r/canadaguns • u/A1B1C1D1H1 • Mar 22 '26
Gun and gear reviews Advice- barrel length.
Hi
I have 2 guns in my wish list
MRA renegade5.56 and a 357 lever
I just cant decide on a barrel length!
Im leaning towards renegade 12" and lever 16"
Whats your opinion ?
I dont hunt, just target, fun shooting.
I know longer is better but I just dont wanna carry a really long rifle.
Thx
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u/613mitch Mar 22 '26
depends on the ballistics of what youre shooting and what you expect out of the rifle.
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u/A1B1C1D1H1 Mar 22 '26
Can you explain the ballistics? What do you mean? I want responsible accuracy, easy of use, easy transportation Im not hunting, just fun shooting. I dont expect this two to get a bullseye at 400ft
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u/Teckiiiz Mar 22 '26
I dont hunt, just target, fun shooting. I know longer is better but I just dont wanna carry a really long rifle.
Carry like.. from your car to the bench? If you ain't hunting you ain't really carrying it.
That said get whatever ya want. Have fun friend
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u/z00animal Mar 22 '26
I will never buy another rifle that is longer than 16 inches.
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Mar 23 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/z00animal Mar 23 '26
I’m fine being limited to 6 arc, 6.5 Grendel, 300 blackout, 223, 308, and 45-70.
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u/Accomplished-Beat779 Mar 22 '26
I went for 20" barrel recently on a Chiappa 92 in 45LC. Holds 2 more rounds and has a better balance than my 16" Rossi. I would not go too short on a rifle, I have a BCL Bison in 7.62x39 with a 12" bbl and the report is shocking. Id like 18 or more on a rifle
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u/TheBulletBuddy Mar 22 '26
0 regrets buying my 12.5 renegade. It's been an absolute blast.
My thought process was, if its going to be a purely novelty range toy, why not take advantage of not having length restrictions. Might not be as accurate as the 16 or 19 inch length barrels, but its a ton of fun haha.
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u/JaxIsLoud Mar 22 '26
18" 300 blkout is the only one I saw any stock of on all platforms I could find
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u/A1B1C1D1H1 Mar 22 '26
Im not in a hurry to buy
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u/JaxIsLoud Mar 22 '26
I ask the barrel question for the mra and had people that know more than me say 16" for 223 is better to get the most out of the ballistics of the round.
As for the 357. That's where I'd look at the 12. For a plinker. 16 if for hunting1
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u/Even-Somewhere-9554 Mar 22 '26
Go with 16 on MRA. 12 could reach far but 16 will give you advantage at longer range.
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u/HappyCan7250 Mar 22 '26
I say go for the 16". I have a few 223 guns with 16" barrels and it's the best between compact size and decent velocity.
Look up a velocity to barrel length chart for 223. You can find them online. 16" barrels for 223/5.56 land in 2900-3000fps range, so still giving up a couple hundred fps. I believe it usually works out to about 50fps per inch. 223 our of a 12.5" . Most 223 ammo out of a 12" will land you closer to 2700fps. Still fast, but giving up a lot.
For 357 though, 12" is fine. Being a technically pistol rounds, it burns up about all its powder in 12".
The site "ballistics by the inch" is a good site for figuring out what barrel length for various calibers, although they're missing a lot of the larger rifle rounds, they have 223 and 357.
357 gains a ton of velocity out of a 12 of 16" barrel vs from a 3-6" revolver. 357 will push a 125gr at 2000-2100fps out of a rifle, so for 357 a 12" barrel is perfectly fine, but 223 Id opt for 16" unless your goal is just having some fun with huge fireballs and muzzle blast.
Even my 16" MVP Patrol, 16.1" RAR, and my 16.5" Troy SAR shoot some huge fireballs in dusk lighting. They're fun. I'm tempted to buy a 20-24" 223 next though to get a bit more velocity out of it. The speeds you see listed on ammo boxes are almost always out of longer 24-26" barrels.