Changing barrels depending on use

[ThumperXT]

Working with the assumption that a longer barrelled rifle is usually more accurate than a shorter one of the same make, would putting a longer barrel in something like a Ruger LCP or Sig P239 make it more accurate at distance? The idea would be to have a small pistol for camp defence while camping in very remote areas, but potentially be able to utilise it for hunting small game at distances beyond those where smaller guns are usually accurate. I understand that the sites would be an issue, but this could be compensated for it you used a laser sight. Thanks for any input or reason you can provide.

[kcstott]

All things being equal No a longer barrel will not be any more accurate than a shorter on of the same make.

Reason: Barrel vibration Longer barrels will vibrate more easily and with more magnitude.
A shorter barrel is going to be stiffer and there fore vibrate less and with less magnitude.
Now the shorter longer barrel does not take into consideration the velocity loss with a shorter barrel nor does it take into consideration a longer sight radius if using iron sights.
Keep in mind on a Browning action barrel weight is critical to the operation of the hand gun. To heavy a barrel and you will get short stroking. this all of course depends on how long you care to go with.
There are also other way to make a handgun more accurate then a longer barrel
Fix the shooter not the gun.

[scotty99]

You might want to check out the Mech Tech carbine system. It takes your idea to the extreme, though not with anything as small as a LCP. But it works with a Glock 19. Can't speak to the inherent accuracy, but a shoulder fired weapon with an optic is almost guaranteed to outshoot a pistol at anything over maybe 30 yards.

[Wrangler John]

You might want to check out the Mech Tech carbine system. It takes your idea to the extreme, though not with anything as small as a LCP. But it works with a Glock 19. Can't speak to the inherent accuracy, but a shoulder fired weapon with an optic is almost guaranteed to outshoot a pistol at anything over maybe 30 yards.

Except for skilled metallic silhouette shooters who are able to consistently knock down ram sized targets at 200 meters with an iron sighted pistol.

I managed to clean 7 of 10 4" diameter "turkey eggs" at 200 meters with a 10" Contender firing the 7mm TCU cartridge with the factory sights. Not to mention shooting 39x40's with a revolver in .357 Maximum, .41 Magnum, .44 Magnum, .375 Super Mag or .45 Colt. Most any International Class shooter can topple all targets to 100 meters, with the 150 and 200 meter targets being more difficult, all while shooting standing.

A well practiced handgun shooter with good equipment is quite viable at distances out to 250 meters, some beyond. Armed with my 6" Colt Anaconda in .45 Colt or the custom 5 shot, 7" barreled Ruger Blackhawk in .480 Ruger, or the 7" Ruger Redhawk in .44 Magnum I would have little fear of encounters with toothy things. Semi auto pistols commonly used for self defense are IMO not powerful enough for survival situations involving large animals. Were I to have one handgun as backup or for self defense in camp, it would be a 4"-6" DA revolver in .44 Magnum/.44 S&W Special. Something akin to the 4" S&W Model 629 V-Comp.

[kcstott]

He did say hunting for small game. Now defense against large game is different.
I'd start out with .44 mag and consider options from there like the.460 S&W. If in Brown Bear country A handgun is the wrong gun to have, Thats when you look at a rifle and not grand dad's 30-06 either you need something with some thump. .45-70, .450 marlin, 458 Win mag, .458 lott .375 H&H All properly loaded with bullets for soft thin skinned animals will not only drop a Grizz but stop it in it's tracks if it decided to charge you.

[ThumperXT]

Thanks

Thanks for the info and for correcting my misunderstanding about barrel length. I was hoping to find something light small with light and small, light ammo, but it looks like the my use cases are somewhat in conflict with each other. The parts of CA where I camp tend to have fewer bears and large predators, but there is always a potential for the two legged kind when you are far enough out. Most weapons that are good for defence would vaporize a squirrel or rabbit, so I want to stay away from larger calibers. If I can't make a pocket gun accurate at distance, then maybe an FN5.7 with various types of ammo depending on target.

Thanks again for the input, and I will stop trying to improve on already well designed tools until I have more knowledge of the fundamentals.

[kcstott]

Keep your hand gun and just pick up a .22 bolt action rifle. Great for small game. Will do the trick on a two legged predator but not on the charge. Thats what the hand gun is for anyway. and the .22 is cheep to shoot.

The places I camp allow guns so we take enough to hold off SWAT for a month. I've yet to have anyone unwanted walk through our camp. Having targets set up and left out over night gets the point across. Like hanging a big sign that say "Go screw with someone else"

Although I did wake up one morning to find some very large cat tracks in camp like Mountain lion size tracks. That got every bodies attention.

[Fjold]

The reason that longer barrels seem more accurate than shorter barrels on handguns is that the longer barrels usually have a longer sight radius (distance between the front and rear sights). This allows for more precise aiming as a small deviation in alignment with a longer sight plane means less aiming error.