Alex,
On a Contender my all time favorite carbine barrels were 20" bulls, mattered not what they were chambered for. Best balance with my always preferred heavy wood furniture, optimum harmonics with the slow lock time IMO, worked very well for me no matter what the game or range was, nor whether off hand or benched. All being custom and with tuned handloads (except the 17 rimfires), most shot small bug holes, a 17HMR the most precise of all of them in the 1's sometimes. Longer barrels would drive a little faster with many cartridges, but that never mattered to me for my uses even to long/extreme long ranges. I could usually shoot my 14"/15" custom barrels as far and as accurately off a bench as with a carbine or rifle, the available optics being the only limiting factor for extreme range. Never used my factory 16's as carbines, but did have a custom 18" wispy, light sporter weight 6X47 though with a Choate folding stock that made a light little predator/deer hunting package. I could carry it scoped and folded in a tennis racket cover type bag.
Never had any carbine/rifle barrels for my Encores to make an assessment on for them. Like most of my Contenders, all my Encores wore factory 12"/15" and from 10" to 15" custom barrels.
L.
