Shortening my 223 Barrel

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Can you explain that one Jack ? I have a very hard time understanding that concept.



Take a piece of 5/8 inch wood that is four feet long do you think you could bend it with your hands? Now take a piece of 5/8 inch wood six inches long now can you bend it with you hands?



Well as I replied already, but to this it would be obvious wood would have some give, but metal being rigid it wouldn't unless long rods, was my thought process of it.
 
BuzzBee and Leon, thanks for the explanation. While I agree, and have advocated the difference in velocities from a 22-250 and a 223 can help stabilize bullets, I don't see shortening the barrel of a 223 by 6 inches to cause any measureable difference in stability. And this is what Adam25 asked. "Will shortening my 223 barrel from 26 inches too 20 inches hurt the accuracy of my rifle?"

I may wrong, so check my figures and let me know.

In a 223 round, due to case capacity and powders used, you will lose app. 150 fps by the 6 inch reduction in barrel length. For the sake of error on my estimations lets say you lose 200 fps. So a bullet that was traveling 3300 FPS is now going to be traveling 3100 FPS. If I devide 3100 into 3300 I will get less than .08 percent more stability.

My point being, if a bullet being fired from a 223 in a 1:12 twist 20 inch barrel is not being stabilized, then firing that same round from a 26 inch barrel is not going to help the problem.

In Adams case. If the rounds he is firing now are suitable for the twist rate of his firearm, and he chops off 6 inches, the same rounds will still be stabilized.

summary-To answer his question- No, cutting off the barrel will not make the rifle less accurate.
 
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So the days of the Ol'Timers saying " The longer the barrel, the more accurute is BS". It makes sense the way you all explain it now. I have always heard with gun's the longer the better.



Yep that is just an old wives tale.

But to muddy the waters even more, there is a point at really long range(1000 yards area)where the increased velocity is worth more in bucking the wind than the loss in accuracy from a longer barrel. To make up for the accuracy loss most 30" barrels are very large diameter.

Jack
 
Yep, and more and more those 30" (and longer) full profile bull barrels aren't hanging off an action either. The action and the barrel are often supported with a barrel block instead, which makes the barrel act like an 18"-20" barrel from a harmonics standpoint.

Randy, you're right. My explanation was just from a theory/math standpoint. As I said before, I doubt seriously that it would make any difference in a .223.
 
I always get a chuckle out of these conversations especially where a 223 is involved. Lets start this off with this, my go-to coyote rifle is a 22" ruger #3 in 223 Rem. I like a nice short rifle, with this one being on a single shot action it's amazingly handy, if I had a bolt action rifle I'd whack it off to 20" and it would be just as handy. Remington produced or produces a nice handy 20" heavy barreled synthedic rifle in 223 (I heard that some police departments requested this configuration for transporting in a car.) and I hear the owners love them. The rifle you are wanting already exists. I've had it in my hand and you can't believe how nicely it handles.

What makes me chuckle the very most is the guys that come out of the woodwork advocating the 26" barrels as if the very usability of the 223 as a coyote rifle were at stake. While at the very same time we get poster after poster falling all over themselves over how wonderful their 16.5" CAR is on coyotes. I always wonder where the magic is hidden in an AR where the 16.5" barrel is great on coyotes and nothing less than a 26" barrel will due in a bolt action 223. I just have to sit here and smile.

My advice, if you like a nice handi short rifle then cut it down. That 20" barrel will completely change trhe handling qualities of your rifle. Don't worry, I've killed cotoyes at 400 yards and at 10 yards with my 22" gun, you will be able to do the same with your 20" gun.
 
I wish I had cut my Remy vs down. Sold it and bought an LTR.
I like my LTR but could have saved the money if I had used my head. You'll like that 20" tube. Good luck!
 
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Given two pieces of steel the same diameter, shorter will always be stiffer. It is easy to visualize if you carry it to extremes. Take a rod 1/4" in diameter, one piece a foot long, the other 3 feet long. The foot long piece you can not bend noticeably, the 3 foot one bends pretty easily.

Jack



Sorry Jack that is a falicy your scenerio is a matter of leverage. If they are both the same steel and have the same properties they will both bend with the same amount of force. The stiffness of a barrel is predetermined by its metal chemistry and the extra diameter is only there for heat dissipation.

Killinit
 
Jack - I know your right in what your are saying about realtive barrel stiffness, but after we've said the very same thing for .. what 5 or 6 years now it's obvious that your always going to get the same arguements. You and I and the rest of the world knows that the relative strength of the barrel steel will not change depending on the length of the barrel, it's harmonics. A barrel with less vibration or whip will shoot more consistent groups. Seem like an easy concept to me......

Edit: for those of you struggleing with "Whiskers" Morse code in his sig. line stunt try this link:
http://morsecode.scphillips.com/jtranslator.html
It's alot easier that doing it the old fashioned way.

.-- .... .. ... -.- . .-. ... --..-- / .-- . / - .-. .- -. ... .-.. .- - . -.. / -.-- --- ..- .-. / ... .. --. .-.-.- / .-.. .. -. . / .-- .. - .... .. -. / -- .. -. ..- - . ... / --- ..-. / -.-- --- ..- .-. / .--. --- ... - .. -. --. / .. - .-.-.- / .-- . / .- -.-. - ..- .- .-.. .-.. -.-- / -.. --- / -.-. .... . -.-. -.- / --- -. / - .... .. ... / ... - ..- ..-. ..-. .-.-.-
 
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I shot a Rem 600 in .223 Rem for forty years, the barrel was only 18.5" and it was very accurate some loads with Herter's powder and bullets were under .5" and it put down alot of fox, coytes's and feral dogs(wild packs killing sheep and deer). I couldn't ask for a handier rifle, I built a scabard for it and carried it like an arrow quiver when I was skiing.

AWS
 
to me a 26" barrel in a 223 is a waste, you just don't need that long of a barrel with the small 223 case, I lose no more than 75fps between my 24" CZ and my 18.5" CZ carbine, both are in 223, so in my mind 20-22" of barrel in the 223 is all anyone really needs.
 
Thanks guys for all the great info. I really do appreciate it. I have decided to cut it down to 20”. Before I cut it off I’ll take a pic of a 5 shot 100yd group. After its cut off I’ll do the same. And I’ll post them both. Now all I have to do is barrow my buddy’s cutting torch. Just kidding.
 
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Given two pieces of steel the same diameter, shorter will always be stiffer. It is easy to visualize if you carry it to extremes. Take a rod 1/4" in diameter, one piece a foot long, the other 3 feet long. The foot long piece you can not bend noticeably, the 3 foot one bends pretty easily.

Jack



Sorry Jack that is a falicy your scenerio is a matter of leverage. If they are both the same steel and have the same properties they will both bend with the same amount of force. The stiffness of a barrel is predetermined by its metal chemistry and the extra diameter is only there for heat dissipation.

Killinit



Believe whatever you want. I am not paid enough to teach you how to calculate the deflection of a cantilever beam. But all the info is out there for you to look at on your own and see just what effect length has on deflection.

Jack
 
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