Which barrel length is best for overall carry? I mean with revolvers. My preference, confirmed after almost fifty years of carrying guns is for the 4". I find that it is the best overall length for me. Having carried all lengths from 2" to 6", in various brands and frame sizes, Colt, S&W, and Ruger, I find that I can conceal many full-sized fighting revolvers very effectively and comfortably, but the 4" seems to me to be the best and most practical barrel length. It is short enough to conceal well and it still has enough of a sight radius to point well. There is also a slight increase in bullet velocity as well, but for me, the prime advantage over the 2" is the greater sight radius.

For me then, the 4" barrel is best, but differing views are encouraged and welcomed.

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Let's be careful out there

You hit all the main reasons. I agree with your choice for all around carry.

What is your primary carry gun?

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Let's be careful out there

Many don't realize that barrel length is not quite the hindrance they think it is until barrel length gets beyond 4". Most of the bulk and size is in cylinder and frame. The real difference between a 3" barrel and a 4" on equal frame sizes is negligible at best.

As for sight radius, unless you're shooting at fifty yards and beyond, it's often difficult to see any real advantage with a longer radius unless you're one of very few who is incredibly proficient in shooting skills. The snub nose J-frame may be an exception here, but my results have been inconclusive so far. Perhaps a skilled shooter could comment on this.

After years of carrying 4" N frames concealed comfortably in Baker pancakes and shoulder rigs and even occasionally IWB, I was amazed to discover how a 4" K frame disappeared IWB and how light it seemed.

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I need ammo, not a ride.

Gerhard1, now that I have retired a long while ago I pocket carry a 649-2 daily. When I go out into the woods or even go along on a short hunt, then I carry my 28-2 with 4" barrel.

Between 3"-4" seems to be the sweet spot for me. Easy to carry, yet still offering enough velocity to ensure that JHPs expand properly.

Granted, I do carry an LCP with a 2.75" barrel on me at all times, but that's pretty darn close to 3".

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Shooting Comfort is bilateral.

That was something that I thought about but for some reason did not mention in my OP. Thanks for bringing it up.

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Let's be careful out there

For 33 years, I carried 4 inch S&W models 15 & 19 as duty weapons. A 2 inch Colt Detective Special as an off-duty choice.

Today, I prefer to carry my CCW in an IWB holster rather than OWB. For many years now, my carry choices have been either a Smith & Wesson model 3953 or 4053 in 3.5 inch barrel.

Best depends on the usage. 2.5 to 3" for carry. 4" or more for range, competition, home defense. 4" or longer for hunting. For carry, I like 2.5 to 3". I carry for self defense, plan on shooting at self defense distances, and IMHO, the sight radius on 2.5 -3" revolves are more than enough for defense purposes.

It depends upon the gun, but I normally pocket carry so I prefer the 2" range. For hunting revolvers, 4" to 6" is about ideal for me, with a preference for the 6". I do have a 5" 686+ that is kind of a happy medium.

For carry I like revolvers with 2 - 4 inch barrels.

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213th FBINA

For me it is a combination of both the grip frame and barrel length/contour...

In a K-frame for CC I prefer a 3" with a round butt frame like the 65/66.. Also liked the Model 10/12 with a 4" tapered barrel and round butt..

For an N-frame it is either a standard contour barrel with a square butt (Model 57/58) or a tapered barrel with a round butt like the Mountain Gun series.

The Js, my favorite is just a standard pre-Magnum length round butt frame and 2" barrel or a 3" full underlug barrel and round butt like a 60-10.

Bob

I prefer a 3” in .357 magnum in either a K or L frame.

I carry IWB at about 3:30 and a 4” doesn’t work quite as well when sitting. The 36-38oz weight of those revolvers is enough to make them comfortable to shoot, while not being too heavy to carry with a good holster and belt.

3” also gives enough ballistic efficiency for my preferred .357 magnum load to achieve around 1250 FPS and expand well with around 16” penetration in ballistic gel.

——

In my experience way too much is made of short sight radiuses. Look at the following:

4” adjustable sight K frame = 5.9”
4” fixed sight K frame = 5.6”
3” adjustable sight K frame = 4.9”
3” fixed sight K frame = 4.6”
1 7/8” fixed sight J frame = 3.4”

At 15 yards, a slight alignment error of .020” with the 5.9” sight radius creates an error of 1.83”. In contrast the same .020 sight alignment error with the 3.4” sight radius creates a 3.1” error.

Under ideal conditions a shooter can align a set of ,such sights to about .005”. The sights on most revolvers won’t allow the same degree of precision, but .010” is doable. The 020” used here is twice that and about equal to the gap on each side of the front blade, so if you can see light on each side of the front blade you have achieved at least that.

