Will a good barrel shoot accurately at any length?

[obijohn]

Question for those more knowledgeable than me on the subject... and that's a lot of you:

If a barrel is accurate (well-made, properly installed) will it shoot well at any length? I know that harmonics are involved, but I'm assuming that given tuned ammo (handloads) a good barrel will shoot well at any length... and so, if I'm not getting good groups with factory ammo and I know the quality of the parts and the work, I need to tune the loads. Correct?

[Bill K]

Originally Posted by obijohn

Question for those more knowledgeable than me on the subject... and that's a lot of you:

If a barrel is accurate (well-made, properly installed) will it shoot well at any length? I know that harmonics are involved, but I'm assuming that given tuned ammo (handloads) a good barrel will shoot well at any length... and so, if I'm not getting good groups with factory ammo and I know the quality of the parts and the work, I need to tune the loads. Correct?

How will you really tune a factory load ? You need to reload and work with variables to get the most accurate load with your rifle, no matter the barrel length, twist and contour. Each barrel is a beast of it's own, so too speak

[georgeld]

My first question is: Why the hell are you shooting factory ammo
in the first place??!!!

IF you've used the same caliber and reloaded before You'd most likely
already have your load sorted out.

Then: Just keep the very same load and get as large a variety of bullets
in the weights you plan to shoot most and sort them using the very same
loading with each one.

Doing it that way don't take very long to get 'em sorted out. Load 5 of each and shoot them. Discard all except the best 3-5. Then load ten each of those to
verify and pick the best one then stock up on the bullets. Say 5000.

Sure worked swell when I had the Sako .222mag rebarreled to .223 because
of brass availability. I had one hell of a time finding mag brass.

just George's opinions.

[coyotespotter]

Bench rest guys in the past would cut a 1/2 " off,test, until they hit the sweet spot. Not recommended these days because manufacturing equipment and materials are so much better. The Texas warehouse studies concluded with a result of 21 3/4" barrel length was the most accurate. My personal experience and belief is a really good barrel is not picky at 100 yards, I have factory and custom barrels that will shoot a wide range of hand loads well under 1 inch @100. However some loads will not hold up past 300 yards, long range performance is partially bullet construction and load/velocity consistency. I have 2 custom barreled (Lilja) finished at 21 3/4 I selected that length because the rifles are hunting rifles and are shot suppressed. Both are true one hole grouping rifles with both factory and hand loads at 100 yards off bags. If you are not reloading, you can only test factory offerings until you find the best combination. Unfortunately ammo is not the only factor to a rifles performance, the shooter, shooting conditions, optics, support and quality of the stock, trigger,firing pin/spring and more play apart. If your barrel is threaded and you maybe able to use a tuner to "adjust" barrel harmonics for a more consistent exit of the bullet. Always remember the bullet weight and length must match the twist rate of the rifling, otherwise bullet stability in flight will be compromised.

[Bill K]

Very good comments Coyotespotter. To go along with yours, I believe it was Bulberry that did some testing, could have been others, and for the average shooter they found that a barrel of 22 inch was about the best overall average.
But, as you say, ,many factors come into play and a person has to work on their rifle and what it tells or likes the best.

[L.Sherm]

Anybody who shoots much at all with factory ammo should really consider reloading. With the times its a prime example why.

[Daryl]

I think the OP is questioning if handloads will be more accurate than factory in a gun that shoots poorly with factory loads.
The answer is likely, if the barrel, stocking, chambering are all good - likely.
Maybe I misread the intent.
Many makes of modern made rifles shoot today's good factory ammo incredibly well. The smaller the calibre, the morel likely this is to happen, but not always.

I recently had a Browning A-3 that shot both new WW 180gr. bonded and old RP 180gr. CL's into the same cloverleaf groups at 100 meters. It happens, although not as often with the higher intensity rounds, I'm thinking.
Using those "new" 180gr. Bonded WW factory ammo, guessing at the velocity and BC of the bullet and using a chart, I got onto the 1000 meter buffalo with my second shot & it would have been a heart shot at that. All successive rounds went into the same MOA group - 1000 meters = 11".

[pertnear]

Originally Posted by coyotespotter

.........The Texas warehouse studies concluded with a result of 21 3/4" barrel length was the most accurate......

I've heard it several times in years past that 21 3/4" was THE BARREL LENGTH for the 6PPC. Also the slightly off-size flash hole was important to the 6PPC design.

Go figure...

[coyotespotter]

I have had one pain in the --- rifle. Rem 700 adl synthetic stock 22-250. I tried different powders,primers,bullets. Only found one combination that would shoot under 1" consistently, later the gunsmith checked the chamber before removing the barrel, headspace was way long. That rifle never saw a factory round, so I can't say my handloading was better than factory. I had a new take off factory barrel put on, it headspaced perfectly. And shot almost all my leftover hand loads very well.

[L.Sherm]

My comment wasn't even about factory vrs reload ammo more as having any ammo to shoot period.