223 barrel length 24 or 20 inch??

M

Mike112288

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
43   0   0
Location
Winkler
I don’t wanna lose too much velocity but my 24” mtu 223 barrel is not exactly a handy quick pointless my rifle. Wondering if I should cut it down to 20”. How much velocity would I really lose? 18” would obviously be a pretty big loss of FPS but 20” sounds more like a happy medium. Also huge a build with marksman contour in 24”. Not sure which one I should make shorter lol..... is it even worth it to have a 223 barrel at 24” long?? I wanna shoot 75 eldms too here n there as well not just light bullets
 
From my own experience with .308 and from reading about other calibers . You would loose about 20 FPS per inch.
I think 19 inches is the best length, maybe that’s why IBI cut their barrels at 19.
 
I assume by "handy quick pointless my rifle" you meant to say a quick pointing rifle?

If this is for a bench/competition/casual plinking rifle, go for the 24"
If this is for a hunting/varminting/walk-around rifle, go for the 20", or better yet get a lighter contour. Even a short MTU is going to be sluggish to swing.
 
Lol yes I meant quick pointing rifle. Perhaps I shouldn’t have my 24” mtu cut down then after all.. maybe do the marksman contour at 20” instead of 24”. Marksman contour is supposed to be barely thicker than a medium Palma. I want of these to be a varminting walk around rifle yes. Wasn’t sure if the mtu cut to a shorter length would be okay or not as a walk around rifle
 
Accurate Shooter has an article Barrel length vs Velocity in 223-barrel cut down test .
They went from 26 to 16 in one inch increments.

There is also an article out there ... where a 223 barrel was cut and re crowned in one inch increments , testing velocity and accuracy at each increment.
 
xTJ3elN.jpg
 
I was thinking of Tikka T3X CTR 20" 223 as a walk about coyote rifle. I am not too worried about velocity loss, we always have to deal with trajectory and a little more or a little less never really seems to matter in this day and age with laser range finders and Kestrels with AB.
 
.223 Rem/5.56 NATO needs velocity, but how much easier will it be to handle with 4" and a bit of weight snipped off the front? I use to drag around the "Right Arm of the Free World", and I never found it to be a great burden. Granted lugging a support weapon for a few exercises makes a C2 feel like a feather, so you might say I'm skeptical of the utility of a super light rifle other than having to move really fast, or shoot offhand. Unless you're kicking doors, or action shooting 24" is better than 20". One other thing to consider is that 75 ELD M's probably won't stabilize well in a shorter barrel, or not at all depending on your twist. I don't have the data to say one way or the other, but it's something to look at before you pull out the saw.

In the end is making it a little shorter really going to make a huge difference on how it handles? I haven't done the math, but cutting the barrel will have a real world effect. On one hand you can say it FEELS better with a 20" barrel, but for every inch you remove you'll reduce your effective range. .223 has two things going for it, and since we're not likely packing 300-400 rounds at a time, only one, speed.
 
Last edited:
Not that big a difference is right. On the other hand the mtu barreled 223 i got is super front heavy and unbalanced. But even if I cut the mtu down to 19 or 20” it would still prob not handle that nicely compared to a slimmer profile barrel would. So prob kinda useless to send it off to be shortened. Yes 223 really only has speed going for it. Not much else and it’s not exactly a hammer way down range as it is
 
redshooter said:
.223 Rem/5.56 NATO needs velocity, but how much easier will it be to handle with 4" and a bit of weight snipped off the front? I use to drag around the "Right Arm of the Free World", and I never found it to be a great burden. Granted lugging a support weapon for a few exercises makes a C2 feel like a feather, so you might say I'm skeptical of the utility of a super light rifle other than having to move really fast, or shoot offhand. Unless you're kicking doors, or action shooting 24" is better than 20". One other thing to consider is that 75 ELD M's probably won't stabilize well in a shorter barrel, or not at all depending on your twist. I don't have the data to say one way or the other, but it's something to look at before you pull out the saw.

In the end is making it a little shorter really going to make a huge difference on how it handles? I haven't done the math, but cutting the barrel will have a real world effect. On one hand you can say it FEELS better with a 20" barrel, but for every inch you remove you'll reduce your effective range. .223 has two things going for it, and since we're not likely packing 300-400 rounds at a time, only one, speed.
Click to expand...

The barrel lengths discussed here would have no bearing on stabilizing a 75 grain bullet. Barrel length affects speed and bullet stability is established through a balance between muzzle velocity and barrel twist rate.

Even at 18 inches the barrel will have plenty of speed to stabilize a 75 grainer with a 1:9 twist barrel.

So accuracy through bullet stability being one thing, the twist rate also significantly affects how the bullet will perform on impact.

There's a world of difference between hitting a ground hog with 55 grain bullets from a 1:12 twist and a 69 grainer from a 1:7.

Rotational energy is significant and dramatically affects the explosive energy on impact.

Ask any F Class shooter about bullets that fly apart half way to the target because the jackets cant handle the centrifugal force caused by the spin rate.

For a hunting gun, I will always want the fastest twist rate, then load to speeds just south of where bullets self destruct.
 
Maple57 said:
The barrel lengths discussed here would have no bearing on stabilizing a 75 grain bullet. Barrel length affects speed and bullet stability is established through a balance between muzzle velocity and barrel twist rate.

Even at 18 inches the barrel will have plenty of speed to stabilize a 75 grainer with a 1:9 twist barrel.
Click to expand...

If you are talking about 75gr/77gr Projectiles designed to work at 2.26" COL then I'd agree. VLD's, or ELD M's, I have to disagree, not from direct experience with the bullets in question, but it seems Brian Litz, and the Berger Stability Calculator support my assumption. I have had some problems in the past with stability in 1 in 9 twist barrels and his Stability Factors explain my results.

https://bergerbullets.com/twist-rate-calculator/
 
My benchmark 223 mtu barrel is 1-8” twist 24” long. My hawkhill marksman barrel is 1-7.5” and 24” long. They’ll easy stabilize 75’s I’m sure. Even I were to have one of them shortened 4 inches. Long as I don’t over spin the lighter 50-55 grainers
 
If you have to cut one down, I'd cut down the marksman profile. Neither will be particularly light and quick pointing but then again neither of those barrel contours are designed with that in mind.
 
Yeah exactly. Not meant to be light weight mountain rifles lol. Was gonna get the marksman down to 20” but they finished my build before I could let them know. So 24” it is
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom