For a defensive carry gun, how important is barrel length?

[4banger]

The problem with longer barrel lengths for CCW is the grip gets bigger at the same time, generally. That grip is the thing which makes it bulge under your shirt.

As far as barrel length, I'm a pretty good shot with my 3.77 inch .45. I need to work with my 2.9" 9mm, though, I'm not quite as accurate.

 

[Artym]

I like 4" or longer for a 9, but I don't try to carry them in a pocket. I don't care for the blast out of a very short barrel 9 mm, and recoil is snappy. If you want a concealed carry 9, then you are going to have to sacrifice power and shootability for size. Only you can make that call. It is always going to be a trade off.

 

[Orion8472]

Fortunately, the handle on the XDs is . . . fairly concealable, so in that gun's case, long barrel and short grip is closer to satisfactory, which is why I chose it.

 

[C0untZer0]

147gr Federal HST fired from a 4.01" barrel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNRqrJRq4T0

147gr Federal HST fired from a 3" barrel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3VfWkWMzOI

The other thing to consider is +P

For many of the Pocket Nines like the DiamondBack DB9 and the Rohrbaugh R9, +P ammo is not recommended. I don't know many modern compact or larger sized 9mm handguns that don't also shoot +P

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i67WILeK66Y

I chose my EDC firearm first - a Rohrbaugh R9, then I went out and found the best performing round for it - I used to carry the 147gr Winchester Ranger "T" Series RA9T, but after seeing the tests for the 147gr HST out of a 3" barrel I've switched to carrying the HST.

If anyone gets around to testing the 147gr Ranger "T" RA9T and it does well I may switch back but for now I'm carrying std pressure 147gr HST in my R9.

 

[Orion8472]

Wow! Thanks for the youtube links! Glad I found some 147gr HST rounds a while back! Looks like they perform well out of both barrel lengths. Not sure about the gel mix, but they almost seemed to do better out of the 3" barrel.

 

[C0untZer0]

they almost seemed to do better out of the 3" barrel.

Some bullet designs - like the HST and the Gold Dot will expand more the faster they are pushed, the Underwood +P+ loading of the 147gr Gold Dot is an example of some pretty amazing expansion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMiI8VcPQ3c

Other bullet designs like the Hornady Critical Defense and Critical Duty limit expansion by design. You're not going to see a Critical Defense or Critical Duty bullet expand much more than .54" no matter how fast you push it, which means that the faster the bullet is accelerated the deeper it will penetrate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJZFZFmBKa0

 

[Cee Zee]

I would not buy a .45acp with a barrel less than 4". Most .45acp LE & defense loads need a longer barrel to work properly.

I have a 3.25" barrel .45 ACP that works just fine with the Speer Gold Dot for short barrels. Expansion is not a problem and neither is accuracy. In fact it's very accurate.