At 15 yards hitting a 3.7” circle versus a 6.2” circle won’t make any practical difference on a torso sized target. At 1/2 or 1/3 that range with circles proportionally smaller it makes virtually no difference at all.

With the 4.9” sight radius on a 3” adjustable sight K or L frame. The error and resulting circle size from .020” mis alignment is 4.4” at 15 yards, 3” at 10 yards and 1.5” at 5 yards.

The larger problem with self defense marksmanship is that shooters do not practice enough to even use the sights. Instead they poke it in the general direction of the assailant and start mashing the trigger.

They invariably justify the lack of skill or technique by pointing to police officers, where about 75% don’t recall using the sights in an officer involved shoot, and where the average percentage of misses is about 80%. That would be fine, except most police officers are not gun people and don’t shoot more than the 1 or 2 times a year they are required to qualify. Armed citizens also forget that police officers are also backed up by sovereign or other form of limited immunity as well as by department attorneys and liability insurance that will cover the death, injury and damage from all of those missed shots, as long as the officer is within department policy.

An armed citizen should be training enough to ensure the front sight is placed on the target when he or she brings the handgun up into their line of sight, pause to align the sights and then maintain that alignment while pulling the trigger.

After a few hundred round, if the grips and handgun fit the shooter anywhere close to correctly, the shooter will find the muscles in the arm and hand know exactly how they have to be tensioned to align the sights and the sights will be aligned when the front sight is placed on target. That pause then is to just check alignment and or confirm the need to shoot. By that point the trigger squeeze should be developed enough that the shooter can maintain sight alignment enough to maintain light on each side of the blade.

At that point and only that point, whether it’s a few hundred or a 1000 rounds, the shooter starts working on doing it faster, shooting progressively faster without giving up accuracy.

At that point a shooter with a short 1 7/8” or 2.125” J frame will be consistently outshooting people with a 6” revolver who never bothered to learn those basics.

Not an expert so based on personal preference, 3" is popular and I like them but other than full length ejector rod, I dont know how much is gained over a 2.5"???. As for all-around carry and performance, the 4" wins hands down IMO. If I were going any direction, I'd probably go 5" rather than 3". Anything over is getting into another realm (hunting, target, etc).
Just my opinion.

Most of the reasons mentioned in the OP is what I prefer for carry as well.
4" seems to be the perfect all-around go-to.
I've carried the S&W 19-3 in 4", The G-19 & XDMc (also 4"), But my current Carry (Because I can Front Pocket carry it) is the Shield (3").

Along with sight radius, the 4" barrel, in auto-loaders, seems to give the better balance between barrel weight and grip (due to bullet weight).

Hot weather here in Louisiana I'll pocket carry my J Frank. When it cools off some will switch to my M&P2.0 9mm IWB. Frank

I carried a 4 inch for many years.Now it's a 3inch or 2 inch.

Personally I prefer the "feel" of a 3" K-frame to a 4". It just points better for me. Mostly these days I carry a 2" Colt DS, but for some time I carried a Model 64 3" and concealed it just fine. I am not sure there is a "right" answer in general, but there is a "right" answer for YOU, and if you are happy with it, then it is the right answer.

For me, the 4" points better than the shorter tubes. And I agree that there is no one 'by golly' correct answer. Still, I thought it was a question worth asking, and I got some interesting responses.

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Let's be careful out there

I started out in 1979 with a 4" model 10; switched to a 2 1/2" 19........ added a 4 inch 66..... in 1985 I got a 3" 65 in 88 added a 3" 66.

While I have revolvers with barrel lengths from 2" to 6" the 3" guns get the most carry time and are my primary concealed carry revolvers... IWB in a Milt Sparks Summer Special. Time in Penn's Woods will find me with a 4" .357 in a Bianchi 111 Cyclone cross-draw.

3.5 for me.

Cool. Mine is a J San.

Anyway, I keep it simple with my choices. 2" or 3", J or K, usually fixed sight for the comfort part (not all of my IWB holsters cover the sight area,) and .38 Spl for revolvers, mostly 9mm or a compact S&W .45 for semis. I don't have a single carry gun, I prefer to have several to choose from and base "Today's gun" on where I'm going and what I'm wearing. I like to shoot at least one of each style of gun when I go shooting so I can stay familiar with anything I decide to carry. Other than that, I'm afraid I don't put a lot of thought into it, sorry. I've carried for work and personal reasons for many years, so it's all just second nature to me.

For me personally, if carrying a compact 9mm Semi Auto like a Sig P365, the standard 3.1" bbl. is perfect. If carrying a .38 Spl. J Frame I like the 2". If I carry my M65 (357) I like the 3"Bull bbl. round butt.

I don't normally carry anything with larger bbl. than stated above unless it's on the RARE occasion I carry my standard version of a Colt 1911 Gov't. - but that is rare. If I am setting out to the Range and want to shoot a 4" M15 I might OWB carry it - but certainly not my preferred bbl. length.

With an N- or K-frame, I just don’t see that the difference between a 4-inch or a slightly shorter barrel amounts to much in terms of hiding the gun, particularly if you are on your feet when hiding it is most important. A J-frame is a bit different story. I’ve always thought a 2-1/2” barrel was about ideal (longer extractor rod) but I’ve only see a few of those. In the case of the J-frame, particularly a round-butt gun, a 2-inch barrel can be pretty handy, IMO, compared to a 3-inch.

Since the OP said "for carry", and I only carry for self defense, my preferred barrel length is snub nose length. Two inches, give or take an eighth inch.

I was forced to use both a four inch & snub service revolver during my career and had no real preference for duty. I’ve pocket carried a 2” J Frame since my ‘97 retirement from LE.

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Old Cop
LEO (Ret.)

I seldom carry a revolver concealed for self defence. Usually it's a 4 inch gun for camping, fishing, bumming around in the woods, though my 2.75 inch model 69 is really growing on me. I like 6 inches for a serious hunting revolver when carried on the belt. Any longer really calls for a chest / shoulder, or cross draw rig.

Larry

Carry, for me, usually means "concealed." I prefer 2"-3" Smith J or Colt D frames. Anythng longer is difficult to appendix carry. Also, the short barrel allows for easy transition from appendix, to pocket, to ankle if necessary. I'll carry a 2.75" Model 66, 4" Model 19, or 5" Model 629 when hiking.

Unless you pocket carry 3" is better than 2, The extra inch of barrel is easy to carry and hide

2" to 3" max.

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John

Ever since the RedHawks were offered I CCW shoulder holstered a 7 1/2” barrel in the winter and a 5 1/2” in the summer heat. Then when the cz82 in 9 mm mak was offered I switched to that on and off with a 1911/45/5”.
I prefer 4”, 5”, 6”, 7.5”, 10” barrels

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Plant garlic in the fall

3” is my perfect length. Still has acceptable velocities without hitting my armpit when drawing from a strong side holster.

2" one way or the other isn't really gonna matter as long as you know how to use whatever length you got.

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Forum consigliere

I recall Wyatt Earp said barrel length can make a difference when pulling
your gun. I tend to agree with Wyatt. I usually carry a 2" barrel.

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In Omnia Paratus

The only 2" I own is a barrel for my Dan Wesson W12 and I'm not carrying that.I own 4 6" revolvers, 2 3" revolvers, 1 5" and the rest are 4". For a combat/defense role, I think a 4" is the best. If I had to fight a war with only a revolver, my 581 4" is gonna be the weapon of choice. That said, my EDC is a 365, sometimes an LCP.

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The best I can with what I got

You guys are in a land I seldom visit - short barrels.

I don't conceal carry or even carry 90% of the time I'm out. I shoot as a hobby; not for self defense or the job.

I'm a tester of my handloads so my preference is bench rest, long barrels reaching out to 100 yards+ ringing steel. At my age, scopes are the cat's meow.

The exception:
If I'm walking in the backcountry, I'm only able to carry a 2" scandium 357mag weighing 13 oz. With senior status comes the acceptance of diminished strength. I tell folks I'm still an expert shooter, I just can't see the target.


Prescut

I think S&W hit the sweet spot of 2.75" barrel length with the current M66 and M69. Good extraction and reasonable concealment and ballistics. It's always a compromise for concealed carry, at least for me.

73,
Rick

My constant companion.


As long as I can still do this with it anyway.

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Keep on Chooglin'

For me, the ideal carry revolver is a 3" K-frame. Big enough to shoot well, small enough to conceal well, has a full length ejector rod and enough barrel for good accuracy and velocity.
When I'm in a revolver mood, I often carry this 3" Model 13.



However, I will admit that for quick trips to the store and such, I usually just grab my 2" Model 642.

24.5 feet

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Retired Career Security Guard

You carry that IWB?

No exactly

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Retired Career Security Guard

Oh, sumwhere's around 3 1/2 works for me



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"IN GOD WE TRUST"

The full length ejector rod is one of the reasons I prefer my 3” 686 to my 2.5” 686 or 2.5” Model 66.

The other reason is a bit more ballistic efficiency with a .357 Magnum self defense load.

There isn’t much downside as a 3” carries and conceals as well as a 2.5” and the weight difference is minimal.