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300WM Shorty?? Help please.

Bowhntr4life

James
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Dec 8, 2017
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I’m thinking of having a 300WM shorty built. What would be your recommendation on Length, twist and why? Will be used for whitetail deer hunting mostly.
 
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Not sure if you run a suppressor or not but if you do try and stay at or slightly longer than what their minimum recommended length is.
Some were in the 18-20" range I think would be about as short as you would want to go and still have acceptable performance.
That will be a loud ass fire breathing dragon at 18" 😉
 
Yes it will be suppressed. I am glad you mentioned that!
Not sure if you run a suppressor or not but if you do try and stay at or slightly longer than what their minimum recommended length is.
Some were in the 18-20" range I think would be about as short as you would want to go and still have acceptable performance.
That will be a loud ass fire breathing dragon at 18" 😉
 
I have a 300wm barrel with PVA waiting to be cut down. I think I'm having Josh cut it around 20 ish" or so from 24".

I just had it laying around so I thought it would be a fun project. The barrel is also pretty fast and still isn't fully broken in so I didn't hesitate to chop it at whatever length I specified.

When it comes back I'll have more data but I guesstimate that I'll be able to sling 208's around 28-2850fps with H1000 and 3000 FPS with a 175 LRX for hunting.

I wouldn't go shorter than 20" but anything between a 9 and 10 twist will be fine.
 
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I’m thinking of having a 300WM shorty built. What would be your recommendation on Length, twist and why? Will be used for whitetail deer hunting mostly.

As others have mentioned, you really have to watch port pressure on a barrel shorter than 22” with a can. Id keep it right at 22” to the tip of the muzzle threads. it will still be great handling and you can run any can normally rated for the win mag. You should also achieve a complete powder burn as long as your bullet and powder selections are well matched. 10 twist.

Add some flutes to relieve a bit of addl weight.
 
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As XLR308 mentioned, definitely check with the manufacturer of your can for barrel length restrictions.
Also, if you haven’t read the article below, it can give you a reference as what to expect for velocity loss per inch of barrel removed. Look at the data in terms of percentage of speed lost and apply it to your baseline speed/length as his bullet/powder combo is probably different than yours.
 
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Got my barrel back. Originally 24” OAL, 1-9 twist pre-fit from X-caliber. Had OVA cut barrel to 21” OAL.

I used the same load from the 24” barrel to see how much FPS was lost.

208 ELD
75.5gr H1000
Barnes brass
CCI200

2898fps avg. from 24” barrel.
2846fps avg. from 21” barrel
I need to tweak the load a bit for the shorter barrel but overall I’m pretty impressed.
 
Will be doin a 20 inch 300 prc next year. Thanks for some relevant info!
 
Got my barrel back. Originally 24” OAL, 1-9 twist pre-fit from X-caliber. Had OVA cut barrel to 21” OAL.

I used the same load from the 24” barrel to see how much FPS was lost.

208 ELD
75.5gr H1000
Barnes brass
CCI200

2898fps avg. from 24” barrel.
2846fps avg. from 21” barrel
I need to tweak the load a bit for the shorter barrel but overall I’m pretty impressed.
I’m actually thinking about doing a 300WSM now instead. Your thoughts?
 
You bring up some great points! Thank you! That’s why I love this page.
I’d still probably lean 300wm and cap it at 21” bbl length.

It just seems more versatile in my opinion without having to jump through a bunch of hoops to make a wsm competitive.
 
Some more data for those interested in a shorter 300wm.

220 Berger LRHT
74gr RL26
New Norma Brass
CCI200

2842fps out of the 21” barrel

I also have a bunch of 150gr Barnes TTSX I got for a steal and it’s running 3256fps and even at sea level, is super flat shooting out to reasonable hunting distances.
 
Why 300wm? seems overkill for whitetail. An 18" 6.5 Creedmoor, 308 win, 30/06, 280, 280AI, 7mm-08 will kill whitetails just fine.
 
I've had my 300 WSM Fierce Edge cut down to 21" for my shorty suppressor, but haven't shot it yet. It should do well with 180-200gr pills
 
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