A shorter barrel is a good thing, at times. That is why I keep my T/C Thunderhawks. (21" Barrels) One in .50 caliber, that shoots Maxi-Balls, accurately, and one in .54 caliber that shoots saboted bullets accurately. IMHO the reason 28" barrels are now popular, is that they will accomodate 3, 50 grain pellets, or 150 grains loose powder, and get a more complete burn, & velocity with these loads. I neither shoot, or need these heavy loads, so a shorter barrel is fine for me, even though I do own a T/C Triumph with a 28" barrel. Funny thing though, the 28" barrel of the Triumph, and the 24" barrel of my T/C Firehawk (Plus the 4" length for the striker, built into the breach area) The overall lengths of the 2 ML's is about the same.