22 barrel length

[Chomper]

Is there an average of 16 inch over a 20 inch? Do you lose velocity in one over the other?

[GunnyGene]

Is there an average of 16 inch over a 20 inch? Do you lose velocity in one over the other?

Depends on the ammo. Some ammo is designed to optimize at 3", 6", 16", 20", and so on. My old 1939 Savage 6A is 24" and works best with Std vel. 40grn ammo. You really can't generalize across barrel lengths/twist/bullet weight, etc; although many people do and then complain about poor accuracy/precision and so on, because they expect one size fits all - like socks. It just ain't that way. Internal ballistics are complex and don't lend themselves to easy answers.

[North Country Gal]

The 22 LR is no high pressure centerfire round, so, in general, you'll burn all the powder in a 22 LR round in roughly 16" to 18" of barrel, depending on chamber and bore tightness, action type and individual guns. I've seen test reports on individual guns for max velocity as short as 16" to as high as 19". In other words, there won't be a significant difference in velocity in a 22 LR between a 16" and 20" barrel, generally less than 50 fps. Once you get past 20", you may actually begin to see a decrease in velocity. Choose your barrel length in a 22 rifle, then, on features other than velocity, such as balance, sighting radius and so on.

[leverjc]

NC Gal has it right, pick the barrel length you like then find the ammo it likes and sight it in for that ammo. I was surprised at the range today on my first real attempt to find what my Frontier likes. I had five different types of ammo and at the end I had a group about 1.5" wide and 6" tall. None of the types printed in the same place.

[Chomper]

Thanks all. Once can save the pennies I will be going for a h001. Probably the rifle configuration.