NRL22 barrel length?

[RandomWAguy]

Going to be getting a kidd barreled action shortly and it will be going into a titan stock. The question is, is there really an advantage to getting a 18" over a 16"?

I know the 20" is the most accurate but going in and out of barricades im thinking the 18" would be the longest I would want for maneuvering.

Currently run a rprimfire and do fine with the 18 but thinking the 16" might help a touch getting in and out of position with port holes.

The one thing keeping me from getting the 16" is the few positional stages and the 18" may balance better.

Whats everyone's take?

 

[Kadams1563]

I personally got a 18" on my Vudoo but that was only because I am running it suppressed. 16" looks too short to me lol

The length of the barrel will not determine accuracy. Its more of a velocity type thing.

From what I have read .22 reaches max velocity at 16" and then starts to slow down. The longer barrels will actually make more ammo choices subsonic over the 16".

Get what ever one you want but 18" is good middle ground.

 

[quickdraw]

Barrel length won't matter in NRL22. I shoot a Kidd 18" and it still seems tiny since I run a 24" in centerfire matches. It is more of a preference of looks. Get what you want and enjoy your rifle.

 

[Rolltide]

I asked the guys at Vudoo what differences they had seen with various barrel lengths and they told me that they didn't see any velocity loss until 22" if I remember correctly. FWIW, both my KIDD and my Vudoo wear 20" barrels.

 

[RandomWAguy]

Sorry the 20" accuracy remark is from Kidd, they say that their 20" bull is the most accurate they offer

 

[10ring1]

16" is the balancing point of velocity loss/gain in 22lr

 

[straightshooter1]

It seems to me that when it comes to the longer distance shooting the more the minute differences make in getting consistent and accurate shots. It's like when we talk about trigger lock time that's measured in milliseconds. The issue is the time it takes when one breaks the shot at their POA to when the bullet clears the muzzle. If differences in various trigger's lock time measured in milliseconds is important, then the time the bullet takes for the bullet to travel down the barrel and clear the muzzle (also measured in milliseconds) should be important??? And if one wants the fastest time possible for that one would want an optimal short barrel along with a high enough MV that stays subsonic. Given all things equal except barrel length, it seems to me a shorter barrel, like a 16 incher would be preferred over a longer one like a 24 incher.

But if one is shooting iron sites, the longer barrel (especially at the shorter distances) would provide more accuracy and consistency due to the difference in angular sight line.

Any thoughts on this?

 

[Eoddave27]

Mine is 16 1/2 and my sons has an 18” barrel on his. Personally I think 16-1/2 is the sweet spot for a 22 and have been very happy with mine. I also actually get a little more velocity out of mine vs my sons 18. Could just be that I have a faster barrel though.

 

[skinnj1]

I have found that longer barrels yield better ES. and keep rounds subsonic. As far as @straightshooter1 's hypothesis on shorter barrels being "better" from a bullet in fight point of view and Iron sights comments , you can get sight radius from either a long barrel or a "bloop tube", when anschutz came out with the "shorter" 19xx and 20xx series it became the cool thing for position shooters to get the short barrel and aluminum bloop tube until they discovered the rifle balanced better with a longer barrel/ easier to shoot, conversely a short barrel can be highly advantageous to a young/old shooter who has trouble holding a heavy rifle steady- there is more to a match rifle than looking cool or achieving optimum velocity, everything is a trade off and there are advantages to both sides of the coin but it takes experience to know what is important to you...

My position/prone match rifles are all over 26", if I rebarrel my NRL22 rifle from the factory 20" it will get a tube over 26", conversely I put a 21" tube on my son's rifle when I was spinning it up because in his case the size /weight mattered more as he is a lot smaller/ lighter and the action/chassis/scope/bipod was already adding up in weight......

 

[bmicek]

I chose an 18” because I have read where some people will occasionally have rounds go supersonic with a 16”. If that was to happen and after the round goes through the transonic phase, it could have an effect on accuracy. I chose to stay on the safe side and go with an 18” for that reason. I don’t know anything more about it than that so someone correct me if I’m wrong but an extra 2” with a carbon fiber barrel isn’t much added weight anyway.

 

[skinnj1]

@bmicek - why do you worry about added weight on your build? The trend in PRS style positional shooting is to add weight (ie over 20 lbs in a gun to spot impacts / no recoil). While a 22 doesn't have the "fierce recoil"(sarcasm alert) of a 6mm dasher, a 14-16 lbs 22 is way steadier on a barricade than a flyweight gun. My son's build on this page weighs over 11 lbs all in but he weighs less than 90, it's a little hard for him in offhand...if your an adult Male in reasonable health, you will probably shoot better with a rifle heavier than his....

 

[bmicek]

@bmicek - why do you worry about added weight on your build? The trend in PRS style positional shooting is to add weight (ie over 20 lbs in a gun to spot impacts / no recoil). While a 22 doesn't have the "fierce recoil"(sarcasm alert) of a 6mm dasher, a 14-16 lbs 22 is way steadier on a barricade than a flyweight gun. My son's build on this page weighs over 11 lbs all in but he weighs less than 90, it's a little hard for him in offhand...if your an adult Male in reasonable health, you will probably shoot better with a rifle heavier than his....

I’m not worried about added weight. I think what’s more important than overall weight, is balanced weight. A rimfire with a rimfire suppressor hanging off the end, a full size R700 clone action, 3-24 power scope, and a 4lb stock is more than sufficient weight for a rifle that will be steady on a barricade. Heck, there’s people running rifles with 16” barrels, hollow cheap factory stocks, and a small rimfire action way lighter in weight than my rig.

 

[skinnj1]

@bmicek re read my post #9 it touches on balance as being important, that being said, I have years of shooting anschutz match rifles in 3p competition and know what works for me,although I prefer that everyone I everyone else shooting the same 22 precision match shoot a lightweight gun especially a NRL22 match with sling supported positional stages