Barrel Lenght

[nomad 1]

Having a 308 Win with a 26" barrel have thought of cutting it down to say 20"......My thought it would have less barrel
movement thus it would shoot a tighter group....
Have seen a movement to 20" in law enforcement and in some tactical rifle matches when moving from fire point to fire point.....
What are your thoughts and have you tried this as well......

 

[andrew_pritch1]

Re: Barrel Lenght

all comes down to the application if you want to shoot tighter groups try load development as far as i know every barrel is like a tuning fork u need it to sing the right tune

there is no difference between having longer barrel and barrel movement

barrel movement comes back to the shooter not the rifle itself

yes a shorter barrel is lighter but everything i have found is a trade off shorter barrel equals less muzzle velocity but more maneuverability

so the argument is do you use a star screwdriver or a flathead

if longer range run the longer barrel

if short range tac then as long as u load properly and get it working properly (polish the turd) it will work perfect as i said b4 different tools for different jobs.

i hope this helps

 

[para1505]

Re: Barrel Lenght

I am shooting my first long range rifle. It is a 20". I shoot to 800 yards and it performs very well. I shoot against longer barrels all the time. I have seen no reason to switch yet. Don't sweat which one that much either, mine is a R700 shoet tac. Droped in a B&C stock,trigger job on factory X mark trigger, do load development. then go shoot the heel out of it keeping a good log book and you will shoot very well.

 

[mark5pt56]

Re: Barrel Lenght

Big question is-how does it shoot now? I would say if it's shooting good and you have data collected, leave it alone.

 

[Silver_Bullet_00]

Re: Barrel Lenght

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: nomad 1</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Having a 308 Win with a 26" barrel have thought of cutting it down to say 20"......My thought it would have less barrel
movement thus it would shoot a tighter group....
Have seen a movement to 20" in law enforcement and in some tactical rifle matches when moving from fire point to fire point.....
What are your thoughts and have you tried this as well...... </div></div>

Possibility you will lose some velocity for each inch under 24. I don't see how it would tighten up your groups.

 

[Longshot38]

Re: Barrel Lenght

Call Mike @ Tac Ops and he will be more then happy to speak to you in depth on the subject. In the mean time read this, http://www.tacticaloperations.com/SWATbarrel/ . Also simple fact of the matter is that a long barrel is not needed to reach out to longer distances but at distance the additional MV is nice. Simple fact of the matter is that a rifle is a tool nothing more, so build the tool for the job it was intended to do.

 

[kujo929]

Re: Barrel Lenght

The velocity difference between my 26" PSS and my 16" LAR-8 was only 75 FPS on my chrono using fed GM 168's. Given the LAR-8 is chrome lined and the PSS isn't. But for me 75 FPS is not worth 10 extra inches of barrel except in certain applications.

 

[Unknown]

Re: Barrel Lenght

Additional muzzle velocity is the greatest justification for a longer barrel...not accuracy. If your 20 inch barrel will stabilize bullets out as far as you want to shoot, there isn't any huge reason for a longer barrel.

However, if your bullets loose enough velocity so they begin to go transonic sooner than you wish, then the extra barrel length, (and hence velocity) could be helpful in getting you more distance before the bullets go transonic and start to destabilize.

I usually figured that I would loose around 25 FPS for each inch of barrel between 20 and 24 inches. That is only 100 FPS, but that 100 FPS might be just enough to keep the bullet stable out where you need it.

With that in mind, a bullet with a better ballistic coefficient might be more important for distance than barrel length...Geez, there are so many factors to consider that it could drive you nuts. Everything seems to effect/affect everything else.