Shorter vs Longer

[Bake]

OP's My screw-up ! ! !

[RanchRoper]

Longer.

[Bake]

I'm looking for a Big Boy in 357, and I'm wondering which barrel I should be looking for. I do most of my shooting nowadays from a chair. Has anyone compare the 16.5" barrel to the 20" barrel. I shoot mostly paper, and once in a while steel.

The indoor range is 27.5 Yds (25 meters) and paper only. The range where I could shot steel has 50 yds, 75 yds, & 100 yds but unimproved, and getting my chair stuck in the mud really sucks.

In either case, I'll be putting a Reciever sight on it after I have completed my gallery load development . . .

Anybody ever tried Wadcutters 148 grs over 3.5 grs of Bullseye (Assuming that the bullet can make it to the muzzle? ? ? ?

[BigAl52]

You arent going to see much difference between the 2. The longer gives you more sight radius but Ive shot both and cant tell much difference. Get the one YOU like better. I would think in your case of being in a chair the shorter barrel length would be easier for you to handle. Cant answer you about wadcutters it would depend on how they cycle through the action.

[Cofisher]

After a few years of shooting the shorter barrel, I agree with Al. Pick the one that feels better. Anything over 100yards is a crap shoot. I am very comfortable with my BBS Under 100 yards.

[Hatchdog]

I have 20” BBS’s in 327 and 357 and a 16” in 41. I have not noticed any difference between them but I do have them all scoped so the barrel length sight radius does not apply to me. Just from an aesthetic point of view I wish I had bought the 20” in the 41 because my anal mind is bothered with the difference when they are lined up in the safe. Pretty stupid reason to whine isn’t it?

All three shoot great and are sighted in at 50 yards.

[Headhog]

Feeding wadcutters is the biggest problem. Some rifles will and some won't. Some won't even stay in the magazine tube because they are too short and wind up with double feeds. I've experimented with some 148 gr WC's loaded with 2.8 gr. of Bullseye. They fire just fine if you can get them to function. All I can say is you got to try them in your rifle.

Paul

[Rifletom]

I prefer the 20" barrel in my two Henry's. One is a BB brass in .357, other is a BBS in .45 Colt. My mod 94 Win in 30-30 is also 20". I just like the way they look and handle for me. All scoped.

[Vaquero]

Well I guess I can't make up my mine
Most of mine are 20" models, but that is a standard rifle length.
But...there are also 4 that have a 24" octagon tube here someplace. .
Then there is the a pair of Marlins, one's a factory ported 18.5",
and the other is a 35 Rem. that I had chopped to 16.5".
If I had known Henry was gonna do the 41 in a 16" barrel I would've waited.

I like them all, but carrying through the woods, that 35 is hard to beat.
Not much help right?

RP

[Bake]

I've made the rounds to all the gun shops in the area, and I found the question is not 16.5" or 20", but can I find a Henry period. The shops I talked with have waiting lists, and no ETAs.

I don't believe I want a 45-70 to shoot paper at 25 yds , but maybe steel at 125 to 150 yds . Then I would have to start looking for a new range . . .

[Conax]

Factory .357 loads are designed for revolvers. The short barrel will be more than long enough for good .357 performance.
I had a 24" Marlin 1894 Cowboy limited in .357. With cast bullets it would always get severely lead fouled. With factory loads it wouldn't put up any decent groups with cast or jacketed. Nobody could shoot it well. Everyone (including me) blamed themselves. The book said it had "deep cut Ballard riflings" which might have been the problem. It was back about year 2000 manufacture.
It was so inaccurate I sold it to a guy that just collects and doesn't really shoot. Since then I've gravitated to shorter barrels and had decent luck with them.

[Bake]

Factory .357 loads are designed for revolvers. The short barrel will be more than long enough for good .357 performance.
I had a 24" Marlin 1894 Cowboy limited in .357. With cast bullets it would always get severely lead fouled. With factory loads it wouldn't put up any decent groups with cast or jacketed. Nobody could shoot it well. Everyone The (including me) blamed themselves. The book said it had "deep cut Ballard riflings" which might have been the problem. It was back about year 2000 manufacture.
It was so inaccurate I sold it to a guy that just collects and doesn't really shoot. Since then I've gravitated to shorter barrels and had decent luck with them.

The Ballard rifling is usually a big PLUS with lead-casted bullets. I would try gas-checked bullets next time, and maybe resize them down to 9mm (.355/.356). Of course, you might try "Paper Patch", soft lead loaded up to jacketed loads ( My Choice!) . . .

[The Wiz]

I have shot both Henry's long and short. Liked the shorty better as I could shoot better groups and longer on the range. Same ammo. Plus it just feels cooler in my hands.

[BrokenolMarine]

I bought the Carbine, because it handled better in the truck and utv around the farm. Very accurate with the 357 loads.

[Conax]

Factory .357 loads are designed for revolvers. The short barrel will be more than long enough for good .357 performance.
I had a 24" Marlin 1894 Cowboy limited in .357. With cast bullets it would always get severely lead fouled. With factory loads it wouldn't put up any decent groups with cast or jacketed. Nobody could shoot it well. Everyone The (including me) blamed themselves. The book said it had "deep cut Ballard riflings" which might have been the problem. It was back about year 2000 manufacture.
It was so inaccurate I sold it to a guy that just collects and doesn't really shoot. Since then I've gravitated to shorter barrels and had decent luck with them.

The Ballard rifling is usually a big PLUS with lead-casted bullets. I would try gas-checked bullets next time, and maybe resize them down to 9mm (.355/.356). Of course, you might try "Paper Patch", soft lead loaded up to jacketed loads ( My Choice!) . . .

I tried decreasing the loads to speeds that weren't supposed to lead the bore, and they didn't, but the groups were still very wide.
The bull was the only safe spot. It wouldn't shoot any factory ammo I tried, and I tried quite a bit.
Marlin let a few lemons get out of the shop, that's all I could figure. The rifle was so beautiful I kept it longer than I normally would have. I wanted it to work.

[Redthies]

Bake, for a target shooter at the ranges you listed, I would go .357 in 16.5”. There really isn’t much difference in accuracy in those barrel lengths for pistol calibers. Shooting from the chair might make the carbine easier to handle. It sucks that there aren’t many around, but they are definitely worth the wait!