Barrel length (rifle)

[BenBhoy 4,706]

Now then,

As I'm waiting for mr postie to bring my section1 I've been visiting gun shops (naturally!) and have decided on a t-bolt. My question is that effects barrels length has on the gun? I'm accustomed to how length effects shotgun but obviously won't be swinging rifle. Is it purely shorter are easier logistically in vehicles etc? Does short barrel flip more? 

Question 2 rather t bolt specific; do they just come in 16.5" & 22" barrel? I ask as local shop reckons there tbolt is 19" barrel....

Cheers 

[Rimfireboy! 1,463]

If you want to shoot from a vehicle go for the 16.5 without a doubt. Two of my friends have 16.5 t bolts and both are deadly accurate. I had my hmr cut down from 22.5 inch to 15 inch, best thing I did with it. Lost 70 FPS at the muzzle, that’s not hardly worth a mention, as it handles so much better now. Just as accurate as before but much nicer to handle. No noticeable loss in performance at all.

[Sausagedog 7,381]

I like a longer tube, they tend to aim off hand better for me.

[FLATTOP 3,683]

On my CZ I’ve got the 16” Varmint Barrel which is a bit more heavy duty I prefer the shorter barrel it’s easier to handle as you need to take a mod into consideration if your going to fit one as that will make it longer.

Enjoy whatever your decision. 

[Stavross 13,795]

Good choice, I love my little T bolt mouse gun although it is no better than the cz .17 I’ve also got it is a bit posher, go for the 16” and put a slightly longer sound mod on it ( just to make it look better, dpt do a nice one for about £90 ) you won’t really notice the barrel flip on a .17hmr no matter the length, so you can’t blame that for any misses, also go for synthetic stock because they have a lovely little touch where another mag fits in the stock, as far as I know they do them in 16” and 22” I’ve never seen a 19”, when I got mine they only did it in 22” left handed so I had it cut down to 16” costing me a few more quid, this is an outrage as we all know the best lads do it lefty

[BenBhoy 4,706]

Cheers fellas. The shop called me back saying it is a 22". I'd rather the short barrel, mainly like stav & flattop says with sound mod in mind. 

Definitely getting synthetic though I do really like laminate but £££. Wait for my CF! 

3 hours ago, Sausagedog said:

I like a longer tube, they tend to aim off hand better for me.

 

Mr Sausage, I'm not falling into that pun riddled, double enténdre trap!! 

[Alsone 789]

4 hours ago, BenBhoy said:

Cheers fellas. The shop called me back saying it is a 22". I'd rather the short barrel, mainly like stav & flattop says with sound mod in mind. 

Definitely getting synthetic though I do really like laminate but £££. Wait for my CF! 

 

Mr Sausage, I'm not falling into that pun riddled, double enténdre trap!! 

Think you already did. A double entry trap sounds pretty pun riddled to me, especially in the Countryside, and even more so if you're out with a canine friend....

[walshie 2,804]

Being a leftie, I could only get my CZ in 22" rather than the 16.5" I wanted, so I had it cut down to 15" and there is no noticeable difference. There might be on the chrono, but not in real world use.

[Gav 1,708]

Both my t-bolts are 16.5" threaded and with an a-tec wave on them balance out very well and super accurate both .22lr and .17hmr.

[Deker 3,453]

Bullberry Barrel Length vs. Velocity DATA 17HMR
22 inch = 2517 fps, 103  fps spread
21 inch = 2523 fps,  66  fps spread
20 inch = 2515 fps,  86  fps spread
19 inch = 2538 fps,  83  fps spread
18 inch = 2522 fps,  41  fps spread
17 inch = 2505 fps,  43  fps spread
16 inch = 2492 fps,  53  fps spread
15 inch = 2477 fps,  27  fps spread
14 inch = 2432 fps,  70  fps spread
13 inch = 2419 fps,  32  fps spread
12 inch = 2387 fps,  57  fps spread
11 inch = 2338 fps,  45  fps spread
10 inch = 2276 fps,  45  fps spread

Stolen from Varmint Al's, may help!

[BenBhoy 4,706]

2 hours ago, Deker said:

Bullberry Barrel Length vs. Velocity DATA 17HMR
22 inch = 2517 fps, 103  fps spread
21 inch = 2523 fps,  66  fps spread
20 inch = 2515 fps,  86  fps spread
19 inch = 2538 fps,  83  fps spread
18 inch = 2522 fps,  41  fps spread
17 inch = 2505 fps,  43  fps spread
16 inch = 2492 fps,  53  fps spread
15 inch = 2477 fps,  27  fps spread
14 inch = 2432 fps,  70  fps spread
13 inch = 2419 fps,  32  fps spread
12 inch = 2387 fps,  57  fps spread
11 inch = 2338 fps,  45  fps spread
10 inch = 2276 fps,  45  fps spread

Stolen from Varmint Al's, may help!

So as a newby, in real life terms what do they actually mean?

[Rimfireboy! 1,463]

29 minutes ago, BenBhoy said:

So as a newby, in real life terms what do they actually mean?

It means that any loss in velocity from a shorter barrel won’t be noticeable. Get whatever length barrel suits your needs best. Handle a few and see what you feel most comfortable with. Remember that a moderator will add more length though.

[Sausagedog 7,381]

Inherent with barrel length loss is velocity loss. Some calibres are worse than others. 

Deker has kindly shown that in the barrel length you want the loss is minimal and won't really make a jot of difference in the field.

[Sausagedog 7,381]

The spread is the variation between the highest and lowest velocity in a string of shots. So the velocity figure is an average from that barrel and of an unknown number of shots.

As the barrel shortens the variation gets less in this example (not a rule, it can go the other way).

If that is a common trend for the Hornady mouse rimfire it could be argued the shorter barrels are more efficient. It would need more data to confirm that assumption.

[Rimfireboy! 1,463]

1 hour ago, Sausagedog said:

The spread is the variation between the highest and lowest velocity in a string of shots. So the velocity figure is an average from that barrel and of an unknown number of shots.

As the barrel shortens the variation gets less in this example (not a rule, it can go the other way).

If that is a common trend for the Hornady mouse rimfire it could be argued the shorter barrels are more efficient. It would need more data to confirm that assumption.

Could be win win on that then SD, confined spaces and mouse shooting generally go hand in hand