Shorter barrel performance?

[S O K A R]

Would an 18" barrel on a rimfire such as a 22 wmr sacrifice much performance (mainly accuracy) over say a 22" barrel?
I do prefer 18" as it makes it easier shooting from the car, just curious what I am losing performance wise
Anyone ever looked into this?

[bladeracer]

Would an 18" barrel on a rimfire such as a 22 wmr sacrifice much performance (mainly accuracy) over say a 22" barrel?
I do prefer 18" as it makes it easier shooting from the car, just curious what I am losing performance wise
Anyone ever looked into this?

Barrel length has no direct impact on accuracy, though it can be a poor match to the ammunition you're using sometimes.
You could potentially be down 100fps, or you could be losing nothing at all, depending on the ammo you're using.
http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/22mag.html

For field shooting there is an argument that a longer barrel means more time for you to move the rifle before the bullet has left the muzzle.

[animalpest]

And to a degree shorter barrels should vibrate less. Other than the hyper velocity .22 stuff, an 18 inch barrel may well improve velocity.

[scoot]

General "word on the street" says .22lr has gained most or all of its velocity by 16" or 18" (can't recall exactly). As eluded to above there are other forces in play when it comes to accuracy. May loose a touch of velocity going shorter but may gain accuracy.
Trimmed a 26" .308 down to 18" and unscientifically I feel it's actually more accurate. Be it harmonics or placebo effect. It's definitely not any worse.

[on_one_wheel]

Bust out the hacksaw, unless your using open sights you've got nothing to loose.

Only the best of competitive shooters, shooting from a bench with top notch ammo could pick the difference.

[S O K A R]

Trimmed a 26" .308 down to 18" and unscientifically I feel it's actually more accurate. Be it harmonics or placebo effect. It's definitely not any worse.

Funny you should say that, I don't really have anything to compare with but I have a ruger american compact (243) that I've been getting surprisingly good groupings with...
Pretty sure its not operator skill

Would an 18" barrel on a rimfire such as a 22 wmr sacrifice much performance (mainly accuracy) over say a 22" barrel?
I do prefer 18" as it makes it easier shooting from the car, just curious what I am losing performance wise
Anyone ever looked into this?

Barrel length has no direct impact on accuracy, though it can be a poor match to the ammunition you're using sometimes.
You could potentially be down 100fps, or you could be losing nothing at all, depending on the ammo you're using.
http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/22mag.html

For field shooting there is an argument that a longer barrel means more time for you to move the rifle before the bullet has left the muzzle.

Interesting, I've been using the cci v-max 30gr from my cz 515 (21") with pretty tight groupings
Be interesting to see how an 18" fairs with the same ammo

[bigpete]

Bust out the hacksaw, unless your using open sights you've got nothing to loose.

Only the best of competitive shooters, shooting from a bench with top notch ammo could pick the difference.

Totally agree !

[Larry]

If shorter barrels increased performance in some ways there would be a lot more rifles produced with the minimum legal barrel length. I remember reading one article /experiment using a 22LR and differing barrel lengths the conclusion was that 21 inches was the optimum length for the 22. Personally I would always err on the longer side ie a 24 inch on a 22 I do have shorter rifles in 22 but I find them to be not as accurate although lighter and seem to be easier to point but even off hand shooting I get better results with my longer rifles.

[bladeracer]

If shorter barrels increased performance in some ways there would be a lot more rifles produced with the minimum legal barrel length. I remember reading one article /experiment using a 22LR and differing barrel lengths the conclusion was that 21 inches was the optimum length for the 22. Personally I would always err on the longer side ie a 24 inch on a 22 I do have shorter rifles in 22 but I find them to be not as accurate although lighter and seem to be easier to point but even off hand shooting I get better results with my longer rifles.

Depends entirely on what ammo you want to use. Subsonic ammo makes optimal velocity in short barrels, like 16"-18", hyper-velocity ammo makes optimal velocity in longer barrels, like 25" or more. With CCI Standard Velocity I got the same measured velocity in 18.5", 20" and 25" barrels. This thread though is about WMR so you would expect longer barrels to get more out of the cartridge.

https://enoughgun.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=13101

[on_one_wheel]

Out if interest, what make / model are you looking at hacking ?

