16In V 20In V 22In In Rim Fire

[Craig83 52]

Forgive me for a stupid question but.

 

Whats the difference in the barrels above (not the obvious lentgh) i see most people are after the 16in.

 

Is that purely for the fact is small and managble

[drakeshead gunner 26]

The shorter barrels are more manageable but some will argue that you can loose accuracy with the shorter barrel and can slightly affect ballistics of the round and things. Not an expert by any means but that's my limited understanding of it.

 

DHG

[Alsone 789]

You lose a bit of power as well as the bulllet doesn't get pushed for as far before the gases escape and disipate.

 

I'm not expert myself but you'll see that most sniper rifles have very long barrels. I think its a matter of max velocity and accuracy vs convenience for the slip and cabinet. When push comes to shove I don't think for the average shooter the losses are significant so it all comes down to preference and convenience.

[dadioles 68]

Issues of barrel length have been covered before and a Google search will pull up all sorts of information. In the case of rimfire, broadly speaking, all the "bang" has been used up in the first 12" or so. There are no advantages in having a barrel longer than, say, 14" to 16". If anything, the extra barrel length will slow the bullet down due to friction.

 

Longer barrels were an advantage (for rimfire) back in the days of fixed sights. The further the front sight was from the rear sight, the easier, and more accurate it was to aim the rifle. Not relevant to todays telescopic sights.

 

Different rules apply to more powerful centrefire rounds where the "bang" is bigger and requires more barrel volume to develop its full force and spin.

 

A shorter rimfire rifle is easier to handle, with absolutely no loss of power or accuracy. My advice is always buy a 14" or 16" barrel (rimfire). An "overbarrel" style of moderator also helps keep the length down although overbarrel types are more expensive (and not really any quieter) than a simple SAK moderator. The SAK adds a little under 6".

[Craig83 52]

What's wrong with 6" lol

 

Cheers guys,

 

I'm just about to buy my first rimmy the weekend. I'm going secondhand first.

 

Regards,

Craig

[dadioles 68]

Aaah youths today.... I remember 6". "I'm going secondhand first" reminds me of the Dave Allen learn to tell the time sketch (look for it on youtube) The small hand is the first hand the next is the big hand and the third hand is the second hand.....

[stillair1 16]

In those lengths I doubt there would be much difference in velocity, maybe a 100fps in hmr. .22lr sub is fully burnt in under 14" iirc.

Where you will gain in a longer tube is in stability off a bipod due to the weight, though this is more marked when you compare a 14" with a 22" tube. Middle ground a 16" tube will do it all. Variation in barrel accuracy, and ammunition is more of an overiding factor than length in rf imo

[PLEDGEY 496]

Don't know about other rifles but CZ 452's are cheaper the longer the barrel/ . Google Sportsman gun centre limited . 22.5” Barrell RH = £365.99 22.5” Barrel LH = £473.99 16” Barrel RH = £423.99 16” Barrel LH = £508.99 342 American HMR. 20” Barrell RH = £385.99 20” Barrel LH = £438.99 16” Barrel RH = £448.99 452American 22LR. Both of mine are left hand and 20''. Can't say i have ever had a problem with length.

[andyf 144]

Hi

I had my SAKO Finnfire Varmint cut down from 22" to 16 1/2", my reason for the 16.5" was that the SAKO has a twist rate of 1 in 16 (most 22 Rimfires are 1 in 14)

and I thought at least a full twist would be the optimum, the 1/2" 'extra' was for the case of the cartridge as the barrel length is measured from the breech face to the muzzle crown, so I'd end up with a full 16" and one turn of rifling.

With a SAK moderator on it's now back the original length. It shoots deadly one hole (5 shot) groups at 75 yards off a rest with GECO target ammo, and a consistent 1/2" at 50 yards with either Winchester or RWS sub's.

So shorter barrel is good for me.

AndyF

[Ratsmasher 36]

the main reason that the 16" is so popular in .22lr is because .22lr are often used to lamp from a vehicle when a short barrel is easier to manage in the dark with lots of things to bump your moderator into and scare away the wabbits

Edited June 21, 2013 by Ratsmasher