Another Barrel Cutting Question??

LUCKYDOG

LUCKYDOG

Active member
I won this 25.06. It has a Savage action. It's a great gun but no way I would ever hunt with it. It is way to cumbersome. I was going to sell it but decided to keep it. It has a heavy stock and a 26" barrel.

I talked to the gunsmith today. He is ordering a Hogue OverMolded stock to put on it. The stock will come pillar bedded.

He told me todays powders will burn up in 18 to 20 inches. The gun will be for antelope, yotes and maybe deer.

Should I cut it to 20" or should I go out to 22"?

Here's a pic of how it looks now. Thanks for any input!
IMG_2636.jpg
 
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That is an awful good looking rifle, if it were me I would heavily consider trading it for something more field suitable. I would imagine you could trade that for a new/used Tikka T3 or R700 and maybe pick up some cash with it. A T3 or something of the like in a similar caliber would be a shooter and comfortable to pack around, find the right trade/sale and you just might come up with a decent chunk of change for a glass and ammo. Why try to dress down a Cadillac to look like a Kia?
 
Yeah, the gunsmith that built it said he would not take less than $1500 for it, if it was in his shop! If I could make the right trade to someone that could use it, I would. I just think keeping it would be cool.

The gunsmith said he would cut and re-crown the barrel and get the Hogue stock on it for less than 200 bucks.

Edit- He also said, it would be a shooting son of a gun. I don't doubt him at all.
 
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I still think if you could sell it for even 1200 you'd have yourself a very nice calling rifle and a very nice piece of glass on top of it... I made the mistake of trying to work with heavy barrels, I'm now either letting them collect dust in my gun cabinet (have a r700 22-250 that shoots 1/2MOA with factory rounds in there) or giving the smith money to change them. I'm looking at turning my short 16" bull barrel on my AR down to a lightweight profile, think I'd be better off just buying a new barrel (it also shoots 3/4MOA with factory ammo). Seriously consider selling that rifle to someone that will appreciate it the way it is and find one that suits you, unless you really like it and want to keep it around. If you just like it, then do it and make it yours! If you're doing it to make it work for what you need, I think you'd be better with a new base rifle.
 
In general, the more overbore a cartridge is, the more it needs barrel length. This can be countered to some degree by using faster powders, but not without sacrificing charge weight - and therefore velocity.

To pull a number out of my @$$, I'd say you need to keep the barrel 22" minimum to maintain a good chunk if the bad-assness that the 25-06 can muster. I think you'll really neuter it at 20".
 
leave it alone. 22" 25/06 will blow your ears out. 4" of barrel will not make much difference on a barrel that is as heavy as it is to begin with.
 
R22 and R25 with 100gr bullets will shoot at 3400-3500 fps with that long BBL, dont cut it and use for long range stuff. Put in a 90gr bullet and you are past 3600fps.
 
I would never put a hogue stock on that rifle. They are maybe a half step up from Tupperware. It is very flexible.

Save a couple more dollars and get a BC medalist. It's not much more money but a whole lot more stock.


As for the bbl chopping, 22 inches would be a good length IMHO.
 
"todays powders will burn in 18-20"
that's not a fair statement. most powders won't.

a hogue stock on a $1,500 gun? that's not an upgrade. i'd do it for a .22lr but not on that gun. your gunsmith may not build many guns if that is his recommendation.

on the barrel; i'd flute it before i'd cut it if wieght is your concern.

do what you want to do it's yours but that rifle is going from a $1,500 rifle to $600 rifle with the proposed "improvements".

(not real sure why it's a $1,500 gun to start with. what kind of barrel is on it?)
 
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