do shorter guns draw faster?

[westernrover]

I've heard the argument that short-barreled guns "clear leather" sooner and therefore draw faster than long-barreled guns. I suppose by empirical reasoning this to be true if we were comparing a 2" snub-nose to a 7 1/2" cavalry model. But is there any evidence there is a significant difference between a 2" and 4" barrel?

Longer barrels offer superior ballistics, a longer sight radius, and they're easy to conceal compared to big butts. But are short-barrels meaningfully faster? Can anyone provide something as objective as shot-timer evidence?

 

[GRIZ22]

Depends on how the gun is worn IMO. I think there's probably no difference between a 2"and a 6" in a cross draw or shoulder holster. A strong side OWB holster would make the 6" a bit slower as you have more to clear the leather, maybe even requiring you to can't your shoulders a bit if you're short.

However unless you go to extremes I don't think there's much. Little, if any, between a 2 and 4 inch.

 

[westernrover]

Just conjecture or is there shot timer data?

 

[guyfromohio]

I don't think it makes a real-world difference when we are talking 2" vs 4".

 

[edwardware]

"Difference" or "Real World Difference", and who's world? I'll bet Jerry The Machine Miculek could demonstrate the difference, but I can't.

Since you can't miss fast enough to win, I'll stick with a ~4" barrel because it's easier to not miss.

 

[Zerodefect]

Yes.

A 4" like a Glock 23 is my sweet spot. Longer guns need more movement to clear kydex, and can be a little harder to get the first sight picture.

 

[Chuck R.]

IMHO, not really but it depends on your draw stroke.

I compete in IDPA in ESP (4.6"), CDP (5"), CCP (4") and BUG Occasionally (3.2") and I honestly don't see a a lot of difference on a timer for 1st shot times.

But I use a 4 count draw stroke, with count 2 being drawing the pistol straight up adjacent the pectoral, before transitioning to count 3. I probably wouldn't see a significant difference going to a 6 or possibly an 8" barrel, as they'll all clear "plastic" before sliding to center and my support hand joins my grip.

 

[ATLDave]

Or you could just use a holster with a cut-down front (or even a trigger-guard-grabbing race holster) to require much less than the full barrel length to clear before you begin to rotate the gun or move it forward. I have a 4.75" barrel on my USPSA limited gun... and I only have to move it about 0.25" up before it is completely released from my DAA racer holster.

 

[thomas15]

Or you could just use a holster with a cut-down front (or even a trigger-guard-grabbing race holster) to require much less than the full barrel length to clear before you begin to rotate the gun or move it forward. I have a 4.75" barrel on my USPSA limited gun... and I only have to move it about 0.25" up before it is completely released from my DAA racer holster

I agree.

If you are looking for speed then first look at how rimfire shooters get on target. They begin in a low ready position. So for speed from a holster we want to duplicate their technique as much as possible. Not easy to impossible to do with a traditional holster but easy with a race holster. And with a race holster barrel length isn't as big of a factor in my opinion.

 

[ATLDave]

Yeah, my post was kind of tounge-in-cheek... with a race holster, barrel length is irrelevant to how fast the gun can begin rotating and moving forward.

 

[If1HitU]

I would think a 2" would be a faster draw,that's just my opinion.

 

[BobWright]

For whatever its worth, when I began carrying a Single Action, I carried with this Bob Mernickle rig:



The barrel on this Ruger is 4 5/8" in length. But with age I got to the point it cramped my arm trying to draw, lifting the gun high enough to clear the top of the holster, even though the front of the holster was relieved for a faster draw.

Of late, I've been carrying this Ruger Blackhawk .45 Colt in this holster from Mike Barranti:



This carries the gun slightly lower and I clear leather with it pretty quick.








Bob Wright

 

[bassjam]

Any way you look at it, the gun is going to be raised 16" or so inches up above waist level and rotated 90° or so. How quickly you can do both motions is dependent on your own flexibility as much as anything. Some of us can probably pull our fists straight up to our pits pretty easily, some of us probably can't.

 

[ATLDave]

After giving this some thought, I feel like I can make this statement with some confidence:

Unless they are dealing with some absurd buntline-special-like thing, anyone interested in taking a tenth of a second off their draw time would be better served with some shot-timer-involved practice than buying a new gun with a shorter barrel. And if they were just determined to "buy some speed," they'd probably be better off buying the fastest holster they could find, rather than sacrificing sight radius and terminal ballistics (it'll also be cheaper).

