.22 long barrel experiment.

[FSJeeper]

I have read previous posts about long barreled .22 rifles being as quiet as a pellet gun with subsonic ammo so I decided to try it out for myself.

I put a 28" Green Mountain barrel on one of my Ruger 10-22's and fired them side by side an 18 1/2" barrell 10-22 with both HV .22 and subsonic .22 ammo.

No noise meter or any science involved in this, just a few opinions on the results after carefully testing them and number of times side by side.

1. There is a significant reduction in the noise made when firing HV ammo with the long barrel, may half the sound with the long barrel.
2. The subsonic ammo noise what about 1/3 the noise with the longer barrel.
3. The subsonic ammo was much louder than my Beeman R7 pellet rifle fired side by side.

Bottom-line is that you won't get silencer type reductions in noise with the longer barrel, but the reduction you get is dramatic and may be worth the effort if you are looking for a quieter pest control/plinking rifle.

It was worth it for me because I live in the country and I am certain my neighbors won't hear the long barreled rifle with subsonic ammo. I can plink to my hearts content and no one will be the wiser.

Another benefit is that the Green Mountain barrel is more accurate and will tighten your groups up well.

 

[bhk]

Your velocity will also be significantly lower with the longer barrel. Velocity peaks between 14 and 16 inches with most .22 ammo, and tends to decline from that point on. This may not be a concern to you, but it could decrease the effectiveness of your ammo on larger pests (especially if the bullets slow down to the point they don't expand reliably.

 

[firesky101]

Try a bolt action, the blowback action of a 10/22 makes some noise. I have a old Remington 41P that is darn near silent with heavy subsonics.

 

[CraigC]

I think noise should be a bigger consideration than it normally is. Folks seem to want accuracy and all the velocity they can get. Noise and balance seem to take a back seat. I like a barrel of at least 22" if not 24" on a .22 field gun. They tend to balance better, hold steadier and are significantly quieter than anything shorter. Particularly 16" barrels.

It may be slightly lower but it won't be what I'd call significant. It certainly won't be enough to prevent the bullets from expanding. That's more than a bit of a stretch.