16 or 20 barrel?

[Hardcase 0]

I'm going to buy a saiga .223 to use for coyotes and general predator hunting. Does anyone here hunt with their saiga? I was wondering if anyone had shot both the 16 and 20 inch barrels, and what the difference was in accuracy? I have always thought a longer barrel was better for accuracy. I'll be mounting a scope so that will help.

[genx 0]

The saiga 20" .223 would be a very good choice for a varmint rifle. The 20" barrel should offer more velocity and could therefore give better accuracy than the 16". The ammunition used will also affect the performance.

[Bluestar7 0]

A longer barrel is not inherently better for accuracy. However, for your hunting purposes I would probably choose the 20" anyway, for the extra velocity.

[seanie 6]

I know there is speculation going around that longer barrels are less accurate do to the barrel whipping, flexing, whatever you want to call it. Don't know if it's true, but it's something to look into.

[jimdigriz 580]

I'm going to buy a saiga .223 to use for coyotes and general predator hunting. Does anyone here hunt with their saiga? I was wondering if anyone had shot both the 16 and 20 inch barrels, and what the difference was in accuracy? I have always thought a longer barrel was better for accuracy. I'll be mounting a scope so that will help.

 

The longer barrel gives you a longer sight radius, but that won't matter since you will be using a scope. Go for the more wieldy gun. My wife's 16 inch barreled 5.45x39 Saiga is capable of 100 yard groups at least as small as 2.5 inches. Do you need much more accuracy than that?

[JK-47 33]

As stated above, 20" barrel will give a bit more velocity, IMHO the 16" is a more wieldy firearm. If you are shooting from a rest 20", if you are shooting offhand 16".

[shades_of_grey 1,092]

Imo, a 20" barrel is better for a .223 rifle. Due to its small size, this round needs the extra barrel length to reach the higher velocity it requires to max its potential, (in contrast to the 7.62x39, which only needs a ~16" barrel).

 

Ymmv.

Edited December 16, 2009 by post-apocalyptic

[coyotewillie 0]

I have both....a 16" and a 20" (.223)Saiga. I don't plan on doing a thing to the 16" other than keeping it around. However, I'm going to get a Texas Weapon System beryl style rail for the 20" rifle, scope it, and try it for a calling rifle. I've got 2 AR's, but want to try out the 20" Saiga....what good is it if you can't give it a workout right? Greg

[dobravery 49]

In regards to barrel flex, I think the difference is so close that the build quality could easily nullify that factor. My 20 outshoots my by a small margin 16--even with a scope. That is with Silver Bear 62grn. It is possible that maybe the 20" barrel allows for more consistent and thorough powder burn.