Actually all of my hunting rifles wear 26" barrels but then they are in high capacity cartridges that require longer barrels to achieve decent ballistics.I have backpacked for sheep and goat in the mountains,hunted elk and deer in the fields andfoothills and I have never found the 26" barrels to cause me any problems.Iactually prefer the slightly muzzle heavy balance that a longer barrel provides,especially with cartridges that provide substancial recoil.