16" vs 20"

[charger SE 0]

I saw on a previous thread that there that the 16" barrel may be more accurate than the 20" (I would have thought the opposite to be true).

 

Anyone else have the 20" barrel, and how do you like it. I have the 20 incher, and havn't shot it yet. I hope I don't regret getting it as opposed to the 16. My confidence in my rifle is shaken now.

[uber_maus 0]

i read an article talking about how the 16" varmint type rifle were just as accurate as their longer barrelled counterparts, but not any more accurate. i think for longer ranges the extra 4" gives more oomf in the way of velocity and such. however, we're talking about the 7.62x39mm so i don't really think you need to be too worried about any shots outside of 150-200yds. just my two cents.

[JWysenski762 0]

keep in mind i dont know what the hell im talking about, but i belive the 20 inch gets a little more velocity. another obseration i have made, (realy have no idea here) but it would seem that with the extra 4 inches after the gas port that you would get more presure for a longer period of time on the piston. dose this make it more reliable? i have no idea. both are extreamly reliable rifels already.

 

another thing where the longer barel may help is with ride up. the barel is longer and therefore has more rotational inertia, so this may help keep ride up to a min. but if you are getting more velocity then your going to have more ride up to begin with. but the ratio of extra energy gained to recoil ride up is in favor of a longer barel. ride up will increas linearly with velocity increase, but energy will increas exponentialy as velocity increases. (i know its counter intueitive but true)

 

try it in your car: get going like 120 and hit the breakes hard. you dont slow down much because your car has insane amounts of energy. (this is why you will almost certinly die if you hit anything goin this fast ) as you slow down, your breakes will start decelerating you faster.

 

just throwin out some bull shit.

[SpshulEd 0]

the only thing that i have heard is that the 16 is more accurate but the muzle velocity is less than the 20. the reasoning i heard behind it is that when a shot is fired the gas is pushing the bolt back before the bullet exits the barrel and therefore moving the gun slightly. so by haveing a shorter barel the bullet is exiting the barrel before the moving bolt does its dammage to the accuracy. an example of this is the yugo sks. if you flip the little knob that is on it for the grenade launcher it shuts the gas chamber. so when a shot is fired the bolt doesnt go back automaticy. i have heard this being more accurate then when the gun is on a single shot than semi. i may be wrong though.

[charger SE 0]

thanks for the replys, guys, I'm starting to see that this is a subject where no one knows for sure and may be subject to opinion. I guess what I really want to know is, is the difference in accuracy a great amount, or are we talking 1/4" at 50 yards?

 

I probably would have gotten a 16" had I known what I was buying a longer one at the time, but I was pretty ignorant about Saigas and their variations then.

[Onepoint 0]

I don't have either one, but I would be surpised if they were 1/2 MOA difference at 100 yards. Ammo will make more difference in accuracy than the barrel anyway. I remember my favorite gun shop had a target on the wall with a tight group that said "Saiga 308 21" 100 yards". It was 4 shot group with the lower 2 covered with a quarter the other 2 touched the circle and looked like Micky mouse. If you want any better than that, maybe a AK action is out altogether.

[guncats 4]

None-auto mode is not always better than auto mode.

I have a Korean Daewoo DR200 in 223, which uses gas piston and has a four position gas adjuster. with ammo such as winchester white box, the auto groups are about 2moa, while the non-auto (manual cycling) prints over 6moa.

But with Korean made PMC white box the grouping is smaller in manual mode.

[dodgeturbointerceptor 1]

If length is negligable....and you aren't going for an RPK build...lol

 

 

 

16" out the door every time..............

[k_dawg 0]

for these rifles, the 16" is significantly stronger. The 20" can "whip".

 

Also, there maybe a resonance issue: if its correct for the 16, then it'll be wrong for the 20" and vice versa.

 

I am not sure if having a longer length past the gas piston port would be desirable.