The state of the three gun rifle has come about through a lot of development in the last 30 some years of practical 3 gun and rifle competition. The 3 gun rifle really has to be able to accomplish a lot of tasks: close range "CQB" shooting at Mach 10 speeds with fast splits and target transitions, accurate offhand shooting out to 200 yards, positional shooting out to 4, 500 and even 600 yards, interacting with barricades and props, and timed stages requiring utter reliability. It needs to shoot 1 MOA when smoking hot and work utterly reliably. Did I mention reliability?
Why has the 18 in barrel become popular? It's percieved to be slightly more handy than a 20 when dealing with props, retains a rifle length gas system, allows for longer handguards and loses little velocity. Is an 18 going to all of a sudden change your scores? Nope. I like an 18 but I shoot it no better than a 20. Much of the old guard still shoot 20 in barrels but the younger set are attracted to shorted barrels and matches like 3 gun nation (short range hose fests) apparently favor light quick and short rifles. But other matches (Blue Ridge, Rocky Mtn 3 Gun, Spartan Tactical) still have a lot of intermediate/long distance shooting where having more muzzle velocity doesn't hurt.
I prefer the feel of a fixed stock or a Magpul UBR myself. We don't wear armor so there is rarely a need shorten a stock although I have shot stages where I have shortened the stock to better deal with a prop. Plus many collapsible stocks grab facial hair and almost all good 3 gunners (Horner excepted) have facial hair.
As for the optic, look at the variety of shooting problems mentioned above. Variables rule the roost as they are best for dealing with a wide variety of shooting problems. You may hear tales on the internet of how a shooters kick ass with their Eotech/Aimpoint on 200, 300, and 400 yard targets but I rarely see it. I'm not saying it can't be done (I've shot plenty of Limited Division with irons or a 1X optic) but a little bit of magnification goes a long way on a 350 yard plate in the shade under a tree.
Why no BUIS? If you need to switch to your BUIS during a stage, you've aready lost. In 15 years of 3 gun shooting, I've never had the need for BUIS (knock on wood).
All of the above is not to say that you can't 3 gun with a 16 in a 14.5 in 10.5 or even a 24 inch barrel. It's just that's how we've come to this point. By far the most important accessory is a good zero and then a good trigger.
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