Newbie seeks advice on rifle and calibre choice

[ppkny]

Al, As you know I just got into this lever gun game a short time ago and everyone was always saying get the longer gun for a better sight radius. That's all I base may suggestions on was what I heard around the ranges when I started with my 357 20 inch Marlin.
ppkny

[cslcAl]

Pete, Brian is correct in regards to the degree of error. The real benifit to a longer barrel is for shooters who have vision problems. The front sight on my 26 in. barrels is much clearer than on my 22 in. barrels. If your front sight is fuzzy, you have a real problem. Al

[Bwake]

That's right. Longer barrels have some value, but not necessarily for the reason you would assume. We shooters are subject to the same quirks of psychology as everyone else. Sometimes sensible-sounding fallacies take hold and have a life of their own. And then there's the "herd mentality" phenomenon that can develop along with them. The sight radius issue was one example that was easy to bust. But there are others in silhouette that I won't mention for fear of annoying too many people.

By the way, this has some bearing on the "equipment race" controversies that we keep seeing in silhouette, but that too, is a whole 'nother story!

Good shooting everyone.

- Brian

[Another Dang 9]

Brian, I was only PO'ed once today So go on I'm feeling deprived of my daily helping of smack down.
Please take that as the tongue in cheek humor it was meant to be.

[TURKEYSFEARME]

I was lucky enough to attend the NRA convention in Pittsburgh over the weekend and I had a chance to play with all the new lever guns, Chiappa and Uberti both had some great new rifles as did Winchester, they were even in the good calibers 38-55 32-20 as well as the standard stuff. Of course Marlin was there, all of their guns looked flawless, nothing like the crap I've been seeing at my local gun shop (poorly fitted parts, crooked sights) and when I asked them why they were not making the cowboy series in 38-55 or 32-20 they told me because it was such a small market only silhouette shooters and cowboy action shooters want those calibers,,,,well DUH that pretty much sums up the entire lever gun market, well at least the Italian companys are making long barrel guns in classic calibers. The only problem is that the Chiappa Uberti and Winchester rifles will cost you about as much as a used Anschutz.

[Jason]

The longer barrel being better "myths" aren't myths at all. Some are just misunderstood. The longer sight radius helps, but only slightly as the math shows here unless the shooter is farsighted enough for front sight blur to be a problem. The benefit of having more weight farther forward helps more, as it slows the wobble. That assumes that you have the physical strength and stamina to support the extra weight out there for the whole match without fatigue affecting your hold, of course. The third benefit of more barrel time allowing more velocity given the right charge of the right, possibly slower burining, powder can also help on the 200m rams. Of course, this longer barrel time can also translate into a need to follow through a bit longer, so it's not without tradeoff. All of these are very slight benefits, of course. All in all, the longer barrel won't turn a AA shooter into a Master shooter, but it will give a shooter of a given classification a bit of an advantage over another shooter of the same skill level if all other aspects of the guns/sights are equal.

[Byron]

Personal experience puts me in with Jason. The longer sight radius allows me to see the front post better which makes for a more repeatable sight picture. I have gone to a tang sight and wide post in the front sight and line shoot at the top or the bottom of the animal. As soon as I was able to see the front sight well enought to make a repeatable sight picture my scores jumped from low AAA in to Master. If a longer sight radius wasn't important you wouldn't see sight ext. tubes on position rifles. The smaller you can make the back appature so there is less room around the front globe will increasce the repeatablity of the aiming point. I see a lot of guns with out a front globe around the post and I think this is worse than having a shorter barrel.

Byron

PS I need spell checker!

[lone ringer]

A few years ago the great Champion Ron Troyer made the comment “You don’t show up to a rifle match with a carbine” when he saw one of his main rivals shooting a short barreled 30-30.

[aliascraig]

Thanks guys.

This information is all fantastic. I did manage to not race out and buy a gun since there are no club or spare guns available but I have had the chance to now shoot several peoples rifles and like people have eluded to there are personal preferences.

Looks like now all I need to do is go out and make a purchase and never be afraid to get something else if it fits or works better for me in the future.

Many thanks for all the help.

Regards,

Craig.