Barrel length

[Maqaiti]

I have a 26" barrel, I noticed most of the loads tested are on a shorter barrel such as 24". Any special consideration I should take? I'm still new to reloading. Thanks in advance.

 

[todbartell]

you'll just get 25-75 fps more velocity, depending on the cartridge


no special steps when reloading for a longer barrel, but you might want to use powders a bit on the slow burning side of the spectrum for the cartridge/bullet you'll be loading, sometimes slow burners work well in longer tubes.

 

[stubblejumper]

Actually you may get more or less velocity than listed in the manuals as even with the same barrel lengths and loads,velocities often vary by more than 100ft/second from rifle to rifle.

 

[Maqaiti]

Thanks, just thought there'd very different recipes for each barrel length.

 

[NormB]

Recipes

Thanks, just thought there'd very different recipes for each barrel length.

The recipes vary more strongly with bullet weight than barrel length.
Lighter bullets faster powder. Heavier bullets slower powder.
They vary more with barrel diameter/caliber than length as well.

That being said, there is little point in trying to use a large amount of slow burning powder in a short barrel... unless you are trying for maximum muzzle blast. Pretty at night....and don't lay it over the hood of your truck.

NormB