Velocity by Barrel Length of Various Calibers

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This page will examine barrel length to velocity differences for various calibers. We'll mostly stick to common calibers, but others will likely be added as well. But first, the concepts will be discussed below. The data will follow.

How Does Barrel Length Affect Velocity?

It is well-established fact that the length of a firearm's barrel will affect velocity (and therefore muzzle energy and even trajectory) to varying degrees. This is because the longer the propellant has had time to burn, the more of its maximum effect on the projectile can be utilized. Otherwise, energy will be wasted and propellant will likely burn off outside the barrel.

Why Does Barrel Length Affect Velocity?

This can depend on a number of factors, such as burn rate of the propellant, bore diameter, and probably others as well. The same caliber gun with the same barrel length could even show different results. For example, two revolvers of the same caliber and barrel length could differ in their amount of cylinder gap, allowing one to waste a bit more energy than the other. Likewise, semi-automatic or fully-automatic firearms will typically have lower muzzle velocity due to some of the propellant's energy being bled off into the gas system to work the action, and this can vary by individual firearm as well. Some guns, such as Heckler & Koch's integrally suppressed MP5SD are actually designed to bleed off excessive gas pressure to make sure any rounds they fire will remain subsonic! However, that is an edge case and can mostly be ignored as it pertains to the topic at hand.

We'll note various barrel lengths and load data on various calibers, from various sources.

9mm Luger

Also known as 9mm Parabellum, 9x19mm, etc.

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