Kimber K6s 2-Inch vs 3-Inch vs 4-Inch: Does Barrel Length Really Matter?
Three Kimber K6s revolvers. Three handloads. Two distances. Five-shot groups. And a chronograph.
This test started with what sounded like a fairly simple question:
If we put a 2-inch, 3-inch and 4-inch Kimber K6s on the firing line, does the longer barrel actually produce better accuracy?
Most shooters would probably put their money on the 4-inch before the first shot was fired. A longer sight radius, more weight out front and the generally steadier feel of a longer-barreled revolver certainly make that prediction reasonable.
But this is DayAtTheRange.
We don’t award the trophy based on what should happen.
We shoot them, measure them and let the targets decide.
And the results were much closer and considerably stranger than I expected.
Three Kimber K6s Revolvers — With a Custom Touch
For this comparison I brought out my Kimber K6s revolvers with:
- 2-inch barrel
- 3-inch barrel
- 4-inch barrel
There is also something special about this particular trio.
HRV Customs provided custom grips incorporating my DayAtTheRange logos for all three revolvers.
The grips give each K6s a distinctive DayAtTheRange look, and having all three together made this a perfect opportunity for a proper family showdown.
But good looks weren’t going to win this test.
We were after accuracy and data.
The Test
Each Kimber was fired with three of my handloads:
Load #1 — .38 Special
125gr Hornady XTP
Accurate No. 5 6.7gr
Load #2 — .38 Special
158gr Xtreme
CFE Pistol 5.2gr
Load #3 — .357 Magnum
170gr LSWC
H110 14.4gr
All accuracy results were based on five-shot groups.
The first groups were fired at 8 yards, followed by another complete round of testing at 14 yards.
Velocity was also measured with a chronograph so we could compare what each additional inch of barrel actually delivered.
Reloading note: The load descriptions above identify the ammunition used in this particular test, not recommended load data. Always use current published load data for your exact components and firearm.
First: Can the Shooter Shoot?
Before blaming or praising any of the Kimber revolvers, I wanted a level set.
I brought along my PPC revolver.
At 8 yards it produced a .856-inch group.
That gave me confidence that the shooter, range conditions and test setup were capable of producing a good group.
Now it was time for the Kimbers.
Kimber K6s Accuracy at 8 Yards
This was our first surprise.
| Barrel | 125gr .38 | 158gr .38 | 170gr .357 | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-inch | 2.10″ | 1.30″ | 2.90″ | 2.10″ |
| 3-inch | 2.10″ | 1.16″ | 3.80″ | 2.35″ |
| 4-inch | 1.70″ | 1.70″ | 2.80″ | 2.07″ |
🥇 1st — 4-inch: 2.07″
🥈 2nd — 2-inch: 2.10″
🥉 3rd — 3-inch: 2.35″
Yes, you read that correctly.
The 4-inch won the 8-yard competition, but it beat the little 2-inch revolver by only .03 inch on average.
That’s effectively neck-and-neck for this kind of shooting test.
Even more interesting, the smallest individual group didn’t come from the 4-inch.
The 3-inch K6s and 158gr .38 Special produced a 1.16-inch group, while the little 2-inch wasn’t far behind with its excellent 1.30-inch group with the same bullet weight.
The .357 Magnum was a different story.
All three .357 groups were larger at 8 yards:
- 2-inch — 2.90″
- 3-inch — 3.80″
- 4-inch — 2.80″
At this point you could easily conclude that this particular .357 load simply wasn’t going to compete with the .38 Special ammunition for accuracy.
But then I moved the target back.
Moving Back to 14 Yards
Fourteen yards is where I expected the longer 4-inch K6s to start separating itself.
Instead, the test got considerably more interesting.
| Barrel | 125gr .38 | 158gr .38 | 170gr .357 | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-inch | 3.10″ | 2.70″ | 3.80″ | 3.20″ |
| 3-inch | 2.10″ | 2.50″ | 1.60″ | 2.07″ |
| 4-inch | 2.20″ | 2.20″ | 2.20″ | 2.20″ |
And suddenly our finishing order changed.
