Thread: 223 barrel length?

What have people found on a good barrel length for the 223 namely shooting 75 amax.
I know some of the AR guys have some short barrels, but how much does speed suffer with lopping a barrel back to 18" or there abouts.
My theory is 18" should be fine as is a small case and amount of powder to burn...

Anybody got some speeds for the heavier .224 projectiles?
@Digit @Beavis @kimjon
Thought I would add some tags (you guys might have some info?)

Thanks in advance
Kyle.

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Probably not helpful but I'm shooting 55gr through 22" at 3060fps. Interested to see what speeds you're getting with heavier projectiles.


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What type of shooting are you intending to do?
A 75 gr A-Max would be a pretty heavy pill for a short barrel.

Hornady's "Handbook of Cartridge Reloading" recommends a 1:8 twist barrel for the 75 gr A-Max.

For target shooting we're using an 80 gr A-Max in a Savage Model 12 .223 with a 26" 1:7 twist barrel.
Norma cases with 24.7 gr ADI2208.

I'm getting 2759 from a 22" barrel with 77gn smk.

The same loads, while I haven't put them over a crony, drop off the bottom of a 12" target at 300m with a 14.4" barrel.

I'm going to cut the 22" down to aprox 18" to make a handier rifle.

Just keep in mind that its only velocity that is effected by barrel length, accuracy isn't.

My ar has a 16" barrel, shoots 62gr Sierra match kings at .6" groups no worries.

Can't Remember velocity of top of my head, but .223 isn't a good choice for long range. Any range up to 300m isn't really effected by velocity. Look at just about all centre fire ballistics and they all shoot to about the same point out to 300m be it at .223, or a super duper wsm... they're all about the same give or take a couple inches.

Beyond 300m the faster calibre will start to show up the slower ones, but beyond 300m the .223 has little energy and massive wind drift, so it's not ideal unles used in perfect conditions.

Kj

I will check my book when I get home with speed we are getting. Currently im loading 75 amax for a mate with a factory tikka with 1:8" twist and standard barrel (22.75")

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Originally Posted by res

I'm getting 2759 from a 22" barrel with 77gn smk.

The same loads, while I haven't put them over a crony, drop off the bottom of a 12" target at 300m with a 14.4" barrel.

I'm going to cut the 22" down to aprox 18" to make a handier rifle.

I suppose what I'm asking is, Is it realistic to expect 25fps drop per inch of barrel loss?

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Below 20" yes but I think it's less than the longer you get.

Based on a mates experience I only expect to lose 80fps by going to 18"

Sako 75 .223 22"

75gn AMax 2715fps
69gn SMK 2714fps
65gn GK 2881fps


Schmeisser AR15 16" (has a tight chamber)

69gn SMK 2806fps
65gn GK 2873fps

Originally Posted by dogmatix

Sako 75 .223 22"

75gn AMax 2715fps
69gn SMK 2714fps
65gn GK 2881fps


Schmeisser AR15 16" (has a tight chamber)

69gn SMK 2806fps
65gn GK 2873fps

This is clearly not apples and apples!

Originally Posted by puku

I suppose what I'm asking is, Is it realistic to expect 25fps drop per inch of barrel loss?

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I was reading an article on accurateshooter.com and they did a test on 223 and barrel length, it turned out to be around 25fps per 1inch of barrel chopped.

I will try and find link for you.

Daily Bulletin

I guess my point is it won't matter at .223 effective ranges, you won't notice any real difference out to 300m between an 18" and 22" barrel on a target.

So velocity becomes academic only.

It really depends on what your target is & how far away you are intending to shoot said target.

The .223 is a small calibre with limited grunt, depending on what you intend to use it for you may require as much grunt as possible.

Shortening the barrel won't help with this.

Using the heavier projectiles to get good velocity with the slower powders you need a decent barrel length.

Otherwise with a suppressor everyone would be using 10-12" barrels for everything.

Originally Posted by puku

What have people found on a good barrel length for the 223 namely shooting 75 amax.
I know some of the AR guys have some short barrels, but how much does speed suffer with lopping a barrel back to 18" or there abouts.
My theory is 18" should be fine as is a small case and amount of powder to burn...

Anybody got some speeds for the heavier .224 projectiles?
@Digit @Beavis @kimjon
Thought I would add some tags (you guys might have some info?)

Thanks in advance
Kyle.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

If the intention is to make it a more handy rifle, then cut it back even further. If you are concerned about longer range ballistic performance you have (A) picked the wrong calibre to start with and (B) are now handicapping it even further by reducing the barrel length.

Heavy pills and short barrels in small cases is generally a lousy combo.

Generally.