I have a problem choosing between a 18in fluted bull barrel or an 20 in fluted bull barrel.?

Question

Is there even a significant difference between the two. which one would you buy and why. i dont know which one to get? help me

Answer 1

the first answer from chris was correct. given youre choices of a short barrel length i imigine you are going for a rifle in the 22 lr to 223 remington caliber. get what ever you want because the burn rate of powder from those calibers will be sufficient in a 18 inch barrel and a 20 inch will add none or very little velocity. i notice you are talking about just heavy barrels. if it is just a bench rest rifle and wont be used for carrying i would opt for the longer barrel. but to get to ballistics i have 2 ar-15s both from dpms. one is a 16 inch heavy barrel and the other a 20 inch heavy barrel and they are identical in accuracy, actually i keep tighter groups with the 16 inch but it is a flat top and has alot better scope than the military versions that mount through the carry handle.

Answer 2

Depends, like many things.

There will be more blast and recoil from the 18" barrel. Less of both from the 20". The longer barrel allows the powder to burn inside and use the work to drive the bullet instead of making sound. It also adds weight which reduces recoil. If the 20" isn't too heavy for you then you may find it slightly steadier to shoot off hand than the 18". There won't be much difference in accuracy, manufacturing variation is more likely to explain any difference you do see between a particular 18 and 20 inch variant of the same gun.

Big magnum rounds tend to be designed for use in longer barrels, so a shorter barrel doesn't provide enough space for the powder to burn. But things like the 5.56x45, 7.62x51 and 7.62x39 are designed to work well from shorter barrels so there's no point in having a longer barrel.