22lr barrel length vs accuracy?

[rskent]

I’m looking at getting a new 22lr. I have pretty much settled on the rifle. It is offered in 18” and 23” barrel lengths. I’m not sure which way to go.

I’m looking at a rimfire mainly for offhand or prone shooting at 100yards. I don’t see any benches or bipods in my near future, but you never know.

I’m also not much into hunting. This will be a paper puncher only.

Thanks for any input you might have.

 

[Jack B.]

I've always prefer a longer barrel unless I'm going to carry it around in the woods. For just range work I always go with longer. I don't really know if that is better but that's just my choice .

 

[troy fairweather]

i like longer barrels for 22lr 18'' is going to be optimum for fps the 23'' will be slower. no 22lr stays super sonic at 100 yards your better of with staying under the speed of sound out the muzzle. what rifle are you looking at.

 

[Varminterror]

There’s a lot of theory about barrel whip being reduced in shorter barrels, but I’m largely convinced the whip is a hugely minor influencer as long as the barrel remains free floating - if it whips the same every shot, it’ll hit the same. Naturally, a 22LR doesn’t elicit much whip in any barrel.

For the 22LR, there’s not much velocity to be gained by longer barrels, and you may even see that 18” shoot faster than the 23” - I am within about 10fps with the same load between a 10” Charger and a 21” Savage bolt gun. Sometimes a longer barrel can even help you stay under 1100fps to keep your ammo subsonic, while a shorter barrel might get the most velocity the little case has to offer. Personally, considering the transonic transition isn’t just a sharp break at 1100fps, but rather a “zone” between about 1340fps and 890fps, there’s not a whole lot of difference between an 1150fps muzzle velocity and a 1050 when you get to 400yrds.

So what we’re really talking about is balance and overall weight. If you want more muzzle weight to hang securely on a shooting sling when firing off hand, the 23” will likely offer greater stability for you. But it will also be heavier and longer for carry, and may not swing through on running bunnies as quickly and cleanly as the shorter barrel.

 

[Picher]

A longer barrel is easier on the ears if you're not wearing ear protection, like when hunting or quickly disposing varmints around the house. It also helps the balance of some rifles, especially when shooting offhand. If your rifle is scoped, barrel length has about nothing to do with accuracy, but if using irons, it helps a lot.

Old .22LRs used primarily for plinking often had tubular magazines, so longer barrels meant that they held more rounds.

 

[chicharrones]

I've gone down to 16.25" barreled rimfire rifles with irons and optics and up to 24" barreled rimfire rifles with irons and optics.

Clearly, the long barreled guns give the iron sights a better chance of giving better accuracy. However, it didn't necessarily make the guns more accurate than the shorter barrels when using optics on either.

My vote goes to long barrels when staying with iron sights, or for balance, or you just like the look of a certain rifle with a longer barrel. My vote goes to shorter barrels mostly for compactness and also aesthetics for a particular gun.

What I don't have is a 20" barreled rimfire rifle. It could be the perfect length for an all around rimfire rifle.

 

[rskent]

what rifle are you looking at.

I’m looking at an Anschutz 1416 heavy barrel with a two-stage trigger. I have a scope for it already. I would expect to use standard velocity ammunition with this rifle.
I was thinking the 18” would be more accurate at 100, but I’m just not sure. This forum has a lot of people with more experience than me, and I’m just asking for your opinions.

 

[troy fairweather]

I’m looking at an Anschutz 1416 heavy barrel with a two-stage trigger. I have a scope for it already. I would expect to use standard velocity ammunition with this rifle.
I was thinking the 18” would be more accurate at 100, but I’m just not sure. This forum has a lot of people with more experience than me, and I’m just asking for your opinions.

nice rifle.

 

[Art Eatman]

Longer barrel = longer sight radius with irons. Makes it easier to shoot accurately. I have found that a rifle which is slightly muzzle-heavy is more easily shot accurately when shooting offhand--which is probably more important for a hunter.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

In a scoped sporter, I don't think there is an accuracy advantage over either a long or a short barrel. Since, you are shooting offhand and prone go with the one that feels the best shouldered.

 

[CraigC]

Barrel length has no effect on raw accuracy potential. It only affects shooter related factors such as balance and sight radius. In the .22LR, you get all the velocity you will from high velocity loads in 12-14" of barrel. Only the hyper loads like the Stinger will benefit from up to 18" of barrel but no longer.

That said, I did the short barrel thing and for most purposes prefer longer barrels. I prefer them for sight radius with irons, aesthetics, reduced noise and balance.

 

[Garandimal]

I’m looking at getting a new 22lr. I have pretty much settled on the rifle. It is offered in 18” and 23” barrel lengths. I’m not sure which way to go.

I’m looking at a rimfire mainly for offhand or prone shooting at 100yards. I don’t see any benches or bipods in my near future, but you never know.

I’m also not much into hunting. This will be a paper puncher only.

Thanks for any input you might have.

Well...

As long as you aren't lookin' to compete w/ it?

This:

​

...is a pretty sweet rifle for field shooting.

18.5" Bbl., Tech-Sights aperture sights, 1-1/4" web sling.




GR

 

[Jim Watson]

As said barrel length is more about balance than accuracy.
Since .22 match ammo is subsonic with a relatively long barrel time, some shooters in search of every advantage would use a short barrel with a rail or "bloop tube" to stretch sight radius. Not a factor with a scope.

My casual .22 is a 10/22 Sporter with about 3/4 of a pound of lead in the foreend.

I note that the 18" Anschutz is threaded for a silencer if you thought you might want to swing that way.

 

[jmr40]

Others have covered the technical details. I like 18-20" on my 22's. But that is preference.

 

[Picher]

I thank my former job with MDOT that caused me to use high-powered survey transits to find either plumb bob strings or leveling rods in the woods. It's a trick to point a powerful scope in the right direction and adjust focus to spot things in the woods all day, especially when leveling and the scope with minimal width of field is locked horizontally. Using a wide-field hunting scope in the woods is a snap after that.

 

[MachIVshooter]

12" is the perfect barrel length for .22 rifles, puts them right about 18" with a suppressor installed!

 

[HB]

Get the longer barrel. Espcially for position shooting

 

[Riomouse911]

My .22s run from 16.25” (Henry) to 18.5” (Henry, 10-22) to 24” (Rem 581).

I’ll agree with the others that the legal minimum of 16” is about max for velocity, and if it’s going to be scoped anything longer won’t do anything more than change the balance.

Find what feels best and run with it .

Stay safe!

 

[doubleh]

When using a scope or red dot sight I believe you will see no difference in accuracy between short and long barrels of equal quality. Changing to iron sights I believe you will see a difference because of sight radius with the longer barrel having the advantage.

 

[boom boom]

I thank my former job with MDOT that caused me to use high-powered survey transits to find either plumb bob strings or leveling rods in the woods. It's a trick to point a powerful scope in the right direction and adjust focus to spot things in the woods all day, especially when leveling and the scope with minimal width of field is locked horizontally. Using a wide-field hunting scope in the woods is a snap after that.

That is one of the reasons that I prefer iron sights over a scope and low powered scopes over high powered ones--often I get "lost" in the scope especially high powered ones.

 

[PO2Hammer]

Accuracy is a crap shoot from one barrel to another, but if I was betting on two unknown barrels I would put my money on the shorter barrel.

My most accurate rimfire is a 16" CZ 452 Scout. A tiny little gun with a 4X Leupold RF Special. Shoots under 1-1/2" at 100 yards with CCI SV or SK standard plus.
Out shoots other CZ's, a Kimber and every variation of the 10/22 that I could come up with.