AR177 588 Posted November 14, 2012 Report Share Posted November 14, 2012 Hello All, Im going to buy a 17HMR and i see they come in two regular sizes, 16inch barrel and 20 inch. Aside from the obvious, one is shorter and less weildy when shooting from a vehicle - whats the benifit of having the shorter/longer barrel? The shorter barreled versions cost more, so do the benifits outweight the extra pricetag? ATB Adam Quote Link to post
paulus 26 Posted November 14, 2012 Report Share Posted November 14, 2012 Hello All, Im going to buy a 17HMR and i see they come in two regular sizes, 16inch barrel and 20 inch. Aside from the obvious, one is shorter and less weildy when shooting from a vehicle - whats the benifit of having the shorter/longer barrel? The shorter barreled versions cost more, so do the benifits outweight the extra pricetag? ATB Adam short if you shoot from a vehicle and they look better when a mods fitted more like a gun and less like a drain rod Quote Link to post
AR177 588 Posted November 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2012 Hello All, Im going to buy a 17HMR and i see they come in two regular sizes, 16inch barrel and 20 inch. Aside from the obvious, one is shorter and less weildy when shooting from a vehicle - whats the benifit of having the shorter/longer barrel? The shorter barreled versions cost more, so do the benifits outweight the extra pricetag? ATB Adam short if you shoot from a vehicle and they look better when a mods fitted more like a gun and less like a drain rod Haha apart from the asthetics, any actual performance benefits? I wont be shooting from my car it would get stuck on the garden lawn let alone trudging through the cow fields!ATBAdam Quote Link to post
paulus 26 Posted November 14, 2012 Report Share Posted November 14, 2012 Hello All, Im going to buy a 17HMR and i see they come in two regular sizes, 16inch barrel and 20 inch. Aside from the obvious, one is shorter and less weildy when shooting from a vehicle - whats the benifit of having the shorter/longer barrel? The shorter barreled versions cost more, so do the benifits outweight the extra pricetag? ATB Adam short if you shoot from a vehicle and they look better when a mods fitted more like a gun and less like a drain rod Haha apart from the asthetics, any actual performance benefits? I wont be shooting from my car it would get stuck on the garden lawn let alone trudging through the cow fields!ATBAdam ive had both 16 and 20 infact the one ive got now started as a 20 and i had it cut back to 16, to be honest its no different Quote Link to post
Deker 3,491 Posted November 14, 2012 Report Share Posted November 14, 2012 I had a link to HMR barrels being chopped down 1" at a time and the optimum for speed was about 18". Doesn't seem to work anymore! Accuracy wise 16-20" I don't see the difference as being measurable for most, so get what works best for you. 1 Quote Link to post
tegater 789 Posted November 14, 2012 Report Share Posted November 14, 2012 The shorter barrel on the 16" varmint is both thicker and heavier, which means a stiffer barrel and more consistent harmonics. I have the 16" and when I shoot against mates 20/21" it is definatly more accurate, but noticeable more at distance. The m/v of mine is 2477 as against hornady's quoted 2550. Quote Link to post
Deker 3,491 Posted November 14, 2012 Report Share Posted November 14, 2012 The shorter barrel on the 16" varmint is both thicker and heavier, which means a stiffer barrel and more consistent harmonics. I have the 16" and when I shoot against mates 20/21" it is definatly more accurate, but noticeable more at distance. The m/v of mine is 2477 as against hornady's quoted 2550. Me thinks your mate can't shoot too well! :laugh: Quote Link to post
tegater 789 Posted November 14, 2012 Report Share Posted November 14, 2012 The shorter barrel on the 16" varmint is both thicker and heavier, which means a stiffer barrel and more consistent harmonics. I have the 16" and when I shoot against mates 20/21" it is definatly more accurate, but noticeable more at distance. The m/v of mine is 2477 as against hornady's quoted 2550. Me thinks your mate can't shoot too well! :laugh: He cant, but I am talking about me shooting both rifles side by side, one after the other! Similar effect when I shoot heavy fluted 20" .308, against 24" lighter barrel. Quote Link to post
Deker 3,491 Posted November 14, 2012 Report Share Posted November 14, 2012 Me thinks your mate can't shoot too well! :laugh: He cant, but I am talking about me shooting both rifles side by side, one after the other! Similar effect when I shoot heavy fluted 20" .308, against 24" lighter barrel. :laugh: You have a strange effect on rifles, I have never seen this before on 1 for 1 shots, I can buy it if you were down a range and blasting away but I'm stumped as to how you are doing this "Field" shooting? Ammo maybe? If you are ever down my way bring some tools and I'll see how my HMR and .308 stack up against them! Quote Link to post
tegater 789 Posted November 14, 2012 Report Share Posted November 14, 2012 Me thinks your mate can't shoot too well! :laugh: He cant, but I am talking about me shooting both rifles side by side, one after the other! Similar effect when I shoot heavy fluted 20" .308, against 24" lighter barrel. :laugh: You have a strange effect on rifles, I have never seen this before on 1 for 1 shots, I can buy it if you were down a range and blasting away but I'm stumped as to how you are doing this "Field" shooting? Ammo maybe? If you are ever down my way bring some tools and I'll see how my HMR and .308 stack up against them! Many different reasons I expect, different rifling, different cleaning regimes, who knows, I can only tell you what we experience. Why do you assume I only field shoot. You write like you are the font. I prefer to learn, and put down my experiences. If you disagree, then so be it bud. Quote Link to post
