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[bob ford <bobford79 AT yahoo.com>]

Okay.  That goes against what I've always thought, but what you said makes 
sense.  I guess the reason you shoot a longer barrel for trap shooting or for 
dog hunting deer has as much to do with the choke and the shell size as 
anything else.  

If you ever see your grandfather's or great uncles' shotgun, it was probably 
a single shot with a very long barrel.  They were called "uncle toms"  (I 
don't know why).  I have never shot black powder ......bobford

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--- On Sun, 11/9/08, Clansgian AT wmconnect.com <Clansgian AT wmconnect.com> wrote:

> From: Clansgian AT wmconnect.com <Clansgian AT wmconnect.com>
> Subject: Re: [Homestead] Gun sales staggering
> To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Date: Sunday, November 9, 2008, 2:01 PM
> I
> 
> > >I don't undertand.  eveything else being the
> same, a longer barrel should 
> > improve accuracy ....bobford
> 
> But it's not so.
> 
> For example (and there's plenty of blather about this):
> 
> "It is also largely a myth that longer barrels are
> intrinsically more 
> accurate. In fact, bullets are stabilized after a very
> short amount of barrel travel, 
> and short-barreled handguns can be remarkably
> accurate."
> http://www.handgunsmag.com/rugers_guntalk/rugers_guntalk/
> 
> Acutually, that's putting it mildly.  Many of those
> outlandish target pistols 
> have long barrels because it gives you more space between
> the front and rear 
> sight.  But the ammo for those pistols is custom made to
> fit the barrel length.
> 
> After the round has conformed to the rifles and has a
> stable spin, the rest 
> of the barrel is a place where something can go wrong.  The
> bullet can distort, 
> the powder can burn irregularly, the longer barrel is more
> prone to desposits 
> toward the muzzle which affect accuracy.  The longer barrel
> will (generally) 
> mean greater velocity.  But this can be good or bad.  The
> added velocity will 
> exaggerate any irregularities in the bullet's motion.
> 
> Have you ever shot a black powder handgun?  Try loading the
> shot with a half 
> a grain more or less powder in each direction.  You will
> hit a load that is 
> amazingly accurate, and the others will go wild astray.  Do
> the same with an 
> otherwise identical gun but with a different length barrel,
> and the same charge 
> of powder will not give the same results.
> 
> All in all, for accuracy's sake and using off the shelf
> ammo, a shorter 
> barrel will often be the more accurate.  This difference is
> greater for the larger 
> calibres.
> 
> 
> James
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