I have a chance to buy a Kimber 84M with a short 18" Fluted Heavy Barrel in .223. Will I sacrifice anything with a short barrel? I have an 84M .204 with a longer fluted barrel and it is very accurate. What can you guys out there tell me about this rifle? I'm thinking about it for shooting coyotes that I call in and can use a shorter quick action rifle, but would also like it to be accurate for the occasional 200-300 yard shot. I will appreciate any info you can pass along. Tom
Kimber Short barrel rifle question?
- Thread starter Sniper66
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ontarget
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Tons of 16-18 inch AR's out there that people claim shoot well. I doubt you would be giving up much with that barrel length. I have seen posts here with the figures for .308 that give the differences in velocity and accuracy as the barrel is shortened. I was very surprised how short you could go without losing too much.
rcmodel
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Barrel length has no effect on accuracy.
In fact some would argue a 18" barrel could be more accurate then a 24" barrel.
Because it is stiffer and barrel harmonics will effect it less.
What you will give up is some velocity.
And an increase in muzzle blast.
But that does not effect accuracy, only trajectory.
And that's easily taken care of with sight-in, range testing, and ear muffs.
rc
In fact some would argue a 18" barrel could be more accurate then a 24" barrel.
Because it is stiffer and barrel harmonics will effect it less.
What you will give up is some velocity.
And an increase in muzzle blast.
But that does not effect accuracy, only trajectory.
And that's easily taken care of with sight-in, range testing, and ear muffs.
rc
223 is probably at it's best at 20"and does not gain much with longer barrels. At 18" it doesn't give up much. All of my AR's have 16" barrels, my Ruger American Compact at 18" is the longest barrel I own chambered in 223. I think you'll be fine.
I own an 84M in .308 with the 20" "pencil barrel"; I am not sure of the optimum barrel length for this caliber however, I get 2,690 (chronographed) fps from standard WW 150 grn. that advertise 2,800 fps on the box - not too bad in my book - the deer don't seem to care. My biggest challenge with this rife was accuracy - my accuracy, not the rifle - a subtle but very different technique was required to shoot this very light rifle accurately. At first I thought I had bought a boat anchor, but I was not going to give up. After about 200 rounds of practice over time, I can shoot an inch or less consistently at 100 yards with factory WW 150 grain. It was definitely me and not the rifle. Good shooting.
Sniper66, you're talking about the SVT (Short Varmint/Target). That's a great rifle and a tack driver. One of my coworker/friends has one and he loves it. You'll have no problem out to 300 yards with a good factory load or reload. The barrel is a 1:9 twist so you might want to stay at or under 69gr. There's a good article in the link below related to .223 Rem and barrel length.
http://rifleshooter.com/2014/04/223...gth-a-man-his-chop-box-and-his-friends-rifle/
http://rifleshooter.com/2014/04/223...gth-a-man-his-chop-box-and-his-friends-rifle/
Thanks everyone for the feedback. The Kimber is my next rifle!! As to the 1:9 twist rate, I shoot mostly 40-50 gr Sierra BKs, so I should be OK. Can't wait and hope I have it scoped and zeroed by mid May when I take my first p-dpg trip. Wish me luck!
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