Deker 3,491 Posted November 14, 2012 Report Share Posted November 14, 2012 Me thinks your mate can't shoot too well! :laugh: He cant, but I am talking about me shooting both rifles side by side, one after the other! Similar effect when I shoot heavy fluted 20" .308, against 24" lighter barrel. :laugh: You have a strange effect on rifles, I have never seen this before on 1 for 1 shots, I can buy it if you were down a range and blasting away but I'm stumped as to how you are doing this "Field" shooting? Ammo maybe? If you are ever down my way bring some tools and I'll see how my HMR and .308 stack up against them! Many different reasons I expect, different rifling, different cleaning regimes, who knows, I can only tell you what we experience. Why do you assume I only field shoot. You write like you are the font. I prefer to learn, and put down my experiences. If you disagree, then so be it bud. I wasn't assuming you only field shoot, but target shooting and barrel thickness/temperatures will potentially have an effect, but field shooting like for like should not. One shot out of a cold heavy barrel and one shot out of a cold light barrel centrefire or rimfire for normal field work should go in the same place. With regards rimfires, temperatures and harmonics hardly have a place in the field (unless something is very screwed up), you would need an awful lot of rapid shots even in a HMR to get the barrel that hot. All round some effect may be noticed in target work, this will almost always stem from rate of fire and temperature! But .17HMR are seldom bought as a primary target tool! Quote Link to post
tegater 789 Posted November 14, 2012 Report Share Posted November 14, 2012 Me thinks your mate can't shoot too well! :laugh: He cant, but I am talking about me shooting both rifles side by side, one after the other! Similar effect when I shoot heavy fluted 20" .308, against 24" lighter barrel. :laugh: You have a strange effect on rifles, I have never seen this before on 1 for 1 shots, I can buy it if you were down a range and blasting away but I'm stumped as to how you are doing this "Field" shooting? Ammo maybe? If you are ever down my way bring some tools and I'll see how my HMR and .308 stack up against them! Many different reasons I expect, different rifling, different cleaning regimes, who knows, I can only tell you what we experience. Why do you assume I only field shoot. You write like you are the font. I prefer to learn, and put down my experiences. If you disagree, then so be it bud. I wasn't assuming you only field shoot, but target shooting and barrel thickness/temperatures will potentially have an effect, but field shooting like for like should not. One shot out of a cold heavy barrel and one shot out of a cold light barrel centrefire or rimfire for normal field work should go in the same place. With regards rimfires, temperatures and harmonics hardly have a place in the field (unless something is very screwed up), you would need an awful lot of rapid shots even in a HMR to get the barrel that hot. All round some effect may be noticed in target work, this will almost always stem from rate of fire and temperature! But .17HMR are seldom bought as a primary target tool! Who said I only fired one round, what started off as a practise, ended up as a swapping of rifles and both coming up with the same results. Many things that happen, I cannot explain, but they do, and when people ask on here, I answer from experiences and not assumptions. I have always respected your views and threads on here, and like the way you put things across, but this thread you seem different. In terms of use of a rifle, as you know, the terms of your certificate allow "practice" which for me, is range work, and usually field firing, on permissions. It doesn't mean the rifle was bought for Target shooting! Quote Link to post
Deker 3,491 Posted November 14, 2012 Report Share Posted November 14, 2012 Who said I only fired one round, what started off as a practise, ended up as a swapping of rifles and both coming up with the same results. Many things that happen, I cannot explain, but they do, and when people ask on here, I answer from experiences and not assumptions. I have always respected your views and threads on here, and like the way you put things across, but this thread you seem different. In terms of use of a rifle, as you know, the terms of your certificate allow "practice" which for me, is range work, and usually field firing, on permissions. It doesn't mean the rifle was bought for Target shooting! Something seems to be getting lost in translation here! Quote Link to post
AR177 588 Posted November 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2012 From what i can tell the shortening of the barrel does effect the MV of the round and if too long you get a slowing effect from friction, too short you get a slowing effect because the pressure dosnt build up to full potential, however from what most say the difference isnt that noticable. I was under the impression that to a certain extent the longer the barrel the more accurate the rifle would be, however the 4" seems to make little difference. So from what i can conclude.... it dosnt make much of a difference and the human error factor will outweight any pro/con from the different lengths. seems like ill save my wallet and just get the cheapest version ATB Adam Quote Link to post
paulus 26 Posted November 15, 2012 Report Share Posted November 15, 2012 From what i can tell the shortening of the barrel does effect the MV of the round and if too long you get a slowing effect from friction, too short you get a slowing effect because the pressure dosnt build up to full potential, however from what most say the difference isnt that noticable. I was under the impression that to a certain extent the longer the barrel the more accurate the rifle would be, however the 4" seems to make little difference. So from what i can conclude.... it dosnt make much of a difference and the human error factor will outweight any pro/con from the different lengths. seems like ill save my wallet and just get the cheapest version ATB Adam just get the one that suits you better as buying the wrong one will cost you more in the end Quote Link to post
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