Gunsmithing a link to a barrel length sturdy

[cz777]

not to beat the old horse but here is another one done .......The Truth About Barrel Length, Muzzle Velocity and Accuracy | The Truth About Guns one of my beefs over short is the cry of its loader than a longer barrel -because your ear is a bit closer to the muzzle now in the fact muzzle brakes are hell on side blasts .....some people cry a lot over both ,but damn are you are shooting ? or what ?

 

[Ring]

Belief: a long barrel is required for accuracy when shooting at long distance.

the faster a bullet gets from X to Y, they less time it is in the wind, so if the longer barrel gives you fast FPS, "technically" its more accurate for long distance

but "technically" is reactive...




also, looks like 18" is the magic # for 308...

now, if they can only do this test for 260's

 

[TOP PREDATOR]

one of my beefs over short is the cry of its loader than a longer barrel -because your ear is a bit closer to the muzzle now in the fact muzzle brakes are hell on side blasts .....some people cry a lot over both ,but damn are you are shooting ? or what ?

^ yeah it's like folks wanting less recoil, putting on a brake, then whining about how loud it is or eating muff, then bitchin about the pubes between the teeth .


the loss of velocity (to a certain point) can be compensated for by switching to a faster burning powder to gain more speed in the shorter distance / barrel, which in most cases gets you closer to what the longer barrel was producing. probably not the same if going from an extreme 26" to 16", but there is gain by doing that, with less of a loss in drop and drift, and closer retaining the BC characteristics of the bullet.

starting with an accurate rifle is the key to having accurate results no matter what length you cut it to. oddly sometimes a not so accurate rifle "wakes up" when you cut it, only guessing it was taking the amount of whip / harmonics out of it that the longer barrel produced.

 

[thrusty]

Neat study with good info. Those of us who have shot long and short barreled rifles would tend to agree that accuracy is not effected by barrel length. However, accuracy at a specific distance could be - but, that's on the shooter....I think the study illustrated that as well.

 

[xs hedspace]

If you push an oiled lead slug thru a barrel, and find the last inch or so to be looser, then you will gain accuracy by trimming the end off. Cutting the barrel at the tightest spot will get you the most accuracy (most of the time, good quality bore surfaces only).

 

[Mod Adahy]

I am worried about the factual data. What concerns me is these 2 sentences. "Velocities were obtained using a chronograph and extrapolation of shooting results. Group size was measured with a micrometer." First, which chronograph? We all know that some lie and if has been verified with a load that has confirmed velocity. Second, did he mean dial caliper or is it normal to measure with a micrometer?

 

[Decoy]

A common misunderstanding with 1911's is that the officers are not as accurate as a 5" or 6" gun. It is true and not true, the accuracy is not effected by the barrel but by sight radius. Have done a lot of testing to verify this, funny to see someone's face when I pound the steel at 100 yards with my officer.

My 18" OBR pounds very nicely at 1000 yards anytime.

 

[AKONA]

Shooting is a world of trade offs of some sort always.

In the case of the 308w that I have been shooting for 35 years both for work and hobby I can stay this.

Get a 32" barrel and bring the wheel barrel and be ready to manuever around corners.
Get a 16" barrel and one might look as well into the 7.62x39 or the 6.8spc.

I think a 18" could be a good compromise for a urban type of environment but then a 20" is not much longer and still manegeable.
24" with heavy yet taper profile is adequate for open country and to cash on 99% of the potencial of conventional and service rounds.
I have shot and chopped barrels one inch at the time to observed differences of typical service and commercial rounds.
I came to the conclusion that a 20" barrel is a good length to make a compromise for those who do not want something too long or heavy.
I think one should start on the 22" that is the size that a typical M80 type is optimized for a complete burn and then make the call from there.
Want shorter then look into a 20" tactical or even a 18" if transportation is a problem but you will loose reach. not a big deal for urban snipers
and swat teams. Stay in 22" and will perform optimally with a huge range of loads.
Want to go out and reach 800-900yards with some steam left then look into the military sniper systems.

Also consider lighter bullets (palma type) and faster powders and that will allow you to maximize in 20" and 18" barrels.

All other things being equal a shorter barrel is a more accurate barrel. This doesn't mean that a longer barrel cannot be more accurate
than a shorter one but by design it might not be as forgiving as a shorter one with a wider range of selections for multiple purposes.
Think of a barrel as a very wide and heavy piano string.

There are very few things a 175gr smk or 178amax cannot do.

And everything is already well studied and invented. Just be true to your objectives and what you really expect and like from the system.

 

[damoncali]

I would suggest that to discount the advantage of velocity at distance is to miss the point, which is to hit the target. There's a reason we don't use short barrel 6mmPPC benchrest rigs at 1000 yards - you can't make an 18" barrel shoot as fast as a 32" barrel. And that's before you address the premise that longer barrels are inherently less accurate than short barrels, which I don't necessarily believe. There are a lot of factors that depend on barrel length that were not looked at, so it's hard to draw any conclusions from that article. I like that he was interested enough to dig into it, but the tone is a bit much.

 

[AKONA]

It all comes down to objectives, needs and real expectations.
All other things being equal a shorter barrel "can be" by design a more accurate one because it has more accuracy nodes and closer together.
A different story is how weight, chassis and other components impact the behaviour in the system.
So depending on what the team needs that is what drives the requirement and not one single formula that fits all type of thinking.
If a team working in a urban environment wants a 20" barrel there might be other good reasons to consider other than reducing a target very far away.
Everything has been invented and tested and well studied so there is no need for speculations.
This is an old yet nice article from some simple "chopping" tests done by some teams.
SWAT Article BARREL LENGTH