So you're saying that even though a barrel over 16" is isn't helpful, it's not harmful, either, is that right?
No
It’s both helpful and not harmful. The bullet is still speeding up and stabilizing. Not so much on stabilizing.
The pressure is still high and exerting pressure on the bullet.
If your using open sights the longer sighting radius helps in your aim/accuracy.
There is still some arguments saying that the bullet hasn’t fully stabilized till about 19” inches or so from the combustion and acceleration. I don’t argue for or against as many 16” barrels are very accurate.
The barrel length issue is there is not a lot of difference between 16” and 24” barrels and velocity but below 16” you start losing velocity quickly for every inch below 16” as the powder is still burning and pressure is still building.
At approximately 16” powder is burned and near full pressure is realized. The .22lr bullet does not start to slow down till around 24 to 26 inches.
What you get for example with a bench rifle that has a 24” v’s a 16” barrel is a bit less recoil or barrel jump and less rifle movement shot to shot compared to a short barreled rifle built for the same purpose.
A walking woods gun with a 24” pencil barrel v’s a 16” pencil barrel is sight radius and sight radius equals better sighting accuracy.
Both examples as much preference as function all things being equal.
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