I had the oppurtunity for great weather conditions today for rimfire shooting, so I did a little comparison between a Savage MKII BV (heavy barrel) and a Savage MKII F (sporter / reg. barrel).

Both rifles were shot off a bipod and rear bag, optic set on 14x. In order to see how each handled different ammo I used Aguila Golden Eagle Match Rifle, Wolf Match Target, CCI Blazer, and Federal Bulk Pack. The barrel of both rifles were dry swabbed until the patch ran clean. The trigger in the BV is at 1lb and has a wood laminate stock, the trigger in the F is at 2lbs 10 oz and has a synthetic stock. Both barrels are freefloated (a good 1/8" or more from the stock) all the way back to the receiver.

Tempurature 55deg F, no measurable wind, cloudy, 60% humidity. Size of bull at 50 is 1", at 100 the bull is 1.5".

I first measured the barrels from muzzle to where the barrels meet the receiver, both measured at 19 13/16" (just over 19 3/4"). Savage has them both listed at 21", they must be including the chamber area inside the receiver.

[color:#FF0000]BV model[/color]
[img width=434 height=450]http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu54/WALTERRO/mkii%20barrel%20stuff/mkiibvlength-Copy.jpg[/img]

[color:#FF0000]F model[/color]
[img width=439 height=450]http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu54/WALTERRO/mkii%20barrel%20stuff/mkiifvlength-Copy.jpg[/img]

The taped hits were sighters to get the groups in the general area of the bull. Distances was 50 and 100 yards, 5 round groups. A ten round group may have produced more dramatic results as to let the barrels "settle in" more to the ammo change, but I only had 20 rounds of Wolf MT ammo cover shooting each barrel at each distance. I did notice that even the second shot was "off" from the final three in just about every group, either barrel. Again, the barrel was dry swabbed between ammo changes. NOTE: the targets are mislabeled, the "FV" should read "F" as it is the sporter / regular barrel.

[color:#FF0000]50 yards[/color]
[img width=335 height=450]http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu54/WALTERRO/mkii%20barrel%20stuff/50yaguilaandwolf.jpg[/img]
[img width=335 height=450]http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu54/WALTERRO/mkii%20barrel%20stuff/50ydblazerandfedbulk.jpg[/img]

[color:#FF0000]100 yards[/color]
[img width=335 height=450]http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu54/WALTERRO/mkii%20barrel%20stuff/100ydaguilaandwolf.jpg[/img]
[img width=335 height=450]http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu54/WALTERRO/mkii%20barrel%20stuff/100ydblazerandfedbulk.jpg[/img]

My impressions where that the heavy barrel handled the Match and High Velocity ammo 1st shot out of a "clean" barrel better than the F model sporter barrel at both 50 and 100 yards, and generally the heavy barrel had better groups with both Match and High Velocity ammo, at both distances.

Also as I'm considering cutting back the barrel on the F model to 18" (16.75" from front of receiver to muzzle), the above post will help tie in if performance is enhanced by the shorter barrel in a .22lr.

Shortening the barrel will not happen until after the end of the smallbore silhouette season in late October, and in between some squirrel hunting. But when it is shortened, measurements will be taken on FPS and group size at 50 and 100 yards for every inch lost. Then the shorter sporter barrel will be shot against the 20" heavy barrel to see if the shorter length stiffened the barrel any more, or any performance differences are made, again using Match and High Velocity ammo.

I'm really curious as hell if the shorter regular barrel will improve performance enough to be better than a longer regular barrel, or even equal to a heavy barrel except with out the added weight.