Barrel length is a huge factor in noise signature. That is one of the big trade-offs in suppressed shooting, ease of handling with a short barrel vs noise/performance with a long barrel.
Like most things there is more than one way to skin a cat. Both AR's and bolt action rifles, the actual barrel starts pretty far forward. In essence, that 6" of action length is lost. Some actions, like the Encore, the actual barrel starts way at the back.
Both of these 223 rifles have an 18" barrel. The CZ 527 on the bottom also has an adjustable stock for my daughter and is set with a LOP that is 1" shorter than the Encore on the top. But even so, you can see that the Encore is still shorter with the can, than the CZ is without it. And that CZ is a micro Mauser that is pretty dang short and light anyways.
So, basically I could have kept the Encore at 24" to gain the barrel length, or do what I did in this case which was cut it to the same barrel length as the CZ and have a super compact little rifle. That Encore is 37.5" OAL with an 18" barrel and the can on, which puts it down in the same size range as a SBR AR-15.
I'm not saying that is what you should do, merely stating there are other options if a guy wants to look around and explore them.
