Hey guys,  I'm thinking of SBR'n a 10/22. Just wondering how much velocity loss can be expected going from the factory 18.5" bbl to a 12" bbl. I want a nice compact shooter, but still need this thing to have a practical application (squirrels, rabbits, ect. @ 50yds).

Thanks in advance.

You won't lose enough velocity to worry about @ 50 meters.
A buddy of mine uses a 10" Ruger Mkll Target pistol to hunt squirrels and rabbits and they fall just as dead as the ones I shoot with a rifle or shotgun.
I also use a 7" M41 S&W target pistol to hunt with same results.HTH

In terms of terminal energy, as said, you'll have plenty. Depending on the ammo you use though, you may find you need to make some substantial drop compensations.

He said .22, not .223!  

I would be surprised if you see much velocity loss AT ALL going to a 12" barrel.

I read a great post on another forum many years ago where a guy experimented with an old .22LR rifle by shooting ammo through a chrono, taking velocity measurements. He would cut one or two inches off, recrown, and measure again. I don't remember if he went south of 16" factoring in NFA rules, but it seems to me he did. Now that I think about it though unfortunately, I can't remember what he typically gained or lost for each inch or two inches. I do remember the highest velocity he has was at 16" or 18". That meant presumably that the bulk of the powder was burned out at that point and the barrel was just slowing the round down beyond that. Of course the results of a test like that would depend heavily on the ammo.

Bullberry Barrels did that sort of test with the .17 HMR

http://www.bullberry.com/HMRdata.html

Found this, doesn't look like going from 14" to 11" makes much difference:

In the VOL. 9, NO. 4 issue of GUNS & AMMO magazine, Bob Milek wrote an article titled: BARREL LENGTH VS VELOCITY, where he took a number of barrels and guns and cut down the barrels in one inch increments, measuring the velocity loss at each step of the process for a number of centerfires as well as the 22LRs. It's a very interesting article. Here are the velocities recorded for the 22LR starting at 14 inches and going down to 4 inches.

14" = 1,105 fps.
13" = 1,106
12" = 1,110
11" = 1,089
10" = 1,114
..9" = 1,077
..8" = 1,063
..7" = 1,057
..6" = 1,024
..5" = ..959
..4" = ..927 fps.

Holy Crap that's awesome dude. Talk about going above and beyond the call of duty. Thank you to everyone for theiur input.  I feel alot better about my idea to chop the barrel now.

Thanks again.

Hyper velocity rounds like the CCI Stinger, Aguila Supermax and a few others tend to loose more velocity than standard velocity or subsonic ammo. The hyper velocity rounds need all the barrel length they can get to reach the advertised velocities. As a matter of fact most hyper velocity rounds rarely get above the speed of sound out of pistol barrels. Sure there is a lot of noise, but that is it.

Here is some testing I did a few months back:
FirearmPac-Lite
Barrel Length4.5"
Caliber22LR
BrandCCI
NameVelocitor
Low Velocity981.6
High Velocity1054
Average Velocity1007
Extreme Spread72.86
Standard Deviation41.03

FirearmPac-Lite
Barrel Length4.5"
Caliber22LR
BrandWinchester
NameXpediter (advertised velocity of 1640 FPS)
Low Velocity1000
High Velocity1124
Average Velocity1042
Extreme Spread123.6
Standard Deviation71.02

FirearmPac-Lite
Barrel Length4.5"
Caliber22LR
BrandWinchester
NameSubsonic HP
Low Velocity848.5
High Velocity875.9
Average Velocity866.5
Extreme Spread27.45
Standard Deviation10.77

FirearmPac-Lite
Barrel Length4.5"
Caliber22LR
BrandFederal
NameAuto Match
Low Velocity868.3
High Velocity944
Average Velocity918.7
Extreme Spread75.71
Standard Deviation43.58

FirearmRemington 580
Barrel Length24"
Caliber22LR
BrandCCI
NameVelocitor
Low Velocity1409
High Velocity1470
Average Velocity1430
Extreme Spread61.09
Standard Deviation27.65

FirearmRemington 580
Barrel Length24"
Caliber22LR
BrandWinchester
NameXpediter (advertised velocity of 1640 FPS)
Low Velocity1630
High Velocity1688
Average Velocity1656
Extreme Spread58.23
Standard Deviation27.58

FirearmRemington 580
Barrel Length24"
Caliber22LR
BrandWinchester
NameSubsonic HP
Low Velocity1015
High Velocity1036
Average Velocity1025
Extreme Spread21.65
Standard Deviation9.16

FirearmRemington 580
Barrel Length24"
Caliber22LR
BrandFederal
NameAuto Match
Low Velocity1184
High Velocity1234
Average Velocity1218
Extreme Spread49.77
Standard Deviation20.02

Dolomite

VaFish,

In the Bob Milek article titled "BARREL LENGTH VS VELOCITY" what 22LR gun and ammo did he use?

Thanks.

All "hyper" velocity I've tried is still well supersonic out of a 4"inch barrel
"high" velocity is usually not.
Though in the winter probably 50% of even "high velocity" go supersonic.


As for your actual question, 12" would be very practical in a 10/22 for what you say.
Just as another member mentioned, I use a Buckmark with a 4 inch Tac Sol barrel and a can to squirrel hunt, Kills them just as dead as a 12 ga

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Thanks for the good info gang!  Not helping the "I should SBR a10/22" bug though...