223 Rem barrel length velocity test - 12.5 inch vs 16.1 vs 20 inch

Great info. I was thinking about powders having an affect. Reloading especially for the barrel length makes sense. Never having a barrel shorter than 18" I was wondering what the advantage is going shorter than say 16".
 
Well this is interesting.

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All depends what you want to do with it really.

Many say “look at that only losing a couple hundred FPS in the short barrel”. I can’t help but notice the 12.5” turns it into a loud .22 Ackley Hornet. Especially on the receiving end, 100fps makes a difference in bullet performance, 200fps is the difference between cartridge classes, and 300fps puts them in different categories completely.

19” is my cutoff for a round that rely’s on velocity as much as the .224s to do work.
 
Sorry I know this is a very old thread, How did your tikka CTR 20" 8 twist barrel like the 73gr eldm's, I'm going to try out some ladder testing with them tomorrow. What bullets have you found the best in your CTR barrel? I just picked one up last Christmas for plinking and range use, and currently just going through all kinds of different bullets with different handloads, so far it likes 60gr vmax, 69gr SMK, doesn't like nosler 55 varageddons or 75 eldm's. Thanks in advance if you might have some suggestions for me to try out!
 
Sorry I know this is a very old thread, How did your tikka CTR 20" 8 twist barrel like the 73gr eldm's, I'm going to try out some ladder testing with them tomorrow. What bullets have you found the best in your CTR barrel? I just picked one up last Christmas for plinking and range use, and currently just going through all kinds of different bullets with different handloads, so far it likes 60gr vmax, 69gr SMK, doesn't like nosler 55 varageddons or 75 eldm's. Thanks in advance if you might have some suggestions for me to try out!

The factory 73eldm shot ok, didn't shoot a lot of it through in the CTR. It shoots handloaded 53gr Nosler Varmageddon Tipped & 75gr Hornady Amax very well, when I run out of those I will try the 75gr ELDm and see what happens. It also shoots 69gr ELDvt and 77gr Sierra TMK great
 
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The factory 73eldm shot ok, didn't shoot a lot of it through in the CTR. It shoots handloaded 53gr Nosler Varmageddon Tipped & 75gr Hornady Amax very well, when I run out of those I will try the 75gr ELDm and see what happens. It also shoots 69gr ELDvt and 77gr Sierra TMK great
Thank you for the info! I bought a bunch of nosler varmageddon 55gr, barrel really didn't like them but after lots of trial and error have these shooting consistently under 1" which is minute of squirrel for their use anyway! I will have to pick up a box of 53gr and give them a try. Funny you mention the 77gr TMK, I have owned this rifle for only 4 months and have been searching everywhere for these bullets because I've heard good things about them for deer hunting, and just found some last week, looking forward to dialing those in! I have been working with the 75gr eldm bullets and have to pick up a few more, they are very bullet depth sensitive, last testing was 0.010" off the lands and was seeing pretty good accuracy but should be able to get them down to 1/2" grouing, currently around the 3/4", top powders for me anyway have been CFE223 and Staball Match, SD numbers under 10.
 
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