Since I had Tom Klinger rebarrel my Stevens 44 with a 20” Shilen ratchet barrel, I was curious as to how much my chickens scores have improved, if any.  The main reason for the shorter barrel was to lighten the rifle weight & improve the off-hand balance, which it definitely did.  So, I averaged my chickens scores of the last 20 40-shot matches compared to 20 40-shot matches with a 28” barrel.  My chicken scores increased from an average of 2.1 to 3.1 chickens/match, an increase of 47.6%.

Of course, it could be that the increase is due to the match chamber Tom cut vs. the sporting chamber in the old longer barrel, or I’ve improved my shooting technique, but I doubt it.  My prone scores have not changed.  Using turkeys as an example.  My average turkey score over the same 20 matches prior to the change was 8.4/match and 8.4/match after the rifle was rebarreled.  So, the shorter barrel has not adversely impacted my prone scores.  BTW, I'm using a scope, so the barrel length is not critical.  And I’m shooting the same ammo now as before – CCI Target for the chickens & pigs, Eley Match for the turkeys & rams.

Wayne