For me it's more a question of weight distribution or "balance." I like just the right amount of weight out front for a job, but it varies with the kind of shooting. In more open country with lots of time for shots, I like extra muzzle weight as much as a guy who shoots only matches. It just helps steady you for precise shots further out. But move me back into the brush where shots are close and quick, I want the balance point right between my hands with virtually no feeling of muzzle-heavy pointing. It's like comparing a duck gun with a long barrel for smooth swings with an upland bird gun for real quick shots.
Standard factory guns have straight barrels, so the only way you can "adjust" the balance is with barrel length. Longer for long shooting, shorter for quick shooting. Original Hawkens (and many more) had tapered barrels to relieve a bit of the muzzle weight when barrels got long. There were also "swamped" barrels (skinnier in the middle) for doing the same thing. You can get them tapered or swamped on custom guns, but I don't know of a single factory gun that has either.
My hefty 58 caliber GRRW Hawken with its 36" barrel tapered from 1 1/8" at the breech to 1" at the muzzle holds and points beautifully, more like the Lyman GPR with its 32" 15/16" barrel. If it didn't weigh over 12#, it would be my standard open country gun. But the GPR gets all the field work. When I'm going to spend the day in the brush, barrel length along the lines of the Deerstalker gets the nod. But truth be known even the Deerstalker is a little too muzzle heavy for the kind of quick shooting I'm talking about.
Years ago I picked up a TC Hawken that had been custom barreled (with a lot of stock mods!) in 58 caliber, 22" long and tapered from 1 1/8" at the breech to 15/16" at the muzzle. I paid less for it than a standard TC Hawken, I can bet because the builder created something he didn't like at all. It absolutely stinks as a range gun or long range shooter. But it has zero muzzleweight and handles as easy as a short barreled 20 gauge for quick shooting. It's my A Number One brush gun because it handles soooo fast when the critter is moving or going to jump any second.
I take it back. It is a terrific range gun for one game my buds and I play. We put a clay pigeon out at 25 yards and two guys line up on it with their rifles waist high. First one to hit the pigeon wins. That rifle has never lost that game. It's not that I'm a hotshot, rather it's all on the rifle. Buds use it too, with the same results. It's never lost the match in anyone's hands. But move the pigeon out to 75 or 100 yards? I don't recall it ever winning a thing.
