Barrel length, any advantages when it comes to accuracy?

[cmars2018]

Hi all, Quick question. Will the barrel length have any affect on accuracy when using a sub 12 foot pound rifle for target shooting ie HW100 carbine or full length, I’m after this as a back up rifle to my HFT500.
Thanks

[ora8i]

If your using a scope and the barrel is a good one it need not be long just look at the length of the top competition pistols.

With open sites it all changes a longer barrel increases the distance between the front and back sites and that is a very real advantage.


It's unlikely that any rifle that is assuming it has a good barrel in the first place would be short enough to produce a noticeable reduction in accuracy/precision.



Ora

[Steyr]

Generally not in air rifle.
Twist rate is easy to get for rim and centre but not many air barrels mention twist rate and twist = grain weight have a relationship in powder and to some extent FAC air maybe.
There are many things that make a barrel accurate but for air, length is not generally considered to be a major factor.
10 Meter precision may be different but that isn't my cup of tea.
That doesn't mean to say one should not seek a good barrel.
Again, the early AA S200's barrels were brilliant and on a cheap rifle. My Steyrs hammer forged barley twist was also excellent and I suspect that there would be a differential between the two units especially by the time it got to the retail end of the change and had passed across the water.

[ballisticboy]

Barrel length will have no effect on pellet spin rate which is governed entirely by pellet velocity and barrel twist. Therefore assuming the two guns have the same muzzle velocity, twist rate, pellet/barrel fit, identical launch conditions and are both fixed in position then the dispersion will be the same. However, for a shorter barrel rifle the air pressure in the barrel will be greater than the pressure in the long barrel which may have an adverse effect on pellet yaw as it leaves the barrel and hence dispersion. In addition the difference in balance and weight of the long and short barrelled guns may have an effect on the stability of the gun and shooter in actual use. So the net effect is that there may well be differences most of which will come down to the shooters own technique with perhaps a little bit due to the gun differences.

[lensman57]

I found that I could hit far targets , 70+ with much more success , using my 600 FSB than when I had the K barrel on my HW100 .177. The gun is tuned to 11.6 ft.lbs which remains pretty consistent between different weight JSBs.

A.G

[Rich]

I shoot mainly LSR which is over 20 yards and indoors, standing.

My main rifle for this is a S410 in 22 calibre and it's a carbine with a 300mm air tube so the barrel is a touch longer.

My back up rifle - wait for it - is a Verminator Mk2 in 177 with an even shorter barrel.

There is nothing in it between them for scores, which is the ultimate test.

Last year I had a Steyr H5 SA full length with a 600mm barrel. It was quite different to shoot, and quite difficult to shoot to the same standard, but after I had got used to it, the scores were so close to each other it was difficult to choose which one to shoot at the Bisley finals. In the end I chose the 410.

[Dreamer_UK]

I was talking to the RFD at our local gun shop about this on Thursday. We were discussing Weihrauch pcp's -v- springers. He maintains that Weihrauch consider the HW97K to be the most accurate rifle of all that they produce. I had one of these for a while, but problems with my shoulder forced a sale to a club mate, but whilst I had it my groups (rested) were on a par with those of my AA S400, so I'm inclined to believe what the RFD says. For a barrel barely 30cm long it is very accurate.

[bill57]

Theoretically, a longer (and therefore heavier) barrel is easier to hold on target, particularly from an unsupported position. However because the mechanics of a spring airgun are so different from a cartridge firearm, there are other factors to be considered, not least the time taken for the pellet to leave the barrel. Perhaps a short barrel, but with a long heavy shroud on it to push the balance further forward? PCP's are clearly a different case altogether.

As you will find, it's an argument that everybody can have different (and equally valid) opinions on.