Longest commercially available rifle barrel?

[yhtomit]

This is not a deep or profound question, sorry

But I'm curious: what's the longest barrel that you're aware of for commercially available rifles, in any man-portable caliber short of .50 cal? Modern military rifles seem mostly to not have barrels much past 20"; I assume that's largely in the interest of weight savings as well as anticipation of short-quarters warfare.

Hunting rifles go somewhat longer, but still ... does anyone make (modern, not just reproductions for retro-fun) rifles with barrels that approach the length of, say, the Kentucky Rifle? Since most rifles are certainly considerably shorter, I'm curious what the limiting factors are; is it mostly because powder science has advanced so far, that there's no need for such a long barrel? (i.e. All the energy that's going to be exerted on the bullet is already going, so why waste effort pushing it along more twists?).

timothy

 

[carpediem]

Kentucky rifle barrels were what, 40-45" I assume you're excluding any commercial replica of these (I know nothing about blackpowder guns). The longest barrel I know of is that 3ft. long shotgun barrel.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

It's not uncommon to find magnum and varmit rifles with 26-inch barrels. Off the top of my head, I can't think of a commonly-available sporting rifle (other than the .50 BMG rifles) with a longer barrel.

 

[carpediem]

CZ has a 22lr variant with a 28" barrel

 

[yhtomit]

carpediem:

Yes, I'm excluding replicas of the Kentucky rifles, seeking rather info on modern-makes that have long barrels.

Thanks for pointing out the long-barrel 22 from CZ; I didn't know about that!

You mention a 3-foot shotgun barrel -- can you be more specific about that one? I've handled or shot just a few shotguns in my life, and I think the longest of them had a 20" barrel Hard to imagine another 16 inches on the end of that ...

timothy

 

[taliv]

28-32" barrels aren't all that uncommon

 

[hagar]

I have a 30 inch 308 barrel on my Palma rifle, and some people shoot 32 inchers. Expect such a barel to cost more than a good rifle.

 

[carpediem]

I think this was it:

http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0005577224961a.shtml

 

[LeonCarr]

As far as modern rifles go, Lazzeroni rifles can be had from the factory with 28 inch barrels, Weatherby Mark V Accumarks in .30-378 or .338-378 have 28 inch barrels, and the Remington 40-XBs from the Remington Custom Shop have 27 1/4 inch barrels. I think pretty much everybody else stops at 26".

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

 

[dispatch55126]

The MN 91/30 has a 28.75" barrel.

 

[gezzer]

Marlin goose gun, bolt action 12 ga. 36" barrel

 

[rangerruck]

h&R makes a 45.70 with a 28 in bbl, also the new keltec 308 bullpup has either a 28 or 32 inch variant. the cz 22 lux uses a 28 , I believe, I think even savage has a couple of 28's.

 

[Dr.Rob]

That's a mixture of utility, accuracy, practicality and technology.

Better powders have reduced the need for ultra long barrels, and since WW2 few military arms have a barrel over 20.

Weatherby was fond of long barrels like 26-28. CZ's safari magnum is a 26 or 27... which to my taste is way too long for a 'heavy' rifle.

A lot of that has to do with burning all the powder in odd ball cartridges (Weatherby, Lazeroni) or adding weight (CZ) or creating accuracy (Varminters, match rifles).

The Moisin nagant is definitely a long rifle, as is the old Arisaka.

My 1820's vintage kentucky rifle is over 4 feet long, and really front-heavy.

My dad ordered his Remington 870 in the late 60's with a 30 inch full choke barrel (with no rib) for goose hunting and beleive it or not, DEER. Long barrel + tight choke = longer range with buckshot.

 

[taliv]

That's a mixture of utility, accuracy, practicality and technology.

s/accuracy/velocity

 

[K.L.O.sako]

i think with modern smokeless powder, the charge is consumed before the bullet exits the barrel. this must not have been the case with 1800's blackpowder rifles, most all cap / flint locks i've seen have been very long by todays standards

 

[Onmilo]

Pedersoli offers a Sharps rifle with a 34 inch barrel.

 

[PercyShelley]

I'll chime in that the new Kel-Tec RFB rifle will have a 32 inch barrel in the target model.

 

[nvshooter]

I had Krieger spin up a 29-incher for my target smokepole. It cost heaps. The length of your barrel is limited to pretty much what you want to pay...

 

[Jim Watson]

Thirty inch or even longer barrels are common in Palma .308s and BPCR .45-70s. You are buying sight radius as much as anything else on those guns although every fps counts on the Palma rifle which is limited to a .308 chamber and a 155 grain bullet.