Surely size does matter? 4.75", 5.5", 7.5"

[Howdy Doody]

I don't want to get into which barrel length is more accurate, but I can comment on this...
If you are going to settle on a particular length, then stick with it and don't do like I do. I show up with RVs in 4 5/8s one match and then 5 1/2 the next. Then I get tired of cartridge and show up with C&B and shoot 5 1/2s and then 7 1/2. What I am getting at is that if you want to be able to shoot well and have all the mechanics of drawing and holstering and sighting, then stick with one length barrel.
OK, I hear you asking, why do you you do that HD. Answer is to throw off the competition. Naw.... it is because I go to CAS matches to play and am not a competitor. That is the answer. I look into the safe and grap a pair that catches my eye and away we go. I like getting out of doors and having some fun. The CAS rules allow for me to have fun and that is what I do. When it isn't fun, I'll disappear.
So, I guess I am no help with the question at all, except I seem to favor the 5 1/2s

[Lance Killkenny]

I'm going to throw my 2 cents in here.  Shapiro is in fact correct.  The only difference, all things being equal with modern powders, a 2" will shoot just as accurate as a 10" barrel.  The sight radius makes it easier to sight and therefore it makes it seem like you can shoot more accurate with the longer barrel.  A shorter barrel is harder to hold steady....for the average person....but it doesn't change the facts.

[E.R.Beaumont]

Howdy Pards and Pardettes.

As to which barrel length is best, I vote for the 4.5" cause its easier to find a place to sit.

That is all I think I know.
Regards, Beaumont

[willy]

I'm going to throw my 2 cents in here.  Shapiro is in fact correct.  The only difference, all things being equal with modern powders, a 2" will shoot just as accurate as a 10" barrel.  The sight radius makes it easier to sight and therefore it makes it seem like you can shoot more accurate with the longer barrel.  A shorter barrel is harder to hold steady....for the average person....but it doesn't change the facts.

BULLSEYE!! Lance.   The only real advantage the longer barrel has over a shorter one is the longer sight radius.
And more vel because the powder has more barrel time to burn.


Willy

[sharps54]

I don't want to get into which barrel length is more accurate, but I can comment on this...
If you are going to settle on a particular length, then stick with it and don't do like I do. I show up with RVs in 4 5/8s one match and then 5 1/2 the next. Then I get tired of cartridge and show up with C&B and shoot 5 1/2s and then 7 1/2. What I am getting at is that if you want to be able to shoot well and have all the mechanics of drawing and holstering and sighting, then stick with one length barrel.
OK, I hear you asking, why do you you do that HD. Answer is to throw off the competition. Naw.... it is because I go to CAS matches to play and am not a competitor. That is the answer. I look into the safe and grap a pair that catches my eye and away we go. I like getting out of doors and having some fun. The CAS rules allow for me to have fun and that is what I do. When it isn't fun, I'll disappear.
So, I guess I am no help with the question at all, except I seem to favor the 5 1/2s

Howdy Doody is right!!
It depends on why you are shooting, are you there to win or at least to push yourself to your very best? Or are you there to socialize and shoot cowboy guns like me? I want to shoot as well as I can (my goal isn't speed but to shoot clean) but I want to shoot a variety of different firearms and when I get my Company Quartermaster SGT uniform done I will be shooting a 7 1/2 inch "issue" revolver and a 3" Sheriff's Model to simulate a "hideout" gun he might have carried into towns and saloons.
All that is fun to think about but what it means is you have to think harder about shooting the different size and/or types of pistols and it means you won't have the same muscle memory with the guns or holsters that you would if you always shot the same weapons and holsters. I am hard headed so I am willing to give that up but there is much to say about always shooting the same pistols and holster rigs.
Mild Myles

modified to add: I should keep my mouth shut since I am at work and don't have the reference material in front of me but I am pretty sure that a shorter barrel is mechanically more accurate then a longer one because it is more rigid, the longer barrel will "whip" and have more vibration unless it is made thicker to overcome this. Heavy target barrels aside a shorter barrel is more accurate then a longer one of the same weight. Now this is assuming you are shooting it out of a Ransom Rest or something similar, if you don't take the human factor out of it then it wouldn't really matter. At the same time there is no arguing in human hands aimed with human eyes a longer sight raduis usually provides an advantage as most people will be able to line the front and rear sights more accurately if they are further apart. I don't think it matters one bit in CAS, at most of the matches I have been at you could probably do fine aiming down the barrels without any sights.
MM