I'm afraid I'm going to start an argument, but anyway...is there any good reason not to shorten a Savage A22 from 22 inches to 16.25 and thread it for a silencer?
My understanding is that velocity pretty much tops out at around 16", so it's not clear what the other 6 inches are for. Shortening the barrel would compensate for the added length of the can, and it would make the barrel more rigid, possibly improving the accuracy a little.
I have read that a long sight radius gives better accuracy, but it kind of sounds like a load to me. When I use a scope, the sight radius is only a few inches, and I get better accuracy than I would with iron sights. The scope can't tell a short rifle from a long one. It will work on either.
Seems to me the problem is fat sights combined with a short sight radius. Fat open sights are harder to use accurately, at least for me. Seems to me I could change the open sights to compensate for a short barrel. And I probably wouldn't use them anyway.
I am trying to be better about killing squirrels in my yard. They have cost me a fortune, and it's time to take the gloves off. I plan to kill them whenever I get the chance, and it would be nice to do it without ear muffs or a 4-foot-long rifle.
Since this is a cheap gun, I would like to do the work myself, but it looks like it's complicated. I would have to turn between centers because my lathe is so big, and I am not sure how to get the bore concentric with the spindle. I am reading up. Apparently, you can't just shove a live center into the muzzle.
I would also like to reattach the front sight, so I would have to drill and tap two holes in the finished barrel.