Short barrel bench rifle

How many??

Just how many old barrels do you have? I have found the the highest velocity was not necessarily the best accuracy. Slect the barrel for it's properties and then select the ammo that shoots best. This is an old subject, that has never been answered to the point the question never gets asked again. Longer barrels have proven to be more stable for me, and that's why I use them.
 
Barrel length

Know little on the subject I ask this. Does the extra rotation achieved by the longer barrel have any effect on bullet stability?
 
Rotation

Fred: With a 1 in 16 twist the bullet would rotate once in a sixteen inch barrel. eh? In a 24 inch barrel it would rotate 1 1/2 times would it not?
 
Bill Wynne said:
Has anyone had success with a short barrel on a .22 bench rifle? I am thinking of between 19 and 22 inches. It seems like a short stiff barrel would work well but I have not seen one.

Concho Bill
Click to expand...

Bill, have a 21" BM .900 straight barrel on a Hall, that is in a Robertson stock. The last time it was taken out I shot Dan's PSL targets and some RBA targets with good solid results. There hasn't been a lot of testing with it, but what has been tested so far, surprises even myself.

Joe
 
Guy Pike said:
Fred: With a 1 in 16 twist the bullet would rotate once in a sixteen inch barrel. eh? In a 24 inch barrel it would rotate 1 1/2 times would it not?
Click to expand...

The barrel length does not affect the rate of twist, it is constant... but a velocity change will change the rpm of the bullet.
 
Joe Friedrich said:
Bill, have a 21" BM .900 straight barrel on a Hall, that is in a Robertson stock. The last time it was taken out I shot Dan's PSL targets and some RBA targets with good solid results. There hasn't been a lot of testing with it, but what has been tested so far, surprises even myself.

Joe
Click to expand...

Very interesting, Joe. That is about the length I was considering.

It would seem to me that there are some sound reasons why this type of rifle would be a real shooter.

As far as I know this is just theory and it may be a very wacky one at that.

Let us assume that a short steel rod (barrel in this case) will bend less than a long steel rod of the same diameter. I don't know these figures to be true, but a 27" barrel may flex, due to vibration upon being shot, twice as much or more than a 20" barrel and that is the basis to the short stiff theory. Another factor might be that the bore would be straighter in the shorter barrel.

All kinds of factors may also enter and become problems. There may be that a greater muzzle blast that could cause the bullet to be less stable. It may require a slower bullet or a pistol round to work best. I just don't know.

Concho Bill
 
Bill Wynne said:
Very interesting, Joe. That is about the length I was considering.

It would seem to me that there are some sound reasons why this type of rifle would be a real shooter.

As far as I know this is just theory and it may be a very wacky one at that.

Let us assume that a short steel rod (barrel in this case) will bend less than a long steel rod of the same diameter. I don't know these figures to be true, but a 27" barrel may flex, due to vibration upon being shot, twice as much or more than a 20" barrel and that is the basis to the short stiff theory. Another factor might be that the bore would be straighter in the shorter barrel.

All kinds of factors may also enter and become problems. There may be that a greater muzzle blast that could cause the bullet to be less stable. It may require a slower bullet or a pistol round to work best. I just don't know.

Concho Bill
Click to expand...
I have a 1813 model -54 action Anschutz rifle with a 21 inch bull barrel -stainless steel barrel and have done very well this year shooting at the gunclub I belong to. I have won five out of twelve matches with it and shoot inside a chicken coop. garrisone.
 
I read an article in Precision Shooting a few years back, Where they cut off 1" at a time. You should find it ,and read it, before you do it all over again.
 
Rod: I will keep the rifle as it is for where I am shooting. It has done very well for me. If you could tell me where I could find the artical you mention I would like to read it. When I bought ammo from your brother he too remarked about the artical and said that generaly these rifles would not shoot. I am shooting the rifle inside a chicken coop and it is doing very well for me. Thanks for your reply. garrisone.
 
Short barel

Bill i am going to bring hack saw over in the morning
get ammo ready$rest we will start cutting one inch at a time
off and see where it shoots best.
Jack
 
Short barel

Bill i am going to bring my hack saw over in the morning
get ammo & rest ready. We will get down to the neety-greety
and find out one way or the other.
Jack
 
While you are having fun you might as well bring a dremel along and plenty of bits to touch up that crown.

Later,
Bobby
 
Assuming a taper lapped barrel, it would be more interesting to cut the barrel off from the breach and cut a new chamber each time you bob off an inch. Yep, alot more machine work, but perhaps a more accurate assessment. And while you're at it, might as well index the barrel ;) It would be interesting to see if there were changes in the indexing as the barrel was shortened.
 
Some wind computations using AL_BAL 22EXTBAL program

Deflection @ 50yds with 10mph windis :
1047fps 1.66 moa
1072.....1.82
1022.....1.62

Above the 1072 the change is much faster.

I don't know if there is enough difference in typical barrel lengths to make 25fps change to get 0.1 +- MOA difference

Thank you,
Regis
 
concho bill

Bill I will bring my hacksaw over and we can solve the question.

BOER
 
Paul H said:
Assuming a taper lapped barrel, it would be more interesting to cut the barrel off from the breach and cut a new chamber each time you bob off an inch. Yep, alot more machine work, but perhaps a more accurate assessment. And while you're at it, might as well index the barrel ;) It would be interesting to see if there were changes in the indexing as the barrel was shortened.
Click to expand...

This test is better suited to a barrel manufacturer or a respected gun writer and experimenter than a guy like me who simply has a chronograph and a willing friend with a hack saw.

Other than getting the burrs out of the muzzle I don't see what harm would come from sawing off the end of the barrel and shooting a few rounds through it to determine velocity only. Accuracy is not a factor for this test. We will work on that latter.

I think that this post by Steve has a lot of bearing on this problem but is is done with a .17 HMR and not a .22 Long Rifle with target ammo.

steve b. said:
Ok.

I found this on .17 HMR barrels relating velocity to length. You may find this interesting.

http://www.bullberry.com/HMRdata.html
Click to expand...

Concho Bill
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top