30-06 Barrel Length

[trailrider121]

Well I'm going to replace my stock 22" barrel on my Marlin 30-06 XL7L with a new Criterion barrel. I plan to shoot heavies with it 185- 208gr bullets and shoot a max range of maybe 700-800 yards with. Primarily it will be used as a target / hunting rifle.

What barrel length would works best? I was thinking 26" Light Varmint barrel will help with velocity with the heavies.

 

[Highpoint]

Re: 30-06 Barrel Length

I just put a criterion on my savage 12 in 7mm08 rem, so far its been impressive. My opinion on length would be 22-24" unless you will not be lugging it around all day, if thats the case get as long as you want.

 

[trailrider121]

Re: 30-06 Barrel Length

I been hearing a lot of good reports about savage Pre-fit Criterion barrels, just looking for a good budget barrel to replace the stocker.

 

[Aubrey]

Re: 30-06 Barrel Length

A 26" barrel for 30-06 should give you virtually the same expansion ratio that you would have with the same bullets in a 20" .308 Win (e.g., 8.2 with 190-gr bullet per Powley Computer at http://kwk.us/powley.html)

Here is a comparison of some .30-caliber cartridges and expansion ratios calculated via the above link for various bullet weights and barrel lengths...

 

[The Animal]

Re: 30-06 Barrel Length

26 is a good length for the bullets you want to shoot out of it.

 

[NotoriousAPP]

Anybody know what the maximum bullet weight recommendation is on the Criterion 30-06 pre-fits? I'm told Criterion uses a hunting freebore and I'm guessing this limits the maximum weight of the bullet one could use.

 

[SWThomas]

I've got a 26" Bartlein in #4 heavy Sporter profile. It's in a Manners EH2 stock. With scope it weighs 10 pounds and is a pleasure to shoot.