"I shoot a lot of 22s and the longer the barrels, the more accurate they are. Also, when you have a longer barrel,
your shot will spend a fraction more time in the barrel. What this does, in my opinion is give the powder more burn
time increasing energy in FPS, I believe the stats that Wildcatter gave out says around 128 FPS faster. Also, with
the longer time in the barrel, this gives the bullet more time on the lands therefore better accuracy."
I'm curious about the derivation of this "accuracy" info as it runs contrary to everything my experience has taught me. IMHO less barrel time= more accuracy, and the relationship between barrel length and optimum velocity depends on bore ratio. Barrel stiffness plays a much larger role than barrel length. Straight wall cartridges like the .22 rf and .450 B tending towards shorter, rather than longer, barrels for accuracy. Granted, there is point where velocity enters into the accuracy equation, somewhere out past 300 yards or so. Bottle neck cartridges rule that roost. Neither the .22 lr or the .450 B is playing in that game. I do own a very accurate M67 single shot 22 rf with a 24 inch barrel, which I have been shooting for about 45 years
, but IMHO it's accuracy is due to the action and barrel being milled from a single piece of bar stock, with the bolt way machined in, not because of the barrel length. Most of the "accurate" .22 rf builds I've seen use 18" barrels. Most AR platform 5.56 high power builds are using 20" heavy barrels, rather than the 24" barrels used by varmint builders, as stiffness still trumps velocity in that game.
I'm still learning how to shoot and if you're on to something I can learn from in this game, I'm all ears.
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