible. 
 
Next in line is the consistancy of the Ammo.  Then the consistancy of the shooter.  When you get down to the nitty gritty, the science behind shooting is essentially rocket science and that is very cool.

 I wasn't posting about what type rifles read my first part of my post "If you look at BR group shooting out to 1000yds it's all about weight."  IBS 1000yd match has two weight limits and amount rds fired in each.  the light rifle shoot 5 shot groups and heavy 10shot groups and the heavy is unlimited weight.   

If you look at the short yardage match shooting the 6ppc you have light ,heavy and unlimited weight limits.   Sure you could take a Rem short action and make a BR rifle and more than like win a match but chances are you couldn't use that same rifle to win the heavy or unlimited match.

You can read the result for LR BR 1000yd match and they post equipment list and you see standard action all the time that be reworked so that's nothing new.  You don't see it much in the short yardage BR match but LR 1000yds light/ heavy rifles is also about calibers what may give great 5 shot groups my not do good with 10shots or the heavier caliber better in changing conditions.

When I was shooting the 6ppc my heavy rifle was easier on the bags vs my light rifle plus barrel/stock was longer on the heavy.

I think some of the myth about shorter barrel being better came fro the BR with the short heavy barrel used  again it's all about weight and balance shooting off a rest and how it rides the bags shooting for groups at a match.  It also  help to have a good rifle.

We have few in our gun club that go to Camp  Perry plus local matches  plus the ones  go down for tactical match at Raton  and few go up for the IBS 1000yd match east of Denver so we have a good mix.

[JeffG]

In my experience, longer barrels mean better velocity, and a greater likelyhood of bullet stability. (longer barrel-bullet time)  A LONGER AND HEAVIER BARREL HELPS ME ON THE BENCH AND BIPOD., that's a personal preference. My 18" 45\70 guide gun shoots one inch with lead handloads... so who knows.