barrel length-was he right??

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Bluffton Bill

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The other day I was at the local gun shop and commented that a very short barrelled .22 WMR may not be that accurate (it was maybe 15 inches). The gentleman looking at it remarked that may not be the case at all, that a longer barrel could occilate more and be more finicky on what loads it would shoot accurately.

Was he right? Kind of made sense to me. While we are at it, would a longer barrell (for the sake of argument-a 270 in 22 inch or 24 inch) produce more velocity.

Are these wive's tales or sound physics.
 
Depends, on a cartridge by cartridge basis.

Some have burned all their powder by XX inches and essentially aren't gaining any (or, at least, much) steam any further down the barrel. Oh, it'll still be gaining a bit, the explosion of powder is still expanding behind it. So, for that reason, yes, the longer the barrel the higher the velocity.

Some cartridges thrive on longer barrels, especially when shooting heavy bullets and/or slow burning powders.

I have read that 22LR gains essentially nothing ballistically beyond 16". Longer barrel can still have benefit, ie., longer sight radius for one.

I don't know enough about 22WMR, to know at what barrel length it no longer benefits from burning powder. But the gentleman did make 2 very valid points.
 
It's not about the velocity, it's the harmonics that he was talking about. Generally, shorter barrels vibrate less, so are more accurate, to the detriment of velocity though.....
 
A shorter barrel of the same diameter is stiffer therefore likely to be more accurate.

If the firearm is fitted with open sights then you may not be able to shoot it as accurately with the shorter barrel as the front and rear sights will be closer together.

Generally the longer the barrel the more velocity but as stated before depends greatly on the cartridge.
 
The rule of thumb is that the shorter a barrel of any given caliber and contour is, the stiffer hence more accurate it will be compared to a longer barrel of the same caliber and contour. But even a pencil thin barrel can produce good accuracy given good uniform ammunition. If the round to round variation in velocity was zero, then the barrel would point to the same place for each and every shot, as the time it takes from ignition to exiting the muzzle would be exactly the same each time. In the real world it is very difficult to maintain single digit variations in velocity, so the whippy barrel tends to be pointing slightly off the mark each time the bullet exits.
 
If your rifle has a good bore, a decent trigger and is bedded properly,
you won't have any problems with accuracy with the right ammo.
My Stevens 305F w/13" barrel puts 5 shots into under 1" at 75 yds.
I've yet to crony the beasty, but I doubt it's dropping much in
velocity. The grey squirrels and feral cats don't seem to notice
any difference! ;)

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Boomer said:
The rule of thumb is that the shorter a barrel of any given caliber and contour is, the stiffer hence more accurate it will be compared to a longer barrel of the same caliber and contour. But even a pencil thin barrel can produce good accuracy given good uniform ammunition. If the round to round variation in velocity was zero, then the barrel would point to the same place for each and every shot, as the time it takes from ignition to exiting the muzzle would be exactly the same each time. In the real world it is very difficult to maintain single digit variations in velocity, so the whippy barrel tends to be pointing slightly off the mark each time the bullet exits.
Click to expand...

You're forgetting the part about heat shifting the barrel's POI after multiple rounds being fired. You can have perfect ammo but the barrel can start acting up.
 
No, I covered that by saying, ". . . of any given caliber and contour . . ." If the barrel acts up due to heating, barrel length is irrelevant to the problem. For example, a 26" light contour .300 magnum barrel that shoots the first 3 rounds tight, but throws the subsequent rounds wide, isn't going to stop doing that if the barrel is cut to 20".
 
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