22LR Barrel Length

Frithy

Well-Known Member
I have a slot for a 22 on my ticket and will be looking to fill it soon. I’ve see loads of different barrel lengths on these, anywhere from 14” up to 24”.

Will you lose much accuracy on a shorter barrel if only used at relatively short range for pest control?
 
No, Anschutz used to produce a Running boar/ or Silhouette model with a 16” barrel. I never heard any complaints about their accuracy.
From memory a .22 burns all the powder in around 14”, after that the bullet coasts.
Longer barrels help with balance, weight and may help even out velocity spread.
 
No, Anschutz used to produce a Running boar/ or Silhouette model with a 16” barrel. I never heard any complaints about their accuracy.
From memory a .22 burns all the powder in around 14”, after that the bullet coasts.
Longer barrels help with balance, weight and may help even out velocity spread.
Indeed, benchrest shooters with perfect technique and stability tend to prefer longer barrels in 22LR. For the rest of us, a shorter one is the way to go for power and accuracy.
 
Longer barrels, of similar profile, have greater moments of rotational inertia (Left/right, up/down) so if you shoot freehand or close to freehand you might find them more accurate because it will tend to suppress wobble. As far as I can gather the extra length doesn't buy you much ballistically, rather like a 25" 12 bore has burned the charge too.

David.
 
The problem with that is that the bullet spends more time in the longer barrel, which further negates the already-negligibly-higher moment of inertia. Most of the rifle's mass is centralised, anyway.

A better way to stabilise the hold for freehand shooting is to keep it short and add weight at the end of the barrel, which maximises the benefit of the added mass while allowing the bullet to clear the influence of the barrel as soon as possible. A moderator achieves this effect very nicely.
 
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Ordered a Anschutz 1710 with 18’’ threaded SS barrel, as it the shortest available from them.

16’’ is the shortest legal length here, so I feel a bit safer if I ever ruin the threads, and can cut it shorter and still be legal.

Other then that I would have no problems with 12-14’’..
 
even short range .22 CF bench guns are done frequently will short little barrels . we have two 452 one with a longer though still shortened barrel the other with a super short , not a jot of difference ! so little powder to burn
 
Don’t forget, minimum barrel length is 12 inches.
And overall length must be 24 inches or more.
Ken.
 
I have a slot for a 22 on my ticket and will be looking to fill it soon. I’ve see loads of different barrel lengths on these, anywhere from 14” up to 24”.

Will you lose much accuracy on a shorter barrel if only used at relatively short range for pest control?
No,
I chopped all mine to 12.5" (mainly to stay inside the law on the offchance someone's tape measure was a bit out of spec!)

subs run subsonic so losing MV is not an issue
The accuracy is still more than I am capable of on a day to day basis

The main reason rifles had long barrels was sight radius on the open sights which were common on the classic set up
not relevant any more

chop em!
 
The main reason rifles had long barrels was sight radius on the open sights which were common on the classic set up
not relevant any more

Its amazing how so many people still think a longer barrel is more accurate based on this Ed, I must explain this once a week to someone who thinks barrel length is directly related to accuracy.

Of course barrel length plays its part in velocity when considered in CF rifles and at long range the extra speed can play its part in accuracy but for normal folk shooting normal distances you are absolutely right.
 
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