Does a longer barrel increase efficteviness greatly?

Question

Would a shotgin with a 26 inch barrel be more accurute with rifled slugs than an 18 inch barrel? Would it also be any better at keeping a closer pattern at longer range? Thanks!

Answer 1

Yes a longer barrel will increase the accuracy of your slugs as well as your sight radius. So, you and your gun would be more accurate. The slug, or shot will also have a higher velocity in a longer barrel. If you reload, you could really take advantage of the extra length by using a slightly slower burning powder. As someone else said, your pattern will be slightly improved with the additional length but a different choke would do a better job of changing the pattern. So, basically you have a better preforming gun. However, the added length can hinder more then help in some scenarios. Home protection / home entry would be better accomplished with a shorter barrel. Some bird hunting it close quarters would also benefit from a shorter barrel. The shorter barrel will allow you to swing the gun faster and get on target faster. If you can't get on target it does not matter how accurate your gun is. The effectiveness of the weapon is determined by its ability to take out its intended target. You will have to decide which works better for you.

Answer 2

With a shotgun the longer barrel and a tight choke will help keep shot patterns smaller at longer ranges. Barrels on Trap and Skeet guns are 28 to 34 inches long. With slugs, the longer barrel doesn't really do much. It will increase the velocity somewhat and the longer sight plain of the barrel will aid precise shooting. Frankly, a slug barrel beyond 18 inches does not offer that much extra accuracy to be worth the effort.

Even with rifles, a longer barrel does not mean greater accuracy. Sometime ago a writer for one of the gun magazines did an expensive test with a high quality rifle. He got the rifle with, I think, a 26 inch barrel. After sighting it in he began cutting two inches off the barrel (and re-crowning the barrel) and retesting the gun. He found that the velocity loss was about 50 feet per second, per inch; but the groups remained about the same. He kept lobbing off two inches of barrel until he was down to, I think, a 16 inch barrel. He lost over 500 feet per second of velocity and the groups were lower on the target, but the groups were pretty much the same.

Answer 3

The longer barrel gives you a better sight radius, and that may help with your accuracy, but the gun's accuracy isn't any better. Take your pick whether that's a yes or a no.
The propellant's burned within the first 12-14 inches, but the gasses continue to expand, and the longer barrel will give you a slight increase in velocity. This will make a difference in your shot pattern if you put it on paper, but the difference is small enough that you'd be hard pressed to notice in the field. The barrel length is going to change your spread a lot less than the difference between chokes of even half-steps.

Answer 4

In the old days this may have been true. Technology has changed this. With better rifling and ammo that we now have I say you will not see a difference between a 22" barrel and a 26" unless you are a competition shooter.

Answer 5

Is the 18" barrel rifled? Is the 26" barrel smooth? Too many factors.

H

Answer 6

Yes to both questions.

Answer 7

Absolutely NO...