Several weeks ago someone posted a question asking what the optimum barrel length would be for the .22 Long Rifle cartridge. I believe he wondered if some .22 rifles might have barrels so long that the bullets actually started to slow down after reaching peak velocity at some shorter length.
I thought this was a good question so I went out to the range today with 5 different .22 caliber firearms, 4 different brands of ammo and the old chronograph.
The guns were a Ruger 10/22 with an 18” barrel, a Taurus Model 62 clone with a 20” barrel, a Marlin Model 39 with a 24” barrel, a Martini target rifle with a 29” barrel, and just for fun I dragged along a Ruger MK II (I think that’s the model) with a 7” barrel. OK, it’s really a 6.875” barrel but 7” is easier to type.
Ammo included some Remington bulk pack copper plated 40 grain HPs, Peters 40 grain lead, Aguila Hyper-Velocity 30 grain solids, and CCI Mini-Mag 40 grain solids.
I realize the best test would be from the same gun and same barrel, but that would require starting with a long barrel and chopping it off bit by bit and I really wasn’t prepared to do that. We’ll just have to make do with using the different guns.
All listed velocities are an average for 3 rounds.
......................7”............18”..........20”..........24”...........29”
Remington:.....1082..........1181.......1189.........1206........1162
Peters:...........1092..........1181.......1219.........1216........1189
Aguila: ...........1547..........1657.......1771.........1731........1734
CCI:...............1082..........1139........1171.........1193........1128
All four brands of ammo peaked in either the 20 or 24” barrel and velocities had fallen off when clocked from the Martini’s 29” tube indicating that the bullets were indeed slowing down. However, it’s interesting that with all but one brand of ammo (the Aguila being the odd one showing over 100 FPS increase when going from the 18 to the 20) the velocities were amazingly similar from all of the rifles and the variations would be insignificant in terms of real-world performance.
Apparently, a rifle’s barrel length is nearly meaningless in terms of velocity for the .22 Long Rifle cartridge. So, pick the barrel length that suits your taste because the ammo won’t care much.
See, nothing in the least bit political.
I thought this was a good question so I went out to the range today with 5 different .22 caliber firearms, 4 different brands of ammo and the old chronograph.
The guns were a Ruger 10/22 with an 18” barrel, a Taurus Model 62 clone with a 20” barrel, a Marlin Model 39 with a 24” barrel, a Martini target rifle with a 29” barrel, and just for fun I dragged along a Ruger MK II (I think that’s the model) with a 7” barrel. OK, it’s really a 6.875” barrel but 7” is easier to type.
Ammo included some Remington bulk pack copper plated 40 grain HPs, Peters 40 grain lead, Aguila Hyper-Velocity 30 grain solids, and CCI Mini-Mag 40 grain solids.
I realize the best test would be from the same gun and same barrel, but that would require starting with a long barrel and chopping it off bit by bit and I really wasn’t prepared to do that. We’ll just have to make do with using the different guns.
All listed velocities are an average for 3 rounds.
......................7”............18”..........20”..........24”...........29”
Remington:.....1082..........1181.......1189.........1206........1162
Peters:...........1092..........1181.......1219.........1216........1189
Aguila: ...........1547..........1657.......1771.........1731........1734
CCI:...............1082..........1139........1171.........1193........1128
All four brands of ammo peaked in either the 20 or 24” barrel and velocities had fallen off when clocked from the Martini’s 29” tube indicating that the bullets were indeed slowing down. However, it’s interesting that with all but one brand of ammo (the Aguila being the odd one showing over 100 FPS increase when going from the 18 to the 20) the velocities were amazingly similar from all of the rifles and the variations would be insignificant in terms of real-world performance.
Apparently, a rifle’s barrel length is nearly meaningless in terms of velocity for the .22 Long Rifle cartridge. So, pick the barrel length that suits your taste because the ammo won’t care much.
See, nothing in the least bit political.
There are significant differences in velocities from one gun to the next off of the same production line. This does not even consider the variations induced by different designs different rifling styles, minor differences in acceptable bore diameter locked breach or auto loader. The best way to prove the optimal barrel length for velocity, for a particular barrel design, would be to take a long blank and gradually cut and recrown every inch or so from long to as short as Uncle will let you go and not maufacture a SBR. I recall reading about this experiment in one of the gun rags some years ago and as I recall the optimal barrel length was in the 18" to 20 " range depending on the specific ammunition.
