Everybody asks what length their .22LR and .17HMR barrels should be to give an optimum in performance.

Now I have to get my .22 Hornet rechambered and want to get it threaded for a silencer at the same time. I want to shorten the barrel but how long is long enough so that I don't lose to much in performance? {sorry I now you guys are not allowed silencers, so we won't discuss that}

Max load specified for the hornet with our local(South Africa) powder S265 (which is similiar in burn rate to IMR4227 and Vihtaviouri N110) is 10.5gr behind a 45gr bullet for 2516fps out of a 24" barrel using RWS cases and CCI 400 primers.

Rico

I have a CZ 527 that I am the 2nd owner of. The original owner had the barrel cut and re-crowned for use from the cab of his truck. It is now 18 1/2 inches.This rifle kills vermin real well and still has MOA accuracy at the range with the Hornady factory 35gr V-Max ammo and the Winchester 45gr soft point. Love the trigger on this rifle. My 22-250 and 223 haven't seen the gopher fields since I got this great shooting little rifle. FS

quote:

My 22-250 and 223 haven't seen the gopher fields since I got this great shooting little rifle. FS

Ha hah! Hornets are great aren't they! Only, I shoot 55gr bullets out of mine and I still get higher velocity than 2516fps! (There's a secret to that)!

Ricoffy, where I live, I can have as many silencers as I want!
The bottom rifle in the pic is my hornet. The silencer only adds 50mm to the overall length. Are you sure you want to shorten your barrel? This silencer is not even screwed on. It is secured with Loctite! The 22lr is the same - 50mm overhang. One of the quietest 22 silencers you will ever (not) hear. The top rifle has just got a muzzle shroud to cover the step where the bayonet lugs used to be and the second one is sporting a dummy. That rifle is in the second pic.


Now this rifle - a 303-25 - is fitted with a device, which as yet, does not have a definition. You can see in the pic how small it is. It too is secured with Loctite. It is a muzzle break come silencer rolled into one. Its effectiveness is almost the same as the one on my hornet! Maybe it is the same. Just remember that the hornet does not silence that well because of the speed of the bullet. It is not fast enough to be as quiet as a silenced 223. (A silenced 223 sounds like a 22lr HV unsilenced. The hornet sounds more like a 22mag unsilenced. So does the 303-25).

Thanks Guys, I am definatly going to shorten the barrel. I will keep it between 16"-18". I really like short rifles and think due to the low recoil and muzzle noise this caliber is to run in a short barrel. Also the amount of powder in the case surely does not need a 24" barrel to burn completely. I mean we are talking about roughly 10gr of a slow burning pistol powder.

Does anybody have an internal ballistic program that shows how at what barrel length how much powder has burnt?

nobody with short .22 Hornet barrels? Maybe someone shooting a TC pistol?

I had my 222rem cut back to 21" last year (from 24") to allow use with a PES moderator. There was no decernable loss of velocity.

I would have thought with powder like N110, you could go under 20" without much loss of velocity.

I am having fun loading one of my 223s down to hornet velocities.., plus cheap shooting and little wear on the barrel...

14 grains of powder, 2400 fps with a 55 grain bullet.....handloaded, cheaper than shooting a 22 Mag...or 17 HMR....