I almost hacked my Lithgow single shot the other night but quickly realised it would be extremely difficult to reload with a scope fitted.

[S O K A R]

Out if interest, what make / model are you looking at hacking ?

No Hacking
Was looking at getting a ruger american (either a standard or compact) for a scrub gun/something that can throw into the ute and not have to care about
Kind of grew attached to the cz
Compact would suit my needs better hence the question, only around $650 new from memory

[deye243]

Interesting, I've been using the cci v-max 30gr from my cz 515 (21") with pretty tight groupings
Be interesting to see how an 18" fairs with the same ammo

Just wondering what your interpretation of grouping is

[bladeracer]

Out if interest, what make / model are you looking at hacking ?

No Hacking
Was looking at getting a ruger american (either a standard or compact) for a scrub gun/something that can throw into the ute and not have to care about
Kind of grew attached to the cz
Compact would suit my needs better hence the question, only around $650 new from memory

The Ruger American Compact polymer is perfect for that I reckon, shorter than the standard 18", iron sights, plastic stock.

[S O K A R]

Interesting, I've been using the cci v-max 30gr from my cz 515 (21") with pretty tight groupings
Be interesting to see how an 18" fairs with the same ammo

Just wondering what your interpretation of grouping is

I'd be happy with anything sub moa tbh, but in the case of the cz been getting groupings pretty much bang on half an inch give or take..I'm no precision shooter, but I'm happy with that

[SCJ429]

I took to my CZ 22 with a hack saw and cleaned up the crown with some valve grinding paste. It shot under 1\2 an inch at 50 metres after my butchery.

[Lazarus]

My girlfriend keeps trying to reassure me that it's not the length of the barrel but how you use it.



Sorry, it's in me and just keeps getting out

[paddyoh]

I have a ruger american compact in hmr17 with an 18inch barrel and use hornady 17 gr V-MAX polymer tip ammo through it and it groups as good as any rifle i have shot

[Larry]

Just a coincidence yesterday Paul Harrell released a UT video Optimum Barrel Length for 22lr Rifles. Haven't watched it yet so no spoilers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rxvg6xGFvZ8

[bladeracer]

Just a coincidence yesterday Paul Harrell released a UT video Optimum Barrel Length for 22lr Rifles. Haven't watched it yet so no spoilers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rxvg6xGFvZ8

Yes, my first thought was to post it, but I watched it first and was disappointed, nothing like a test I'd expect from Paul.
He only tested two high-velocity ammos in the 1200-1300fps region (in his defence he rarely shoots any subsonic ammo at all), and the Stinger, (then declares the results apply to "most ammunitions"), only in semi-auto rifles (tends to reduce velocities already), with barrels from 16.5" to 22", so essentially minor variations on a single design - hardly definitive. It's the ammunition that determines the velocity in any given rimfire barrel, not the rifle.

I suspect that enough people will point this out to him, requiring a "Part Two"

It was good in that he agrees that barrel length is largely irrelevant to performance when choosing your rifle though. Even if getting up to 25" or more does cost you some velocity, or add some velocity, how well you can shoot with that rifle is way more important than the velocity.

Other than a very rudimentary two 4" 10rd groups offhand at 50 yards with two different rifles using the same ammo he didn't really venture into whether barrel length may have any benefit on accuracy. These are terrible groups compared to what Paul can shoot offhand with his peep-sight 10/22 so these are more likely a mismatch of ammo and rifle than an indication of anything the barrel length might cause.

If you want to hunt with subsonic ammo use a shorter barrel to retain as much velocity as you can, in a longer barrel the velocity may drop enough that at your hunting distances the bullets may no longer deform. If you want to use really high-velocity stuff use a longer barrel, in a 16"-18" barrel the Stingers, Copper-22 and Yellow Jackets might not make any more velocity than much cheaper high-velocity ammo.

[Larry]

Pauls video was pretty lame I agree. Perhaps this one will be more interesting a 308 with a 6ft barrel progressively shortened.
https://forum.accurateshooter.com/threa ... 8.4073956/

[Biscuits]

As you ask about 22WMR, here is a partial answer as the longest barrel tested is 19 inch
http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/22mag.html

My take on it is no velocity loss with a 40gr bullet going to 18 inch, on a WMR.

Small velocity loss with a lighter bullet.