First rebarrel, dumb question...

[HorribleAim]

I plan on rebarreling for the first time with a Krieger (308, 1-11.25 M24 contour 5R) bought over their website yesterday. I also plan on having my action trued when I send it in, should be a shooter!

The finished length is listed as 26". Is it possible to cut shorter when getting it chambered and crowned, or is this generally unrecommended? As in, the barrel itself is optimized/designed for that finish length of 26"?

I'm happy either way, just wondering what's possible. I'd probably go no shorter than 24" anyway.

Thanks all!

 

[Smokin7s]

You can cut it down as far as is legal. A 26 inch blank won’t actually finish at 26. But shorter really wouldn’t hurt 18-22 would be fine.

 

[swampbuck]

You can specify length when rebarreling. Expect about 30 fps velocity loss per inch cut. Will not matter on accuracy.

 

[celltech]

My 18" .308 is one of my most fun and accurate rifles to shoot...go short!

 

[HorribleAim]

I'm replacing the 16.5" barrel on it (one of those factory SPS Rems). Very handy rifle but loses a ton of steam around 600 yards. Set the rifle up after gawking at the shorty thread here!

In terms of group size, sub-MOA but they balloon out after the first 4-5 rounds. Not sure if it's factory materials or the fact heat has less room to dissipate after strings...

18-20" may be a good balance.

 

[918v]

You can specify length when rebarreling. Expect about 30 fps velocity loss per inch cut. Will not matter on accuracy.

Wrong.

308 loses 15-20 FPS per inch.

 

[Lost_Phil]

RifleShooter.com did barrel length tests on 300 Win Mag, 308 Win and 223 Rem. The loss is not as bad as you would think it is on all 3 tests he did.

My self, I am building a 24 inch 308 Rem 700 rifle right now and I have two 20 inch rifles I use for hunting. One Rem 700 and the other is a Savage 10 that I have shot out to 1000 yards with out issues. If you are planning to just use the rifle for target shooting, I would keep the barrel in between 20 and 24 inches. For hunting and target shooting, I would keep the length between 18 to 20 inches, and 16.5 to 18 inches for a Pork Sward.

 

[brianf]

If it’s just a car to range gun go long.
you can always cut it again, but you can’t gain the velocity back
If shooting factory Ammo 22” is great middle road

 

[XLR308]

20" to 23" barrel is ideal in my opinion the balance point is damn near perfect with a M24/40 profile at 23" in a conventional Manners A4 or MCM stock and your not giving up much if anything velocity wise.
If you are a speed demon run something in the 26-30" range otherwise dont worry about it and be happy with a handy rifle that you dont need 3 yards of free space to swing it around in hunting scenarios
If you go longer than 23" the Rem varmint or medium palma is a good choice.