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Best barrel length in a deer rifle?

huntingwithdaughters
I used to shoot w a 22" barrel. Seeing a lot of rifles advertized with much shorter barrels. Suggestions?

If its used on a stand and at the range, I figure it should weigh at least 7-8 lbs. Suggestions?

For range ammo for a .243, what is the lightest load that will give accuracy at 100 yards. Not looking for kmart stuff...

Thanks!
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2 comments

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  • Herschel
    The 22" barrel should be fine. The shorter the barrel the greater the muzzle blast. Most any factory ammo should be adequate for deer hunting at 100 yards. Bullet construction is important. I suggest a 100 grain. I have killed 30 or so deer with the .243. Nearly all were one shot kills. A shot through the lungs will be fatal but they may run 50 yards or more after being shot.
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  • beantownshootah
    There is no "best"; its mostly about what you prefer.

    Contrary to popular misconception a longer barrel is NOT more intrinsically accurate (though it can be easier to AIM a longer barreled gun with iron sights due to increased sight radius).

    Shorter is a bit better handling and easier to tote around without snagging on stuff; longer potentially gives you a bit more velocity (more important at longer ranges) and marginally less noise.

    22" is fine for a .243. You could probably give or take 2" depending on personal preference without changing much.

    Lots of the lever actions firing slower type rounds (eg 30/30 or pistol rounds) go with 20" bbls. Since you're basically getting max velocity out of a 20" tube anyway with those rounds, you might as well have a handier shorter gun.

    In terms of accuracy, if you're only shooting to 100 yards, probably ANY of them are going to be accurate enough for hunting purposes, assuming you do your part, and the rifle is OK. Herschel has it; pick the ammo with the best BULLET for the game you're hunting.

    I can't comment on which specific loads are going to be most accurate. That's at least going to depend partially on your particular gun.

    In terms of pure handling/shooting I'd agree that 7-8 lbs is probably ideal for something like a .243. Its not that recoil would be too much with a 5-6 lb gun, but guns that light swing really fast, have a lot of "wobble" and can be harder to keep on target. More than 8lbs is probably unnecessarily heavy for a relatively low-recoil gun like a .243 if you actually intend to carry it around with you.

    But again, ultimately, this is about personal preference.

    If you expect to be doing a lot of carrying you might be willing to give up a little stability for a lighter gun. 2 lbs doesn't sound like much, until you carry it for about 10 miles! Put differently, if you give up a pound of gun, that could potentially let you carry an extra pound of something ELSE.

    In contrast, if you're ONLY going to be shooting the gun from a rest or bench, then heavier is better, since the weight reduces perceived recoil and tends to "plant" the gun more, potentially leading to better accuracy. There are reasons why match shooters like heavy guns with heavy barrels, and even add extra weight to their guns.
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