22rf velocity and barrrel length

That's what I was told on another thread that target/sub ammo loses speed after 16-18" I have a 77/22 that I had the barrel shortened to 16.5" and have a CZ 455 with a 24" barrel. I should try that out. Weather here in Kansas isn't very nice right now though.
 
This graph was found on the internet, so give it all the confidence it deserves. It seems to get pretty flat after about 10 inches though.

Really, unless you are pushing the 22lr really hard, stingers, velociter and other VERY high velocity loads, more velocity is rarely your friend.

In my 18" 10/22 green mountain barrel the best stuff is the ammo that sticks well under 1100fps. That is, barely sub sonic.
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For precision rimfire I am a fan of longer barrels like 22" up to 27", I try to stick with 22' to 24" and if I need a longer sight radius then a barrel extension is used. I have found that the longer barrels tend to slow down subsonic match ammo enough that it keeps them away from the transonic speed. In some fast short barrels some ammo in the right atmospherics can get right up to the supersonic level which IMO is a very bad thing for true precision work. The only negative with the longer barrels is shooter error is magnified b/c the bullet is in the barrel longer. I know this can be avoided by extensive lot testing when using a short barrel, but I find the longer barrel give a wider range of "accurate ammo".

**This is very hard to prove as you would need to test the same barrel in the same conditions with it being cut down as you test. That opens way too many variables to be scientific especially with rimfire and choked barrels as you would need to exactly duplicate the chamber & headspace. I understand all of that and am basing my comments only on my time shooting a lot of rimfire barrels over many years. I also understand that the added weight of the longer barrels make the rifle more stable in supported positions, so there is that too. So maybe I am completely wrong...
 
interesting that this came up. i went to the range yesterday to test this exact same thing.

gear
CZ455 20"
ruger american 16"
silencerco sparrows
cci standard velocity
magneto speed V3

i did 2 10 round strings for each rifle and recorded each shot.

CZ455 20"
max 1104, 1103
min 1065, 1077
avg 1090, 1087
SD 12.0, 9.4

RAR 16"
max 1068, 1073
min 1035, 1046
avg 1057, 1059
SD 10.5, 10.1

RAR 16" unsuppressed
max 1083, 1080
min 1049, 1028
avg 1063, 1054
SD 10.4, 15.9

i also did 2 10 round stings with remmy golden bullet, unsuppresd with the RAR 16"
max 1259, 1263
min 1196, 1122
avg 1223, 1194
SD 18.4, 48.6
with the can on you can hear the velocity difference every so often with the remmy golden bullet. it really puts it in perspective how inconsistent they are.

i know this isn't what this thread is about, but it's just an observation; the sound difference between the 20" and 16" is noticeable as well. not "OMG it can definitely hear the difference". it's just a smidge louder...if that makes sense on suppressed subsonic 22 lol. it's only 30fps difference, but it does make a difference. i am going to have my CZ cut down to 16". the local gunsmith F-ed the threading for sparrow and i have to have it recut anyway, so i might as well cut it to 16.

the RAR is also a bit more accurate. i'm not sure if it's because of the shorter barrel like jbell mentioned, or if the RAR is just more accurate.

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I have a Chrono but only use it to get an initial setting for my Strelok program. I then use real match settings to make Strelok all match up.

I shoot a lot of different rimfires at our long-range rimfire matches with a lot of different barrel lengths. Most of my longer (26" - 28") barrels shoot identical elevation settings as my 10" Anschutz Exemplar out thru 400 yards. The only one that is different is my Remington 40XB which is the fastest 22 rimfire I own.

I figure the Exemplar is still gaining velocity with the 10" barrel and the 26" - 28" barreled guns are slowing down. I've compared my Remington 40XB to a buddies and he is getting similiar settings. Not sure why it's faster but real settings show it's faster and flatter at distance.

I only shoot Wolf MT since I limit ammo costs at my matches and it's interesting to see how the different guns and barrels will have slightly different settings at the various distances. My Chronograph is a cheapie Prochrono, the tolerances are enough that I don't use it for an absolute but a number to start with.

I have a mid length barreled 10-22 but have never shot it at the farther targets for settings. Need to do that and see how it matches up to my other rimfires. I do have a couple Browning Buckmarks I have sighted in at 230 yards but shoot CCI minimags thru them and they are very accurate. I think they are matching my rifles velocities with the SV stuff.

During my matches there is a very noticeable difference in the report between the 26" - 28" barreled guns and the 24" and shorter guns. The longer barreled guns sound suppressed and the slightly shorter barrels have a sharp crack with the same ammo. Downrange on the farther targets they will have nearly identical settings which show they are running nearly identical velocities. Interesting stuff this rimfire stuff is.
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I am happy to add to the mis-information since I have been too lazy to chrono any of my 22's. I have an old Remington Mod 41 target master with a 27" bbl. When shooting tgt velocity, subsonic 22lr ammo it sounds suppressed. Very quiet. I have an Ithaca lever action with a 16" bbl. It cracks no matter what ammo I used. Most of my rifles have bbls that range from 20" to 28". It is interesting if a little off topic that when working with Tony Purdy a couple of years ago on a solution for tuning a barrel using the old bbl length method, we arrived at an "Ideal" length of 22 3/4" as a so-called ideal length for 22lr ammo of about 1065 fps for minimizing the bbl harmonic vibrations at the muzzle. Then I measure two of my best shooting repeaters the Anschutz 1451 and Winchester 52 (modified to carbine length) and the Annie is 22.5" and the Win is exactly 22.75" from bolt face to muzzle crown. Maybe those are coincidental as two others the Anschutz 54 SM and the Vostok CM-2 are each closer to 28". Annie is 27.6" and Vostok is 26.75" and those are both extremely accurate as well. Then another the Ishmash Biathlon Tgt is 19.7". If I were not so lazy, I could put this question to bed.

Test data above would suggest that a small gain of about 27 to 33 fps might be had from 16" to 20", but since those are two guns with two chambers, there are other variables which also affect velocity. Still that data shows about a 2.5% gain. Not much difference. Unless the longer bbl is helping with a longer sight radius on iron sight guns, my thoughts are that the added weight out weighs (literally) the benefits once the bbl gets much longer than 22". Just remember that if you are shortening the bbl, it will mess with the harmonics. Do not assume that it will shoot better or worse afterward. Just different. Add on the weight of a suppressor and it just might shoot better? or worse... But almost always different. I saw a huge change in one rifle just by changing from a receiver mounted modern 24x scope to a vintage bbl mounted 24x scope. Nothing else changed and yet the gun grouped much better with the same lots of ammo. How? The optics tube was bridging the bbl for much of its length making the assembly stiffer in the vertical plane and restricting the vibrations at the muzzle. Result less movement of the muzzle and less dispersion of the shot as it exits the muzzle. Leading to tighter groups. Now, if this is true all the time?, why are we not seeing Olympic tgt rifles that are equipped with a truss bridge like stiffner installed along the length of the bbl.'s?? Maybe it is true randomly in that I just hit a lucky arrangement creating a "Shooter". If I tried the same thing on another gun it might shoot worse. Not enough data to reach a conclusion. Just lots of questions.

Irish
 
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It would be interesting to see of a longer barrel reduces the variability in an ammo's FPS? Or maybe it makes it worse.

I know a guy who has a few 40x rifles with different barrel lengths, including an SBR. Maybe he has an opinion.