A technical question about BARREL LENGTH

[Rikimaru]

Theoben researched barrel length for springers & ram guns & they found that the pellet developed full velocity only over the first six inches of the barrel. Spring guns develop the power in a different way to PCP'S.
Precharged guns deliver the charge of air over a longer period of time & need barrel length to reach full velocity. Springers deliver the charge of air much quicker & do not need long barrels to develop velocity.
all my springers have barrels of 11 inches or less (down to 9"). The Longbow has a 13 "barrel & my Fenman is famous for its ultra short barrel. All of them are accurate & running at 10.8ft lbs (I set them up at that power, nothing to do with reduced barrel length, most of the Vulcan's were doing 11.5 to 11.8 before tuning before reduction of barrel length). ).

The fact that most airgun manufacturers are supplying guns with shorter barrels as standard more & more should tell you all you need to know.

None of my springers have needed any modification to restore power after barrel shortening, no changing of springs or transfer port mods. If the velocity is built up over the first six inches then as long as the barrel is over that 6" it's fine.

The only reason 6" barrels are not used is leverage, The Fenman could have had a 6" barrel but they extended it by a few more inches to help ease cocking effort. Same reason mine are between 9" to 11" purely to ease cocking effort, not for efficiency.

If you prefer longer barrels then that's good but having shorter barrels on springers is not a detriment. We all have differing preferences & unless something really messes up a gun or makes it dangerous then go for it. I love ultra carbine & would never knock anyone for owning a 22" barreled air rifle.