Shorten the Whitworth Parker Hale barrel to 33 inches.

G’da gents, hope all is fine. I have a new project. I’m going to customize my Parkerhale Whitworth. I want to shorten the barrel to 33 inches, move the brass nose cap back, shorten the timber in front of the barrel band and shorten the loading rod by three winches. Finally remove the middle barrel band. I don’t think shortening the barrel and removing the middle barrel band will affect the operation of the rifle. However having said that I would greatly appreciate any information in this regard.
Kind regards Bob.

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Originally Posted by BobInAus

G’da gents, hope all is fine. I have a new project. I’m going to customize my Parkerhale Whitworth. I want to shorten the barrel to 33 inches, move the brass nose cap back, shorten the timber in front of the barrel band and shorten the loading rod by three winches. Finally remove the middle barrel band. I don’t think shortening the barrel and removing the middle barrel band will affect the operation of the rifle. However having said that I would greatly appreciate any information in this regard.
Kind regards Bob.

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Why?? Longer barrel is more accurate. Sight radius wise anyway. I must assume you are using iron sights ?

Thanks for the reply and yes I am using iron sights. I didn't know if the 3" would make much difference to accuracy. At present I have a Lyman 17ATC globe front sight .854" heigh and a Pedersoli Tang mounted Soule long range sight. She is very accurate as is and is on target at 300 yds. I was hoping someone may be able to tell me if the missing 3" will make much difference.

Regards Bob.

As long as the barrel is re-crowned smoothly, you should notice no difference in accuracy. The handling will show the difference, probably for the better.
I have shortened lots of barrels over my life time and not one suffered less accuracy; several shot better than they did- especially military barrels.

I don't know how rare those rifles are in Oz, but here they are quite rare, valuable, and sought after. There is no way I would alter one considering what they are worth. A Pedersoli? Sure. But not a Parker Hale.

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Originally Posted by BobInAus

Thanks for the reply and yes I am using iron sights. I didn't know if the 3" would make much difference to accuracy. At present I have a Lyman 17ATC globe front sight .854" heigh and a Pedersoli Tang mounted Soule long range sight. She is very accurate as is and is on target at 300 yds. I was hoping someone may be able to tell me if the missing 3" will make much difference.

Regards Bob.

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You may see a difference if you take it out to 800/900/1000 ???? Me I would not touch it, unless it needs to be shortened a bit because of whare from cleaning rod ??

Years ago I had a muzzleloading 1853 Pattern 2-band Volunteer rifle by W.J. Jeffery in that length which shot splendidly back to 300 yards. It was a .577

Hey Gents, thanks for that it'll give me something to think about. Texas by God, what did you mean when you said (The handling will show the difference, probably for the better).
Regards Bob.

In brushy areas the shorter barrel is easier to move about and possibly get on target. Even in open air the shorter barrel will swing faster.

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Originally Posted by missionary5155

In brushy areas the shorter barrel is easier to move about and possibly get on target. Even in open air the shorter barrel will swing faster.

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What he said. Plus shorter guns fit in the truck better…(important around here).


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Shortening the barrel that has open sights also shortened the sight radius.
Depending on the person and your eyes , the distance between the front and rear sight Might change your eye focus.
For example.
When I was many years younger.
I shot open sights really well.
As I got older,
A shorter sight radius focused better with my eyes.
But after I had eye correction surgery.
I noticed that the longer sight radius came back into focus better.
But my eyes were so bad at one point,
Almost all my rifles had to have scopes.
But after eye surgery.
Now I don't need a scope as much.
It is a minor issue.
But thru the years I found that shooting with different eye glasses helped to improve my shooting.
At one point.
I had a set of glasses that was only used for shooting.
But reducing the sight radius on your rifle that you could shoot well Might help your shooting some.
But that all depends on the condition of your eyes.

Hey LAGS, thanks for the reply. The standard flip up sight gave me a 30" radius for sighting but since I put the Soule long range sight on I now have a sight radius of 39". If I shorten the barrel by 3" I guess I will have a sight radius of 36" the original barrel length. The Soule sight gave me good vision out to 300 yards. I guess its all a big 3" gamble. If being short the 3" brings on the cobweb effect in the eyecup I suppose I can always drill it out a little larger or go with an adjustable Hadley eye cup. Decisions decisions.
Thanks again LAGS.