🥇 1st — 3-inch: 2.07″
🥈 2nd — 4-inch: 2.20″
🥉 3rd — 2-inch: 3.20″
The 3-inch Kimber won the 14-yard test.
But that’s not even the result that caught my attention the most.
Remember the 3-inch K6s shooting the 170gr .357 Magnum?
At 8 yards it produced our largest group of that round:
3.80 inches.
At 14 yards the same revolver and load produced:
1.60 INCHES
That was the smallest 14-yard Kimber group of the entire test.
That’s why I hesitate to make sweeping statements from a single five-shot group. Shooter input, sight picture and normal group-to-group variation are always part of real-world handgun testing.
Still, a 1.6-inch five-shot group at 14 yards from the 3-inch K6s certainly got my attention.
And Then the 4-Inch Did Something Weird
Look again at the 4-inch results at 14 yards:
125gr — 2.20″
158gr — 2.20″
170gr — 2.20″
Three different loads.
Two different cartridges.
Three different bullet weights.
Three identical 2.2-inch groups.
The 4-inch didn’t produce the smallest individual group at 14 yards, but it was unquestionably the most consistent across ammunition in this particular round of testing.
That’s an interesting distinction.
The 3-inch showed the greatest peak accuracy.
The 4-inch showed remarkable consistency.
Overall Accuracy: Which Kimber K6s Actually Won?
Now let’s combine all six measured groups for each revolver.
Three loads at 8 yards plus three loads at 14 yards.
| Kimber K6s | 8-Yard Avg. | 14-Yard Avg. | Overall Avg. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2-inch | 2.10″ | 3.20″ | 2.65″ |
| 3-inch | 2.35″ | 2.07″ | 2.21″ |
| 4-inch | 2.07″ | 2.20″ | 2.13″ |
And technically…
🏆 THE 4-INCH K6s WINS.
But don’t overlook how close the 3-inch came.
The overall difference was only about .08 inch.
That’s certainly not enough evidence for me to proclaim that adding an inch of barrel automatically buys a meaningful increase in intrinsic accuracy.
In fact, this test demonstrated almost the opposite.
The 2-inch produced excellent short-range groups.
The 3-inch produced the best 14-yard group and won the 14-yard average.
The 4-inch narrowly produced the best overall six-group average.
There was no simple progression of:
2-inch good → 3-inch better → 4-inch best.
And that’s exactly why we test.
Now Let’s Talk Velocity
Accuracy is only one reason someone might choose a longer barrel.
The other big question is velocity.
This becomes especially interesting with the K6s because we can compare the same basic revolver platform across three barrel lengths.
Here are the chronograph averages from this test:
| Load | 2-inch | 3-inch | 4-inch | 2″→4″ Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 125gr .38 Special | 707.3 fps | 796.8 fps | 791.9 fps | +84.6 fps |
| 158gr .38 Special | 662.0 fps | 710.0 fps | 714.1 fps | +52.1 fps |
| 170gr .357 Magnum | 1033.4 fps | 1130.7 fps | 1157.1 fps | +123.7 fps |
Now we have something much more interesting than simply looking at group size.
The .357 Magnum Shows the Biggest Barrel-Length Gain
The 170gr .357 Magnum produced:
2-inch — 1033.4 fps
3-inch — 1130.7 fps
4-inch — 1157.1 fps
Going from the 2-inch to the 3-inch gained approximately:
+97.3 FPS
Going from 3 inches to 4 inches added another:
+26.4 FPS
Total gain from 2 inches to 4 inches:
+123.7 FPS
That’s a much clearer progression than we saw in the accuracy results.
Interestingly, most of the gain occurred when moving from 2 inches to 3 inches.
That makes the 3-inch K6s particularly interesting because it delivered most of the measured .357 velocity advantage of the 4-inch while also producing the best 14-yard accuracy average.
.38 Special Told a Different Story
The 158gr .38 Special increased much more gradually:
662.0 → 710.0 → 714.1 fps
That’s a gain of:
+52.1 FPS
from the 2-inch to the 4-inch.
The 125gr load was stranger.
