Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Barrel length effect on a 22 lr???

Considering another 22 lr for squirrel, general plinking, target and just a general all around farm rifle. Looking at cz rifles. One has a 20.5" and the other a 24.5" barrel. I really like the second one better, ...but.... I can't
help but feel that a 24.5" barrel is a bit much for a 22. Anyone with experience or data on long vs short barrels on 22s??? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

My experience is 16 to 18" is more than enough....

I believe 16 to 18 inches is the point of diminishing return for 22 LR. Also, the longer the barrel, the less "stiff" it will be and not as accurate as a shorter barrel. Assuming of course that all the other variables are the same. The longer barrel is also more wieldy to me. I would pick the 20.5 inch barrel one and I am assuming that you're going to scope it.

Have RF barrels ranging from 18”-26”, and see little difference in velocity. They are all quite accurate.

The longer barrels will "probably" be a bit less noisy. .22LR is pretty much a 16-18" load, after that, friction is said to slow the bullets down. I have five CZs with the 16.25" barrels, and they are quite accurate, but noisier than some other rifles I have with longer barrels. The longer sight radius with longer barrels might be beneficial if you plan to use iron sights, but if you're scoping them, might as well get the benefits of the shorter barrels, lighter, handier, easier to carry. I've got an old Stevens bolt-action that sounds almost like it's suppressed, compared to the snubbies with their short pipes. It's a 24" barrel.
Of course, depending on the rifle, it might balance better with the longer tube, my old Marlin 60 balances better than any stock 10/22 I've ever fooled with

Get the one you like, the squirrels won't know the difference.

http://ballisticsbytheinch.com/22.html

I have a CZ 452 Ultra Lux with a 28" barrel. Have shot some sub-sonic's out of it and almost all you hear is the "click" of the firing pin.

Have to shoot slightly faster grades of sub-sonic though, reports of bullets getting stuck in that long of a barrel.

Like others have posted - no real difference in ballistics or accuracy. More of a preference thing.

If we are just talking accuracy and not velocity, the answer is the quality of the barrel is more important than the length. I have a Ruger 10/22 with an 18" Feddersen .920' barrel and a Cooper 57M with a 24" tapered barrel that is .688" at the muzzle and a '66 Browning T-Bolt with a pencil thin 24" barrel. All shoot very well. The 18.5" factory barrel that was on my 10/22 was not very accurate and I have an old Springfield 87A with a 24" barrel that's not a great shooter either. Short heavy barrels do tend to be stiffer but they still are affected by barrel harmonics. Custom benchrest barrels are cut and crowned at the tightest spot in the bore and tend to vary in length but the longer barrels are generally more receptive to harmonic improvement by the addition of a barrel tuner.

If just considering velocity, 16"-18" will yield the higher velocities.

Haven't seen much if any difference from 16" to 29" Heavy Barrel velocity wise. Accuracy is up to the barrel and the shooter. 22's are finicky, one never knows what ammo one may like. The BSA MKIII with standard velocity rounds is indeed very quiet.

Walther pre-war Sportmodell Meisterbüchse made in Thuringia in the 1930's and Anschütz Match Rifle Mod. 54 both with 25.5" barrel produce less noise than the shorter barreled rifle I once had. And of course are more accurate because they were made for target shooting. The lockwork is much faster.

No chronograph here, but what I’ve seen is exactly what GSSP’s link said. Using the same 36 grain hollow points sighted in for the exact same ten yard red squirrel range, my 18” RSI 77/22 shoots flatter out to 50 yards than my m61 with it’s 24” barrel. The 18” is louder as others have written.

I can't quote numbers off the top of my head, but my chrono has shown most short barrel 22LR's get more velocity than the longer tubes.

On their Quiet-22 .22LR boxes, CCI warns:

DO NOT USE IN BARRELS OVER 24” IN LENGTH

That says a little something about what to expect from the .22LR in barrels longer than 18 inches.

But, here’s my Favorite shooter, with its Green Mountain 24.75” barrel:



With CCI Standard Velocity RNs, the low noise level from the Favorite makes for some very pleasant shooting. Haven’t been sufficiently motivated to break out the chronograph for that combination, yet.

REALLY appreciate all the post. Good food for thought. Good video GSSP. THANKS.

Recently shot a CZ 452 Ultra Lux with 28+" barrel and CCI SV at 100 yards and was doing surprisingly well. No ear pro needed. Sounded like a quiet air rifle "pfffft"

Buy what looks and feels good. The real long ones like some of the CZ Euro-look models are supposed to be very quiet with SS ammo, if that’s of interest.

The longer sight radius works better with iron sights, as well.