Advice please on 16" cz .22LR

finnan1

Hi
Im thinking of trading/subbing my venerable older Brno.22lr, for a new short barelled 16" cz.
Would also consider a synthetic stock.

Just wondered if the shorter barrels are noiser than longer barrels, i use subs in any case normally.
what would the knowledgeable on here recommend ?

thanks

Liam_D

finnan1 wrote: »

Hi
Im thinking of trading/subbing my venerable older Brno.22lr, for a new short barelled 16" cz.
Would also consider a synthetic stock.

Just wondered if the shorter barrels are noiser than longer barrels, i use subs in any case normally.
what would the knowledgeable on here recommend ?

thanks

With a moderator such as a sak it won't be any louder. Can I ask why are you changing to a newer version of a gun you already have, any of the old BRNO rifles I've seen have shot very well. Would you consider getting a gunsmith to shorten and screwcut your own gun? 16" is a handy length without moderator mine would fit inside a takedown shotgun case.

Chiparus

I have a 16" CZ , it is slightly louder compared to the longer version, but I think thats because my ear is now closer to the barrel end.

Not sure there would be any difference down range.

Cass

finnan1 wrote: »

Just wondered if the shorter barrels are noisier than longer barrels, i use subs in any case normally.

The 16" would be slightly louder than the 20". The optimal barrel length for a subsonic rimfire bullet is 14" (IIRC). This means any barrel longer than this actually slows the bullet due to barrel/bullet friction. As such on longer barreled rifles the "extra" barrel can act somewhat like a suppressor. So the longer the barrel the quieter the report.

However the sound difference may be so minimal as to be unnoticeable to the ear. Obviously this only works with subsonic ammo. Hyper velocity or anything that exceeds the sound barrier will make a sonic crack regardless and the report would be much, much louder.

Liam_D wrote: »

Would you consider getting a gunsmith to shorten and screwcut your own gun? 16" is a handy length without moderator mine would fit inside a takedown shotgun case.

It's illegal to cut a rifle barrel below 19.68 (50cm) inches.

Liam_D

Cass wrote: »

The 16" would be slightly louder than the 20". The optimal barrel length for a subsonic rimfire bullet is 14" (IIRC). This means any barrel longer than this actually slows the bullet due to barrel/bullet friction. As such on longer barreled rifles the "extra" barrel can act somewhat like a suppressor. So the longer the barrel the quieter the report.

However the sound difference may be so minimal as to be unnoticeable to the ear. Obviously this only works with subsonic ammo. Hyper velocity or anything that exceeds the sound barrier will make a sonic crack regardless and the report would be much, much louder.

It's illegal to cut a rifle barrel below 19.68 (50cm) inches.

That's a bit strange how do CZ and Anschutz get away with it?

Eo1n8wrd

I thought it was the overall length of the firearm that was measured

Witcher

That's one interpretation which may allow firearms to be bought off the shelf with a sub 20 inch barrel but cutting it below 20 is definitely illegal.

Eo1n8wrd

so it's the act of modifying it below a set minimum length that's illegal, but if it comes new like that then its ok?

Witcher

Apparently. Hasn't been tested in a court yet though.

clivej

I have shot both barrels in the CZ 452 varmint models. I found no difference in the rifles. The 16" had a better balance

With the newer 455 models you can swop out the barrels.

NEXT grey area is......

Is it legal to swop out your barrel to say a 16" barrel. That's not modifying or cutting it down????

Cass

Strider has it spot on.

As it stands the 100% illegal part is cutting a barrel below 50cm/20". No grey area here.

The grey area comes from the wording of law when someone buys a gun with a barrle shorter than 20"/50cm. The law says it's illegal to have a rifle with a barrel shorter than 50cm unless you are an RFD or have "lawful authorisation". That phrase is key. Your license stands as your lawful authorisation so if you have a license for it it's legal, but the law still says it's illegal to have. So it says it's both illegal and legal at the same time. The problem arises from the fact that no mention of barrel length is on the FCA1. If you were made declare the barrel length on the FCA1 i would imagine the amount of refusals would rise.

The other issue is the fact that no one has cut the barrel below 50cm on factory rifles with short barrels. It was manufactured like that. The law says you may cut the barrel below this length, but it must be built back up to make a minimum of 50 cm. They do not go into detail on how this may be performed.


As Strider said above the issue of factory rifles with short barrels will only be settled in a court case, but who wants to be the first to do this, and who has a few thousand/tens of thousands to argue this point?


So in short:

• Buy a rifle with a barrel shorter than 50cm = Grey area
• Cut a barrel below 50cm = Illegal

The question of swapping barrels is straight forward enough. You buy a rifle with a legal barrel length. You get the license, all is good. You now have swapped or "modified the rifle/barrel to below 50cm. It is now illegal. It would be akin to cutting it as you have performed the act or if an RFD does it for you they are responsible under the law to build the shorter barrel back up to 50cm or replace it with a barrel of at least 50 cm.

Section 12(a) amended by section 65 wrote:

(2) It is not an offence under subsection (1) for a registered firearms dealer to shorten the barrel of a shot-gun or rifle to a length of less than 61 or 50 centimetres respectively if the sole purpose of doing so is to replace a defective part of the barrel with a barrel of not less than 61 or 50 centimetres, as the case may be

Lastly the issue of overall length. The rifle barrel is explicitly said to have to be 50cm at a minimum. A short firearm is said to be a firearm with a barrel length that does not EXCEED 30cm or overall length of 60cm. So if it's under 60cm it may be defined as short firearm (unlikely though) but only if the barrel does not make it hit that 60cm mark. So overall length (minimum) for a rifle would be 60cm with a minimum of 50 cm barrel.

finnan1

Thanks for the info guys,
the barrel length legal issue is an interesting one indeed
must measure the barrel on my air arms !, which having a carbine length handles very well

cheers

mister gullible

16" is great, no noise or accuracy issues.