Ohioans For Concealed Carry Discussion Forums

Morne wrote:The issue of standard versus +P pressures is for another thread. Here, I simply wish to address barrel length.

Given all other parameters the same (bullet weight, pressure, et cetera...) I think that increasing barrel length towards standard service pistol length is at least somewhat valuable.

Maybe but not necessarily. If you're talking about JHPs then more velocity, whether it comes from higher pressure or a longer barrel, isn't necessarily better. It will affect how the bullet performs. A round that under penetrates from a shorter barrel may give better results from a longer barrel but one that performs well from a short barrel may under penetrate (due to the higher speed causing the bullet to open sooner) when used in a much larger barreled gun. Or it may over penetrate. Especially in 9mm, bullet design is the more important factor than just speed.

That's why the question of 3" vs 3.5" vs 3.8" isn't so simple. The better questions are which do you shoot well, which would you be willing to regularly carry, and can you find ammunition that you're confident will perform well in that gun.

...in a much larger barreled gun

While I agree firmly with this point I don't think the differences between 3.0 & 3.8" are very much for a round that performs to FBI standards in a 3.0" package. That said, the same bullet that works in a 3.0" might flop from a 5.0" tactical length gun.

Looking at BBTI there's at most 95 fps difference between 3" and 4" barrels (slightly longer than we're discussing here).

Short barrel 9mm is a compromise to begin with so the longer the barrel the better. I am ok with 3.5 and get a little concerned at 3" for any auto.

Morne wrote:Looking at BBTI there's at most 95 fps difference between 3" and 4" barrels (slightly longer than we're discussing here).

Looking at STB410's tests of 124gr HST he summarizes their performance differences:

On average 124+P bullets:
expanded to 8% larger
penetrated to 1.67" less
traveled 21 fps faster

That's a lot less fps difference than BBTI shows for 1" of barrel length.