Handloading for barrel length or suppressors

[Euro-Guns]

Those who often reload probably know there are around 5 to 8 different manufacturers of smokeless gun powders, who all together produce nearly a hundred different types of smokeless powders, if not more than that. The powders they produce range from very slow burning (magnum) to very fast burning, and its not too difficult to find out where each powder ranks in terms of their burning rate. So taking all that into account, I would assume it must not be too difficult to use handloading in order to tweak a certain load for a specific barrel length, or for the use of a suppressor.

Lets say for example you have an AR-15 in .223 Remington with a 10" barrel. With most factory loaded ammo you would lose a lot of velocity and energy if you would fire it from such a short barreled AR-15, making it pretty ineffective. But if you have a reloading handbook, and you would compare the reloading data mentioned for the .223 Remington with the chart listing the different smokeless powders and their burning rates, it wouldn't be too hard to find out which uses the fastest burning powder, and thus would be likely be the most efficient out of such a short barrel.

The same thing goes for using a suppressor. The less gas volume coming out of the muzzle end of the suppressor, the lower the temperature of those gasses, and the longer it takes for those gasses to exit the suppressor, the less sound it would produce. So again I would assume that by customizing your loads to a specific barrel length you plan to fire that load out of, the more efficiently you would be able to suppress it, right? I know that the most important contributor to the sound of a gun shot is the sonic boom, and that's something you won't be able to do much if anything about, shy of loading it subsonically. But the other factors you can control, by using a powder which is most suited for the intended barrel length. If you have a suppressed AR-15 in .223 Remington with a 16" barrel, you would probably want to use a moderate to fast powder, correct? And if you would use the same setup but with a 20" barrel, you would want to use a slower burning powder with a more moderate burning rate?

So my question is, does anyone here have any experience with putting this to the test, and did you notice much if any difference? Were you able to really optimize your handloads by loading for a specific barrel length, or some other variable?

 

[25-20 WCF]

Maximizing both velocity and suppressor effectiveness are at cross purposes. It was widely proven by handgun silhouette shooters in the 1980s that the powder which produces the highest velocity in long barrels almost always gives the highest velocity in short barrels. This means that if you want maximum velocity then you will have high muzzle pressures and large gas volumes for the suppressor to deal with. Use a faster powder to reduce the muzzle pressure and gas volume - and you have suboptimal velocity.


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[243winxb]

https://www.hodgdonreloading.com/re...-barreled-rifle-require-different-reload-data

the quick answer to the question is that the different barrel length will not change the reload data but it will impact the velocity you get.

Back pressure from suppressors.
https://www.hornady.com/support/superformance-in-gas-operated-firearms

The use of suppressors on rifles creates yet another dynamic in firearms design that is not commonly understood or communicated. Consider the suppressor on a firearm the same as a muffler on a car. The suppressor works as a filter for the gas (noise) that is escaping the barrel during firing. As a “filter”, it takes longer for the gas to leave the confines of the firearm, and thus, it creates back pressure. This back pressure, ESPECIALLY in a gas operated firearm forces an extensive amount of gas back through the firearm’s operating system that may create too much thrust too early during the firearm’s cycle of operation.

To counteract this back pressure, the use of an adjustable gas system is advised. By metering the gas system to ensure that it will cycle the firearm correctly and not flood the system with gas/pressure, the gun will work properly and will still benefit dramatically from the increased velocity potential of Superformance ammunition.

An adjustable gas block is the answer.

 

[Varminterror]

You’ve fallen into a common trap of inexperienced reloader’s - “efficiency” is relatively meaningless. Most of us don’t shoot in an effort to efficiently burn powder, but rather to do SOMETHING downrange. It’s a common misinterpretation that short barrels need fast powders, especially to claim the ballistic performance would be better.

What proves out in the field: the powder which gives the best ballistic performance (simplified: highest velocity with a given bullet weight) in a long barrel also gives the best performance in a short barrel - which is typically a “slower powder” for the cartridge. “Fast” only describes how quickly the pressure spike develops, in the spectrum of 1.5-2” of bullet travel. Slower burning powders develop pressure slightly more slowly, such they retain greater pressure in the tail after the spike, and a greater overall force integral.

It’s possible to load for burn efficiency, and to reduce flash, but most often, you’re doing so at the cost of performance.

 

[AJC1]

You missed two major factors in your equation. 1. Bullet weight. 2. Having enough gas to cycle the action. There are a range of powders the will work in most situations but in a sbr (with which gas system) and a suppressor makes the window of powders much smaller. Testing is always required, and accuracy has not yet been taken into consideration.