What's a good barrel length for a 5.56 Nato/.223 Rem

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358 BLR

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Howdy folks:
I'm trying to decide what would be a good barrel length for a 5.56 Nato/.223Rem rifle?
I'm thinking id' be using a lot of 55 gr ammo, as that seems to be the most abundant bullet weight available ( gotta love all those milsurp deals).
I currently have a Ruger mini 14 with the 18.5 inch barrel and damn that little bugger is noisy - so I'm thinking it's probably still burnng powder
long after the bullet has left the barrel. Any suggestions on a more appropriate barrel length would be appreciated.

Thanks, Rob
 
223s start at 16" and go all the way up to 26". Barrel length really depends on the rifle type and intended use.

I like typical sporters at 22" but have a 20" HB and it works well too.
 
SuperCub said:
223s start at 16" and go all the way up to 26". Barrel length really depends on the rifle type and intended use.

I like typical sporters at 22" but have a 20" HB and it works well too.
Click to expand...

Hey SC:
Uses would be putting holes in paper and varmints. I usually like to have iron sights on all my rifles and that preference does tend to limit my selection
when looking for a good bolt gun - I might go for a lever action as well, which would mean a BLR. Do you find any significant difference in the reports between
a 22" and 20" barrel?
 
358 BLR said:
Do you find any significant difference in the reports between a 22" and 20" barrel?
Click to expand...
No.

Sounds like you would be well served with a 22" medium weight sporter with something like a 4-12 scope. I'd forgo the sights on this one. I have a brand new Marlin X7 223 sporter in the safe that will go in that direction.
 
A 20" barrel in a bolt rifle will get your velocity right up there real nice and fast to get the intended terminal ballistics out to your effective cartridge range of the .223 Rem using most projectiles weights.
If you lose that velocity by chopping your barrel back, the cartridge loses a lot of its purpose very very quickly. Too much pipe and you aren't increasing anything just hampering yourself with longer, heavier, harder to maneuver rifle.
And again this all depends on what you plan to use the cartridge for Sir but you get the idea...
 
Travis Bickle said:
A 20" barrel in a bolt rifle will get your velocity right up there real nice and fast to get the intended terminal ballistics out to your effective cartridge range of the .223 Rem using most projectiles weights.
If you lose that velocity by chopping your barrel back, the cartridge loses a lot of its purpose very very quickly. Too much pipe and you aren't increasing anything just hampering yourself with longer, heavier, harder to maneuver rifle.
And again this all depends on what you plan to use the cartridge for Sir but you get the idea...
Click to expand...

The original ARs came with 20" barrels, always figured shortening was counter productive, when you get to 10 or 12, it's stupid.

Grizz
 
I would think that I would be loud regardless. One option to try if you want to keep the short barrel length would be a linear compensator for your Mini-14. Other wise, if you don't care about the length of the rifle a 20"-22" barrel would probably serve you well in terms of velocity and OAL.

Hearing protection is a must, you only get two ears for life. Even if we were fortunate enough to have suppressors they are still not enough to prevent hearing damage.
 
Travis Bickle said:
A 20" barrel in a bolt rifle will get your velocity right up there real nice and fast to get the intended terminal ballistics out to your effective cartridge range of the .223 Rem using most projectiles weights.
If you lose that velocity by chopping your barrel back, the cartridge loses a lot of its purpose very very quickly. Too much pipe and you aren't increasing anything just hampering yourself with longer, heavier, harder to maneuver rifle.
And again this all depends on what you plan to use the cartridge for Sir but you get the idea...
Click to expand...

Lucky for us poor civvies, we have access to a wide range of bullet types and weights.
Lots of varmint bullets will expand down to 1600fps, some even lower. So even your 16" bolt guns will perform out to several hundred meters just fine. You only lose around 30fps per inch of barrel, it's not much difference.
 
I prefer 18.5", I shortened my bolt action to that length as well, and threaded it for a linear brake(haven't installed yet).
I don't find my mini14 or the bolt rifle very noisy while behind the trigger.
When I let someone else shoot, it does seem noisy.

I don't like long barrels, I wouldn't go longer than 22", the bolt rifle did have a 24" barrel before being chopped.
Works fine for punching paper and I enjoy hunting with it.
 
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