Will an 8.375" barrelled 629 be more accurate?
- Thread starter mac57t
- Start date
Sir William
New member
I differ. Yes. In barrel length increases, focal length increases as well. I may shoot patterns with a 2" barrel S&W M10 in 38 Special. I could switch to a 8 and 3/8" 629 in 44 Magnum and achieve 3" groups. The only difference more barrel length offers is in the focal length of the sights. As I age, 10" barrels are becoming an appealing idea. A friend has a pair of Ruger long barrel single actions. I can definitely shoot them far more accurately than I can my 4" M10 in 38 Special. I could see them with scopes for deer season. The longer barrel adds some weight and can act as a counterbalance.
With the handgun locked in a rest the accuracy is basically the same for all barrel lengths (except for variations in bore). The longer barrel will probably be more accurate when the revolver is handheld as the sight radius has increased making it easier for the shooter to aim (unless the weight becomes to great).
If you were to SCOPE both guns, then NO, a longer barrel would make no diffference (since you remove the variable of the sight plane). HOWEVER--
if you are talking about shooting at targets aways out there, that extra couple of inches gives your magnums a little more room to build up a better head of steam, which means a flatter trajectory--and thus potentially greater practical accuracy at long distance. Maybe not much, but a little.
if you are talking about shooting at targets aways out there, that extra couple of inches gives your magnums a little more room to build up a better head of steam, which means a flatter trajectory--and thus potentially greater practical accuracy at long distance. Maybe not much, but a little.
The test referred to years ago was back in the early eighties. If memory serves correctly they took a blackhawk with 10" bbl and cut it down by 1" increments to 1" and there was no difference in accuracy. They even gave all the #'s when each round of test firing was completed. Very interesting test. Proved that bbl length has nothing to do with accuracy. All we need now is Remington to release a super high power 700 with a 16" bbl that can reach 2,000 meters. 
Out of a machine rest there probably won't be any difference in accuracy but shooting longer range off hand you would notice a difference because of the longer sight plane. One other thing is if your using it for deer hunting you will notice a big difference in performance between the 6 and 8" guns. The longer Smith/Wesson full lug barrels in 44mag are a really well balanced deer rig. They are a bit large and a bit heavy; but, when it comes time to make the shot on a deer or similar game it's worth every ounce. I wear mine on the hip and shoot open sights and any deer within 125yds. is in alot of trouble. I would stick with the 210-240 grain bullets for deer; because in my opinion they give much better performance than the heavier loads. Get it in 8 3/8" if your going to hunt deer. I have used both the 6 and 8 and the 8 is much milder to shoot and deadly accurate.