Long Barrels

[625-7]

Long barrels

tend to grow on you, no pun intended!

 

[AveragEd]

My first handgun was a new Model 19-3 with a four-inch barrel. I shot a 50-round box of handloaded wadcutters through it three nights each week in a 25-yard indoor range and tried to put all 50 holes in the black of an NRA 25-yard slow-fire pistol target offhand. I managed to do that twice over about three years with a lot of "48s and 49s" thrown in. The escapees usually got away very early and/or very late. But don't let anyone tell you four-inch guns can't be accurate.

I think the barrel length that works best for any one person is the one that he or she shoots best but I believe a four-inch is the best "teaching length" strictly because of its balance, especially in a K-frame. I will soon be starting my daughter out with a no-dash four-inch Model 67 (stainless steel sights and all!) that is on its way to my local gun shop from Colorado.

These days, my favorite barrel length is the harder-to-find five-inch and I have two, a 686-3 National Match and a 629-3 Classic DX. I also have numerous six-inch K- and L-frame revolvers and have owned a few longer ones but found them kind of unhandy without yielding any appreciable accuracy advantage.

Ed

 

[rwt1405]

I'll admit I'm not a big fan of long barrelled revolvers.

I only have 8 - 6" revolvers, and half of those are N-frames,
as for me, they are the only ones that "look right" in 6" (I only like .44 mags in 6").

I prefer my revolvers in 4" or less, with my favorites in 3" or 4".

 

[Nathan510]

I have a few long barreled Smiths.

Here are my 629-5 Performance Centers:

Extreme Hunter 12"

Comp Hunter 6.5"

 

[BigBill]

I like 5", 6", 6.5", 7.5" barrels. But when I got the m58 the 4" barrel grew on me.