Magnum Barrel Length

Status
Not open for further replies.
TarDevil

TarDevil

Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2009
Messages
2,674
Location
NC Coast
It'll be either .357 or .44, but what are your considerations for ideal barrel length?

Home and car gun. Won't be carried except occasionally in the woods. Obviously, full size revolver.

Does the 5" give enough velocity to outweigh the handiness of 4" (I won't consider anything less than 4)?
 
Anything between 4 and 6 is fine. Longer than 6" and it becomes unwieldy and with the way new revolvers are being made with gargantuan barrel/cylinder gaps, there's no guarantee you're getting much velocity increase.
 
TarDevil said:
It'll be either .357 or .44, but what are your considerations for ideal barrel length?

Home and car gun. Won't be carried except occasionally in the woods. Obviously, full size revolver.

Does the 5" give enough velocity to outweigh the handiness of 4" (I won't consider anything less than 4)?
Click to expand...

Double action, or single action? What bullet weights are you interested in? Will you be handloading?
 
TarDevil said:
DA
I'll shoot a variety of bullet weights
No handloading
Click to expand...

4" vs 5" on barrel length will make a difference. Often it is a matter of 50-100fps, so it may not be a significant difference to you. However, when comparing .357 magnum and .44 magnum for the same purposes, I'd care more about a longer barrel with the .357 because it's not as powerful a cartridge to begin with. This would be even more of a factor to me if I were limited to factory ammo.
 
Depends on the revolver, some balance perfect at 4", some 5 is the sweet spot. I can live without 40 or 50 fps personally if I love the way a revolver feels. I had my 7 1/2" SBH taken down to 5" and it is the most well balanced instinctive pointing revolver I own. But a K frame for me has to have a 4" for a field gun, the 6" never felt right, front heavy.
 
TarDevil said:
It'll be either .357 or .44, but what are your considerations for ideal barrel length?

Home and car gun. Won't be carried except occasionally in the woods. Obviously, full size revolver.

Does the 5" give enough velocity to outweigh the handiness of 4" (I won't consider anything less than 4)?
Click to expand...
 
You are smart to not consider a length less than four especially for 44 Magnum.
If you're not planning on hunting with it four inches is a great length but you'll find more options in 5-in especially in 44 Magnum and many more options in 6-in in both calibers.

If you want to hunt with it but still have a handy gun go with five inch.
There are many options for 4-in and 357.
Seriously consider a Ruger GP100 or a Ruger Redhawk 44 for your purposes.
 
Don't see much point in a magnum round, for the shorter barrels. Got a 6" and a 7.5" barrel, for
44 Magnum, to take advantage of the increased power, of the longer barrels. YMMV, of course ...
 
For back-up carry while rifle hunting I have a 4" .44 Magnum. For hunting with a revolver I have a 6" .44 magnum.

For .357 Magnum all of mine are 4" barrel length, and I used them for service carry and CCW. Never hunted with a .357 Magnum since I have a .44 Magnum (and .41 Magnum & .45 Colt).

Edit to add: Oops, forgot my 627-0 with a length of 5.5" and a 686-3 Classic Hunter 6".
 
Last edited:
TarDevil said:
Does the 5" give enough velocity to outweigh the handiness of 4"
Click to expand...
I doubt you'd see much (if any) velocity increase of a 5" over a 4", however, I can't see much "handiness" of a 4" over a 5" either. I'd go with the 5" myself - I can use the extra inch of sight radius.;)
What kind of revolvers are you looking at anyway? I'd really like to see more 5" revolvers, but they're kinda scarce aren't they?
 
For what you are talking about I'd get a four or five inch 7 shot GP100 357 or a Ruger red hawk.
Nothing wrong with a 686 oh and by the way pretty sure you can change the grips on a 686 with very little fuss for your wife.
but Dan Wesson is also another excellent option and can easily be found with a 4-in barrel used of course for less than the price of a new GP100 and it is equally durable.
Another great affordable option in a 44 Magnum with a medium length barrel is the Taurus hunter or might be called the Taurus raging Hunter 44.
 
On N frame revolvers my favorite barrel length is 4”. Easy to carry, usable sight radius, and enough velocity. I have N frames with 5”, 5 1/2”, 6”, 6 1/2” and have owned a couple of 3” N frames. The best for me is the 4”.

K frames are certainly well suited for the 5” barrel and I and J frames are best with 3” barrels.

One thing not mentioned is holsters. Not many available for 5” N frames. That might make a difference to you.

Kevin
 
StrawHat said:
On N frame revolvers my favorite barrel length is 4”. Easy to carry, usable sight radius, and enough velocity. I have N frames with 5”, 5 1/2”, 6”, 6 1/2” and have owned a couple of 3” N frames. The best for me is the 4”.

K frames are certainly well suited for the 5” barrel and I and J frames are best with 3” barrels.

One thing not mentioned is holsters. Not many available for 5” N frames. That might make a difference to you.

Kevin
Click to expand...

Milt Sparks will likely make one as well.
 
I think a 686+ 357 5" is a great compromise between the 4 & 6" and would make a great range, truck, & home defense gun. For self defense carry I would go with a 3".

If the 44 mag is your choice 5 1/2" Ruger Redhawk is a nice revolver. They also have a 41 mag 4.2" Redhawk :thumbup:
 
Last edited:
For around the house I'd go with longer, but not too long say up to 6". But if you plan on using it for the car, get a shorter 4". Now I know you said nothing less than 4" but I find the 3" revolvers fall into a sweet spot, both in size and performance, since you don't lose much velocity at all compared to 4" but you gain concealment.
 
If the wife wants to shoot it occasionally you can't beat a 357 in the midsize K frame which is amply big for a man too.
From L to R, the 2.5” model 19, it’s stainless clone the model 66, and a 3” model 65 with no adjustable rear sight. All so enjoyable to shoot with 38's and magnums as well and all will make beer cans dance a jig at 25yds and so very handy in the car and at home.

4440B99C-A95F-4FA2-8815-38D34EF9980A.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

S
  • Locked
Ideal .44 Magnum Barrel Length
2
Replies
36
Views
8K
sw282
S
M
  • Locked
Standard Barrel Length for .357 magnum?
Replies
13
Views
4K
Checkman
C
R
  • Locked
Which barrel length for small game hunting?
Replies
5
Views
676
Slamfire
Slamfire
U
  • Locked
ONLY one barrel length? Which is it?
2 3
Replies
69
Views
2K
The Kingfish
The Kingfish
D
  • Locked
Barrel Length and accuracy/power in Ruger Handguns
Replies
6
Views
1K
Jim March
J
Back
Top