how short of a barrel is too short .308 mountain rifle

S

Santiago

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Hey all I have a tikka T3X in .308
Love this rifle! looking to lighten it up...mostly because I like to tinker
smile.gif


I was thinking of taking the barrel down from 22" to 20"...my question is if I go shorter at what point is the difference in performance no good. legally I could take it down to 18.5. how short should I go?

Current load is 165gn hornady interlock's going about 2650fps.


Anyone with real world knowledge would be great. furthest shots on game would be 400yrds everything from deer to elk
 
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A 308 will still make decent velocity from a 18.5" barrel. My issue with barrels under 20" is balance and holding the rifle steady for off hand shots. Unless your have a rest/bipod the shorter barrel will make off hand shots tougher. Going with decent BC bullets will help offset the lower velocity for long range.

A 400 yard shot in the field is stretching it for any hunting rifle.
 
I hunted for a few years with a Savage 99 in 308 with a 16 1/2" barrel. It was a great rifle for still hunting whitetails in the northern forest of WI and NM. My nephew and his sister have been killing deer with it for the past 30 years since I gave it to him.

One morning I had ideal conditions, and killed one still hunting and two tracking in five hours with that little 99. My goto bullet for it was the 180gr Rem RN, it was like the Hammer of Thor. I ran it with a receiver site with the aperture removed.

Mine was never a 400 yard rifle but under 200(a long shot for that country) there was meat in the pot.
 
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As others have said 18-20” will still give you good performance from the .308 Win. I generally stick to 20” on my .308’s as muzzle blast when you get below that seems much more severe. And about half the time I forget to put ear plugs in before I shoot while hunting.

I’ve ran one of my 20” 308’s out to 1200yds on steel and didn’t feel at all handicapped by the short barrel. That isn’t a hunting scenario, but it worked well.
 
400 yard shot in the field IS a long shot especially if you are shooting from field positions. Remember the first shot needs to be pretty much in a desert plate sized target.

The difference between a short, light mountain rifle and a heavy longer rifle off a bipod are quite significant.
 
Originally Posted By: pyscodogCutting 2 inchs off a sporter weight barrel isn't going to save enough weight to worry about. It will just be shorter.

Two inches might mean a lot to a women, but I think pyscodog is right.

I think it would slow that bullet down about 70fps if anything.

Accuracy gain, maybe if you had a bad crown to begin with.
 
I just got back from the range with a Remington 700 in 308 with a 16” barrel using a chrony:

Varget powder
Fed 210 primer
165 gr SST
Laupa brass
COL: 2.750”
Y
43gr = Avg velocities 2465 fps (my 700 SPS 308 with 25” barrel is 2669 fps) 5 shot group size 100yds 1.250”
44gr = Avg velocties 2526 fps ( 308 SPS with 25” barrel 2707 fps) 5 shot group size at 100 yds .425”

There is approxamately 18-20 fps per inch difference unsuppressed.

P.S. Both are factory SPS barrels with a 1:12 twist. One of the two I cut down from a 26” to 16” which I threaded and crowned for a handy suppressed bolt action rig.
 
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Txcoondog,

The only time I chono a barrel length test, was a friends 24" barrel
vs my 20" AR varmint barrels.

They where the same brand uppers only 4" diff using my .223 handloads.

There was a velocity loss of around 140fps if I recall correctly (been wrong before)

I know same brand, same length barrels, can post different velocities

10" of barrel is a lot, bet it looks good with the suppressor on the end.

10" vs 2" would warrant the cost of cutting and threading barrel,just for ease of handling
with a suppressor in my book
 
Personally, I probably wouldn't spend the money to go from 22 to 20 because I think you'd hardly notice the difference and end up wishing you'd have gone shorter.

If it were me, I agree with those that said chop it to 18-18.5 I had my 22-250 chopped from 24 down to 18 when it was in getting threaded and couldn't be happier.

One issue that could be a bit of a stumbling block for you is the gunsmith may not be able to cut it much shorter than around 20 inches without taking the barrel off.
 
I have an 18" ruger predator 308. A mild load of WW748 with 150SST's ran right at 2600 last fall for my wife. That rifle is the best handling rig I have in the woods. Kinda make a grown man feel like he's carrying around a youth rifle though.. HAHA..
 
18 seems like a good choice, I've run some 20 inch ones and if you thread it for a smith vortex or other muzzle device you might even want to go 16. I tend to like the smith vortex to save my night vision after the first shot it makes a difference. Just dropping from 22 to 20 is not enough difference to make it worth the cost to me.
 
Originally Posted By: pyscodogCutting 2 inchs off a sporter weight barrel isn't going to save enough weight to worry about. It will just be shorter.

Exactly this. That barrel is such a low profile, it would need several inches cut off to notice a difference. The biggest grip you will have is the muzzle blast will now be closer to your head and more noticeable. That and you're gonna loose some velocity with no real loss in weight. Also, you can legally take it to 16" but would likely monkey up the balance too much at that point and the blast is going to be gruesome.
If that rifle is too heavy for you to carry, a gym membership may be a better option? //shrug//
 
Originally Posted By: who meOriginally Posted By: pyscodogCutting 2 inchs off a sporter weight barrel isn't going to save enough weight to worry about. It will just be shorter.

Two inches might mean a lot to a women, but I think pyscodog is right.

I think it would slow that bullet down about 70fps if anything.

Accuracy gain, maybe if you had a bad crown to begin with.

Yep and Yep. AzBushman and I run 16in .308 PTG-10's and we have shot out to 1,000 yards with them. How short should you go? Depends on what you want it to do. How short is too short? When your accuracy suffers because it is too short to spin stabilize the bullet. Like most the guys have said, you are probably going to be disappointed by only dropping 2 inches. If you really want a compact, carry rifle, go to 16 inches.
 
Your ears pay a price for shorter barrels, so don't kid yourself about this issue. I started noticing a difference when I started cutting back from 24".

Now, you would not catch me with out a set of electronic ear muffs. There are a lot more coyotes barking and howling than you could ever hear with the human ear.
 
Originally Posted By: ackleymanYour ears pay a price for shorter barrels, so don't kid yourself about this issue. I started noticing a difference when I started cutting back from 24".

Now, you would not catch me with out a set of electronic ear muffs. There are a lot more coyotes barking and howling than you could ever hear with the human ear.


X2 Anyway why did you buy the rifle.
Their plenty of rifles with short barrels.
My 308 from 16 to 26, 243 16 to 24, and 223 10.5 to 26.
Ruger makes some nice short barreled rifles in 308.
They call a scout.
Just buy yourself a new rifle.
Sounds like fun to me.
 
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