It produced:
707.3 → 796.8 → 791.9 fps
The 3-inch actually edged the 4-inch by 4.9 fps in this five-shot sample.
I wouldn’t interpret that as evidence that a 3-inch barrel is inherently faster than a 4-inch barrel. The difference is tiny and easily falls into the kind of variation that can appear in small chronograph samples.
What matters more is that both longer-barreled revolvers substantially outpaced the 2-inch with this particular load.
Accuracy vs. Velocity: Where Is the Sweet Spot?
And this is where the test gets interesting for someone actually choosing between these three revolvers.
Kimber K6s 2-Inch
The little K6s shouldn’t be dismissed as merely a close-range gun.
It produced a 1.30-inch group at 8 yards and finished only .03 inch behind the 4-inch in our 8-yard average.
Its tradeoff showed up more clearly at 14 yards and on the chronograph.
If compact size is the priority, however, the accuracy demonstrated here was impressive.
Kimber K6s 3-Inch
This might be the surprise of the entire test.
It:
- Won the 14-yard accuracy comparison
- Produced the smallest 14-yard group at 1.60 inches
- Averaged only .08 inch larger than the 4-inch across all six groups
- Gained almost 100 fps over the 2-inch with the .357 Magnum load
- Came within 26.4 fps of the 4-inch with that same .357 load
If you’re looking for the middle ground between compact dimensions, accuracy and velocity, the 3-inch made a very strong argument for itself.
Kimber K6s 4-Inch
The 4-inch still gets to take home the overall accuracy trophy.
Its six-group average of 2.13 inches was the smallest of the three revolvers.
It also won our 8-yard comparison and produced the highest measured .357 Magnum velocity at 1157.1 fps.
And those three identical 2.2-inch groups at 14 yards demonstrated something I value almost as much as shooting one spectacular group:
Consistency.
Final Results
If I were handing out trophies based strictly on the numbers from this test:
🏆 BEST OVERALL ACCURACY
4-inch K6s — 2.13″
🏆 BEST 8-YARD AVERAGE
4-inch K6s — 2.07″
🏆 BEST 14-YARD AVERAGE
3-inch K6s — 2.07″
🏆 SMALLEST 8-YARD GROUP
3-inch K6s — 1.16″ — 158gr .38 Special
🏆 SMALLEST 14-YARD GROUP
3-inch K6s — 1.60″ — 170gr .357 Magnum
🏆 HIGHEST .357 MAGNUM VELOCITY
4-inch K6s — 1157.1 fps
🏆 BIGGEST SURPRISE
3-inch Kimber K6s
So, Does Barrel Length Really Matter?
Yes.
But perhaps not in the way I expected.
In this test, increasing barrel length produced a much clearer advantage in velocity than it did in accuracy.
The 4-inch technically won the overall accuracy comparison, but the 3-inch was only .08 inch behind it.
Meanwhile, the .357 Magnum gained approximately 124 fps moving from the 2-inch to the 4-inch.
That’s measurable.
That’s useful.
And that’s the kind of information I wanted from this test.
The targets also reinforced something we’ve seen repeatedly at DayAtTheRange:
Firearms don’t always read the rulebook.
The smallest 8-yard group didn’t come from the longest barrel.
The smallest 14-yard group didn’t come from the longest barrel.
And one revolver somehow shot three different loads into three identically sized groups.
That’s why I enjoy these comparisons.
Real guns. Real ammunition. Real data.
A Special Thanks to HRV Customs
Get Your HRVCustoms Discount by usinng these codes — 20% off Kimber Revolver grips the pre-designed section through the end of the year code DAYATTHERANGE — For 20% in the Custom section use code DAYATTHERANGE2
A special thank-you goes to HRV Customs for providing the custom DayAtTheRange grips on these Kimber K6s revolvers.
They gave this trio a unique identity and made an already interesting collection of K6s revolvers even more special.
Be sure to watch the accompanying video to see all three revolvers, the groups being fired, the targets and the complete results.
And now I want to hear from the RangeFans:
If you could only choose ONE—2-inch, 3-inch or 4-inch—which Kimber K6s would you take?
Leave your choice and your reasoning in the comments and let me know what you think of the video
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