45-70 Barrel Length

X

xBullet

New member
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
5   0   0
Whats the max distance that you could accurately shoot with an 18 1/2" barrel vs a 24" barrel? Assuming the use of factory ammo.

I'm torn between acquiring a 1895 GBL or XLR. I prefer small and handy, and it will be used for moose hunting in the bush (which is why I want the GBL). However, I'd hate to be passing on a long(ish) shot down a cutline b/c of a short barrel.

Thanks for the help
 
With the trajectory of a 4570 I don't think you are out anything with the short barrel with hunting loads. Stay with the short barrel and learn the rainbow arch at various ranges
 
Just be aware that the short barrel will be much louder. I had one of the early 1895GS guns that were ported and ended up rebarreling with a 20.5" barrel. This was before the longer barrels were available. That short barrel with the ports was brutal!
 
Last edited:
Beaver Skin said:
Just be aware that the short barrel will be much louder. I had one of the early 1895GS guns that were ported and ended up rebarreling with a 20.5" barrel. This was before the longer barrels were available. That short barrel with the ports was brutal!
Click to expand...

I also have an early one (one of the first 12 or so in the country) and though I would "prefer" ported, I don't find it that bad...
 
Not exactly the same, but ballistics wise it's pretty darn close. My 458x2inch American has a 21 inch barrel. With practice lobbing bullets of 405 grain weight with some consistancy at 200 yards was possible, with a 75% percentage of hits on a 10 inch metal gong. And I do mean lobbing bullets as in a mortar barrage. IIRC my extimated holdover was around 16-18 inches or thereabouts.
 
Barrel length has nothing to do with accuracy. And, as noted, going from 24" to 18.5" will have very little effect on the ballistics of the 45-70.

What the shorter barrel will affect is sight radius if you are using iron sights. That will have a much larger effect on your accuracy than anything else mentioned. If you are using an optic, then it makes no difference in the end.


Mark
 
I was just shooting both an 18.5 guide gun and a 26" cowboy on Friday.

Your main difference using these two firearms is that the guide gun is less pleasant to shoot with medium to heavy loads due to more felt recoil, more noise and more muzzle blast.

However, the chrony doesn't lie, and you will lose about 175 fps (my experience) with the shorter barrel over the longer one. It's not going to make a huge difference, really.

Practice is going to make perfect, and with handloads, you can juice up the guide gun to the point where you are thinking less about velocity and trajectory, and more about your sore shoulder anyways.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom