the heavy barrel would be a little better if you are varmint hunting when you will get many shots in a short time period and notwalking for miles.the heavybarrel takes longer to heat up. but for predator hunting for coyotes ,cats, etc the lighter the better. you don't want to drag a 10 pound gun threw the woods for 8 or 10 hours. i would go for the sporter barrel and get the best scope you can afford. out of all the guns that i own i carry a ultra light youth model h&r single shot .223 the most for coyotes. it weights less than six pounds with a scoped mounted. you can carry this thing all day and hit just about anything want within a couple hundred yards with no problem. the reason i use a youth model is when you have all your heavy winter clothes on and sitting in a snow bank the gun length is perfect.