TargetTalk

Can’t decide on long or compact. I’m interested in 10 metre events and would imagine the longer barrel to be more accurate or am I missing something?

I just switched from a Morini 162EI long-barrel to a Morini short. I had a slight "barrel-pendulum" on the long-barrel with the extra weight. Now on the short-barrel, I'm finding I can control that oscillation.

Regarding mechanical accuracy, keep in mind a long-barrel will print groups center-to-center with a variation of about .040" (1.0mm). Even if that c-t-c variation on a short barrel hypothetically doubles to 2.0mm. The mathematical decision to be made is: Can you bio-mechanically keep your barrel motion reduced better holding the shorter (and lighter) barrel?

Also see recent threads:
Morini 162 short
and
"Pass Pilkington's 555+ test"

Previously, Scott Pilkington at Pilk Guns would not sell anyone a long-barrel Steyr LP10 unless you could show a documented score of 555+ in a competition. He'd put you in the Compact - with the challenge: "Shoot a 555+ with the Compact in a Regional contest within a year & He'd give you a FREE Steyr LP10 long."

That’s interesting and certainly foood for thought. Curiously I wonder if any of the top pros shoot compacts in the 10m discipline. It does make sense that a shorter barrel will be easier to manage.

This is very interesting as I shoot the Evo e full length, and previously shot the LP50 and then Walther LP400. My average has climbed each year (3 years now) to 539.9. Recently I feel I've really started to gel with the Evo e although I won a regional 20 yard AP league in Div 1 with it last year when I didn't think I'd made the right choice getting rid of the Walther.
I can't help but wonder how I'd fair with the compact version but as I've just spent 2K on the Steyr Challenge air rifle I've absolutely no funds to experiment with.

Either way I'm loving my Steyr now and only just starting to really use the e trigger for dry firing which was initially why I went for the e in the first place.

If your only concern is the weight, get a compact cylinder & shoot it on a full length pistol. Then if/when you decide you want the greater stability the extra forward mass provides, you are all set.

I have owned both long and compact and my scores did not change. The test targets supplied with both models were 5 shot one hole groups. One hole for the compact still equals one hole for the long.

Try both and choose what you feel more comfortable with and don’t lose any sleep over it they both work fine. My personal preference is the long with the compact cylinder as suggested by GWhite.

The cool thing about Morini short is that the sight length is the same as the long...just moved rearward for a more compact size unlike other shorts that have a reduced sight plane. I really like shooting the “short” with the long cylinders from my long. Sort of a stabalizer effect. The test target from my short was better than the one from my long, though both were esentially one hole...so that 10.5 is still the shooters fault!

Stay compact.

Steyr LP50.

Pragmatist wrote:Can’t decide on long or compact. I’m interested in 10 metre events and would imagine the longer barrel to be more accurate or am I missing something?

Why on an air pistol would a longer barrel be more accurate?
What barrel length on a air pistol gives the best accuracy?
Is the accuracy of your air pistol relevant if you are not shooting at Olympic level?
I am sure plenty have an opinion, but few have actually done the testing to find out. I have no plans to start loping off bits of my barrel to see if it makes it less accurate. Neither do I see any point in getting a longer barrel made for my Steyr to chase a quarter of a mm improvement over my test target.
I own a Steyr LP10e and shoot around 570. Accuracy of my Steyr is irrelevant to my scores, It is what I do that matters.
I have used a compact Steyr and love the balance. Loosing 50mm of sight radius makes it feel like it is moving less. Gives more confidence to release the shot. Most probably is not moving less, just cannot see the movement.
Getting a grip that fits you properly and liking what you shoot maters more than how accurate your air pistol is.
I have yet to see anyone bag out the groups any of the name pistols produce.

atomicgale wrote:Stay compact.

Steyr LP50.

I have a Steyr LP50hp lots of fun. Use it instead of my free pistol at 50m. Just have to change cylinders every 35 shots. Slows down after 30 shots. The price you pay for 765 fps. Would have got the compact but wanted the velocity. Shot count a bit of a problem with the compact hp.Trigger not as good as an Evo. But use it properly and you still are rewarded with excellent results.