With regards to building a bolt action .223 Rem. LTR, using factory match (63-69gr)ammo, what is the shortest barrel length you can use before seeing a drop in velocity?

I see alot of target type rifles with 20" barrels but I wanted to know from your proven results.

Many thanks,

Sam

I would also like to get opinions on what the optimal barrel length for a .223 Rem. is. My new SPS Varmint has a 26" barrel, so I thought I would pick up an extra 50 fps or so over the old Savage 24" barrel I used to own. But when I shot some of my old handloads, the velocity gain was marginal, at best. So is it 24", 23", 22" or what? I was shooting Federal American Eagle factory 50 gr HP ammo, too, which chronoed at about 3265, well shy of their advertised 3400. And my old Accurate 2460 handloads with 55 gr Ballistic Tip were clocked at similar velocity.

I'll also be interested to hear the results by someone who has taken the time to make the comparison over their cronagraph. I should have the answer to this because I have five .223's in four barrel lingths from a 10" contender up to a 24" Heavy barrel AR>
I have always intended on loading all of them up and clocking the velocity's with the same load but have not yet gotten around to it.

Check the reloading pages listed on the homepage.

I have chronographed the same load in two different 22-250's one with a 22" barrel and the other with a 26" barrel and the 22" was a whisper faster! My assumption was that the chamber in the 22" was cut a little smaller and resulted in a higher pressure curve. That being said I noticed that Remington offered their 40X rigs normally available in a 27" barrel; I would think that they had their reasons for doing such. Normally I would think that 26-27" would be in the ball park but other factors would need to be considered such as portablility and manuevering the rifle in it's application. Summary: Usually a longer barrel will add some FPS but chamber tightness and other factors would also come into play. I personally like a minimum of 24" but prefer 26".

One of the simply fabulous resources of this site is their reloading section which contains the following thread.

.223 velocities in progressively shorter barrels.

May that answer your question as it removes the variable of different barrels having different internal dimensions etc.

Food for thought.

Sako,

thanks for the link. I have often wondered myself what the difference would be. I have been told by numerous sources that the 223 was developed, powder and bullet weight around a 20" barrel; for the AR-15 program. This would seem to confirm that information. Personally, I would prefer a 24-26" length for a heavy barrel varmint rifle, but then in Idaho we run the high country Rockchuck and Ground Squirrel shooting on government land in 4WD pickups and shoot from truck-mounted benches most of the time. I've got a couple of varmint rifles that weigh over 15 pounds.

Rich
DRSS

Rich,

A pleasure to be of service.

I agree that the longer barrels make for the better varmint rifle.

Particularly I notice the effect of muzzle blast by the end of a long day. The inches help.

Thanks to evryone especially 308SAKO for the link.

Sam

Thanks for the link, I just wish they had started with a 26" barrel. I will have to do some experiments of my own, I guess. I still have my records from my 24" Savage 110GV. Of course, I don't have the same lot of powder or primers, but it still should prove interesting to see how the 26" Remington barrel compares to the old 24" Savage. Time will tell.

Yes, thank you Sako! I did not run all the numbers, but for the most part, between 22 and 18", the loss is about 30fps per inch. If one goes from 22 to 10, the total loss is about 45fps per inch. The loss is much greater per inch below 18". But that was just a quick observation. My DPMS varmint upper is 20", so it should do nicely, if I ever get range time.

Hi Sam,

I had a 26" VLS I cut to 22.5" and put an ADL stock on it, which I floated, did not lose accuracy, handling improved dramatically using on farm out of a truck window at the time....never missed those 3.5".

Also owned a 21" TC contender, shot great, I think a 22-23 is ideal but down to 20-21 is fine for most shooting. A longer bbl will get most speed and least blast, but handling issues are important in a field gun, something to consider. If you sit on a prairie dog town, or at a bench, a 24-26" might be desired. Application and handling should dictate. Those 20" heavy bbls are handy, but somewhat louder.

By the way, I believe I was getting 3400 with 50gr and 2015BR.