The shorter barrel length definitely makes it easier to handle. The shroud makes it very quiet. My other LD has grown into somewhat of a monster at this point with a Steve Corcoran pistol stock and a Harris bipod on it for long ranger shooting out to 45 yards or so (you can see a pic under Grant's collector's forum). For long distance shooting I have agonized over several scopes and have accumulated a leapers 3-9, then upgraded to a Bushnell Legend 5-15x and then to a Bushnell 3200 Tactical 5-15x. For the shorty I just bought whatever was cheapest initially since it will be for shorter range shooting. The red dot is a little blurry but it works fine I guess although I haven't really shot farther than 8 yds or so yet.