minimum 22lr bbl thickness

Big JD-From the hills

Big JD-From the hills

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Just wondering what would be the smallest diameter one could have a 22lr in, lets stick with standard, not hyper velocity bullets. If a .45acp can handle being so thin, yet such great diameter would a diameter of .400 be unreasonable for a .22lr?
 
Depends largely on the material,
the type of barrel,
type of rifling, etc.


As an example, Walther P22 has a barrel about .318" (8.13 mm) or so.
That is not ordinary material, but PRX alloy (fine dispersion steel).
It is also a tensioned barrel.
I don't know much about the rifling used in P22's.

And there are some out there that are even thinner.
 
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There are a couple barrels out there that are not much bigger than a soda straw.

Most of the guns that use the very light barrels use a breech block around the chamber area.

I'm thinking of guns like the Bronco 22, and similar.

I suspect that much of the material is used to provide the paying customer with the feeling that they are getting something for their money. Some also to make the rifle feel like it should, balance-wise.

Some is just to keep the barrel from being bent from being wedged in behind the truck seat with all the other junk.

Take a look at the old Stevens tip-up pistols. The barrels on a lot of those would be about the size you speak of, and they had cutouts and grooves, for the extractor and latch, right through the same area as the chamber. Not modern, and few lawyers were on the list of folk that had to sign off on the design...but it shows what was done.

Cheers
Trev
 
I turned a barrel down to a wall thickness of .038" with about 1/2 the chamber unsupported and fired 2 long rifle shells out of it. I lost my nerve going any thinner. Bottom line is that you could probably get away with a 3/8" diameter barrel in terms of resisting pressure but it would also be fairly fragile in terms of being easily damaged or bent.

cheers mooncoon
 
I wouldn't go less than .120 at the chamber,and .050 for the rest of the barrel
(40MT taper from the chamber down to the barrel at the most,don't leave a 90 deg)
 
Some barrel liners for the .22 are probably alot thinner then that, and they survive the pressure as some are used in alum. barrels, etc.
 
I was thinking the same thing, then again some aluminum has prity good tensile strength. I know that some places sell aluminum 12gage adapters in 44mag(rifled and everything)! That just seems plain crazy... but what do I know?
 
By all accounts, zip-guns made with hollow automotive antennas had no issues containing the pressures from .22 rimfire.
Pressure is one thing; accuracy is something else.
 
The Germans made an insert for a K98 during the War. The barrel would fit inside a K98 barrel.. so you can imagine how thin the walls would be.
 
Keep in mind the presures in a .22 rimfire are contained by an unsuported brass rim. That means the pressure has to be held to a fairly low level.
Steel has more tensil strength than brass and a steel barrel that is as thick as the rim on a .22 rimfire should theoretically hold the pressue
 
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