 

[BobWright]

Any way you look at it, the gun is going to be raised 16" or so inches up above waist level and rotated 90° or so. How quickly you can do both motions is dependent on your own flexibility as much as anything. Some of us can probably pull our fists straight up to our pits pretty easily, some of us probably can't.

Where do you get 16"? I'm only raising the gun some 7 1/2 ~ 8" or so, and rotation is around 110*.

Bob Wright

 

[westernrover]

My question is about draw from concealment. The reason is simple: I read advice from the past that suggested the snub-nosed revolver was quicker to get into action than guns with a longer barrel (like 4" automatics or 6" revolvers). The advice was coming from days before shot timers. It seemed like sound empirical reasoning, but the man didn't have an easy way to prove the conclusion to himself or anyone else, or at least he was content with conjecture, so he left it at that. He would have been considering draw from inside the waistband concealment.

Obviously, a race holster or even a vertical shoulder holster makes the point moot. I'm still curious if there can be measured a difference between drawing from IWB a snub-nose vs. a 6" revolver. To test it myself I'd have to get a shot timer and practice both to some level of competence. At the moment I have neither a timer nor those competencies.

I do have the experience to know the advantages of a long barrel, and I know you can't miss fast enough to win. My experience has also taught me that longer barrels are not hard to conceal. While the snubnose might appear to be easier to conceal, many people have not been troubled concealing guns twice as long.

 

[Dibbs]

I carry snub-nose, mid-size, and full size.(not all at once) IME, the snub-nose is quicker for a few reasons.
But not that much quicker. Maybe 1/10 to 1/2 second quicker, not something I would want to depend upon, if my life were in danger, especially with the "quicker" but substantially less powerful and accurate pistol.


If you allow yourself to get so deep in a hole you're depending upon a fast draw
to get you out of it, that fast draw, in all likelihood, either may not get used, or be of any help.
Just as shot placement is king, when stopping an attacker, SA (situational awareness) is king, when it
comes to avoiding or staying out of trouble.

Attackers measure you, when they are deciding who their next victim is to be. Smart money doesn't
allow itself to get selected as a "victim".

 

[Tallball]

All of my guns are very poor artists. Their height doesn't seem to make much difference.

 

[ATLDave]

Maybe 1/10 to 1/2 second quicker,

A half second is a HUGE difference in draw time. There's no way it's that much unless someone has a draw time that can be measured with a sundial.

 

[jeepnik]

I've never timed my draw with any gun or holster. But since I carry, most often, cross draw I doubt there's a wit of difference for me. Then again, I've never been a fast draw. I work on getting the draw from a new holster smooth and tangle free.

 

[FL-NC]

If you are comparing similar guns in similar holsters (assume quality holsters that actually fit correctly), so let's say a Glock 19 in a serpa compared to a Glock 26 in a serpa. or a 5" gov't model VS a commander in identical El Paso thumb break models, and then add a competent and consistent shooter, there may be a slight difference. There wouldn't be with me, because the pro-timer gives me somewhat consistent results due to the way I present from the holster with any of my Glocks, regardless of barrel length or caliber. The biggest difference in my case is the Glock 26 is actually a bit slower, due to the fractions of a second more it takes me to establish the grip before activating the release, and obtaining the correct sight picture with the shorter slide. YMMV.

 

[Dibbs]

A half second is a HUGE difference in draw time. There's no way it's that much unless someone has a draw time that can be measured with a sundial.

Yeah, maybe at a fast draw competition. Which is not what we're talking about, here.

 

[ATLDave]

A half second is a huge difference in draw time from concealment or from a duty rig or anywhere. If draw speed matters at all, then an additional half second is huge.

But there’s not a half second difference.

 

[Dibbs]

If you need your gun so fast, that 1/2 a second draw time might make a difference, you
already did so many things wrong, that it won't help. Like allowing yourself to get singled
out, as a victim, in the first place.

 

[1KPerDay]

If you need your gun so fast, that 1/2 a second draw time might make a difference, you
already did so many things wrong, that it won't help. Like allowing yourself to get singled
out, as a victim, in the first place.

I just hurt myself from rolling my eyes so hard.

carry on, gents