Is AIR-GUN barrel length important?

[brihacharan]

Air guns of different makes come with different barrel lengths, especially of late this feature is gaining prominence....
I've been asked many times - Does Barrel Length influence Accuracy / Velocity?
Although personally I've experienced that it does affect velocity but not its accuracy, I thought it best to refer you all to this published information on this subject....
Is AIRGUN barrel length important?
By B.B. Pelletier
http://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2005/04/ ... important/

Here is a subject that gets people riled – quick! Is barrel length important in an air-gun? Yes, it is, but the reasons may be different than you think.

Barrel length DOES NOT determine accuracy!!!
There is NO CORRELATION between barrel length and accuracy. A short barrel can be more accurate than a long barrel, or vice-versa. Length alone has nothing to do with it.

Pellet control is not the issue:
The people who think longer barrels are more accurate often say it’s due to the greater control the longer barrel exercises over the pellet. Once the pellet leaves the muzzle, it doesn’t matter whether it has been in the barrel for 10 inches or 30; it is now a ballistic missile and subject to the same physical laws.

Proof that short barrels are just as accurate:
A target air pistol which has an eight-inch barrel, is just as accurate as a target air rifle – like the TAU Senior – D, which has a barrel approximately twice as long. You can see this in the test targets shipped with the guns.

BARREL LENGTH DOES INFLUENCE VELOCITY
Both PCPs and gas-powered guns gain velocity with longer barrels. The expanding gas (or air) has more time to push on the pellet in a longer barrel. There is a limit to this, of course, but you aren’t likely to ever see an air-gun barrel long enough to reach it.

OPTIMUM SPRING GUN BARREL LENGTH
A spring gun gets all of its “push” in the first few inches of the barrel. GERALD CARDEW pointed out in The Air gun from Trigger to Target that only the first six inches of the barrel is needed for a spring gun to achieve maximum velocity. His experiments were conducted in the mid-1970s. Although technology has advanced since then, today’s spring-piston guns probably don’t use more than the first 10 inches of barrel for top velocity.

After that, the pellet coasts the rest of the way. Yes, friction with the bore slows the pellet somewhat, but the amount is so small that it doesn’t amount to anything. Spring gun barrels are made longer than 10 inches because they are used as levers, as in break-barrels. And, on all rifles, a shorter barrel just doesn’t look right. That’s why the under-lever TX 200 from Air Arms hides its nine-inch barrel inside a longer shroud that also muffles the sound of the shot.

SUMMARY
So, air-gun barrel length is a factor in performance, but accuracy is not directly affected. Some people may still not believe this, but all the tests I have done show it to be true.
Briha

[aadhaulya]

Briha ji,

This is good information, worth saving. Thanks for sharing.

Atul