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Short light suppressed whitetail hunting rifle

I'm currently up to 4 OCL cans... A Hydrogen-S 6.5, Hydrogen-S 7.62, Hydrogen-L 7.62, and Polonium 5.56. You will not regret the Hydrogen-S purchase. Especially if you pair it with their ZR0-DTA mount that adds no length to the end of your can, by recessing the threads into the blast chamber. It's awesome for hunting rigs and guns you want to keep light and compact.
Narrowed things down to the DD Enticer LTI for $700 or STI for $635. The LTI is 8.25" and STI is 6.75" and the LTI weighs about an ounce more. Planning on using the ZRO-DTA mount that you reccomended. I'm thinking the extra 1.5" would be worth it for more suppression. Thoughts?
 
Narrowed things down to the DD Enticer LTI for $700 or STI for $635. The LTI is 8.25" and STI is 6.75" and the LTI weighs about an ounce more. Planning on using the ZRO-DTA mount that you reccomended. I'm thinking the extra 1.5" would be worth it for more suppression. Thoughts?
1.5”-2” of extra suppressor length can include quite a few more baffles, so, if it’s a well-designed can, it will make a noticeable difference. Especially the larger you start to go in the case capacity of your cartridges.

I’m one of those people that wants max suppression, so I don’t care if it’s an 8.5”-9” can on the end. Some folks want short and compact, and are not so much worried about max suppression…So they use short(er) cans in the 5”-7” range. If you can live with an 8.5” to 9” suppressor on your hunting rigs, then I’d say go that direction.
 
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1.5”-2” of extra suppressor length can include quite a few more baffles, so, if it’s a well-designed can, it will make a noticeable difference. Especially the larger you start to go in the case capacity of your cartridges.

I’m one of those people that wants max suppression, so I don’t care if it’s an 8.5”-9” can on the end. Some folks want short and compact, and are not so much worried about max suppression…So they use short(er) cans in the 5”-7” range. If you can live with an 8.5” to 9” suppressor on your hunting rigs, then I’d say go that direction.
Thanks man you really have helped me out a great deal.
 
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I agree with most other's. The range you want to hunt at and the critters you want to hunt a 16" anything will work great!

This sight is full of guys with short fat light rifles!

If you do not care about upgrade path something like a Ruger American Predator or like in 6.5CM or 308 Win cut down to 16.5 to never worry about BATF could be a winner.

If you want more after market support and easy barrel changes and pre-fits a Savage 10, 11, 12 would make more sense since you have a lot more choices for stocks, triggers, pre-fit barrels etc....

Your best bet for safely threading a fairly thin barrel is with a factory barrel that is CHF Cold Hammer Forged. Next is cut rifled barrels.Button rifled barrels are the worst for distorting the interior dimensions when threading an already thin profile. Carbon steel chromoly steel is better than stainless steel especially 416R as used in the gun making world. The physical characteristics of of it are better in every category than 416R. In fact that is the reason 416R can sometimes make a more accurate barrel but that is only true with button rifling. The 416R is softer and more plastic so when pulling/pushing a well maintained button your more likely to get a nicer more uniform consistent bore. If the rifling is cut though or hammer forged this does not hold true.

It has nothing to do with the Gunsmith and everything to do with the individual barrel. Button rifled barrels are profiled before they are rifled if you want a thin finished profile.
Why cut down a Ruger American, when you can already buy a threaded 16.5” version in .308 Win and 18” 6.5 CM?

Also, the gunsmith has as much to do with it as the barrel. If your smith doesn’t know what he’s doing, and half-asses the job, you’re expensive new barrel blank is going to be trash, and your gun probably won’t shoot very good.
 
Just put glass on my gun site. Also picked up my nomad 30 today from jail! Excited to take this in the woods this year.
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Here is one on my short and light rifles.

It started life as a 223 Rem. but never shot great. Had it rebarreled and it's now good to go.

Browning A Bolt 2 micro action (SSA).
16.25" Rock Creek barrel chambered in 300BLK.

It shoots handloded 125 SST's over CFE BLK at 2450ish. Taken several white tail inside of 100 yards.

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@D Mac nice to see another custom A-Bolt shooter. Not too many of us around. Bought mine pretty well-used many years ago, and I finished burning the tube out, and now it has a stainless 22.5” magnum sporter barrel chambered in 7mm RemMag. Shoots pretty good… 😏

Next rebarrel it will probably become a 7mm PRC, since I’ve already modded the magazine to accept really long seating depths.

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I was just checking out the enticer product pages. The STI looks on point for a hunting suppressor. Same weighr, 1/4" shorter, $250 cheaper. I would expect it to be at least the same performance of an ultra 7. They also have 338 cans.....
Interesting the Diligent cans have been coming up a lot lately. Youre right, the Sti is on par with the U7. Every hunter I demo the Lti and Sti to chooses the L. Thats skewed a bit because usually its their first suppressor. Theyre still trying to determine if the hassle and money is worth it, and max the quiet L seems to check the box. The L is ridiculously quiet, like 338U quiet.

You and I would choose the S for a hunting gun.
 
Narrowed things down to the DD Enticer LTI for $700 or STI for $635. The LTI is 8.25" and STI is 6.75" and the LTI weighs about an ounce more. Planning on using the ZRO-DTA mount that you reccomended. I'm thinking the extra 1.5" would be worth it for more suppression. Thoughts?
Are you sure those prices are for the Ti versions? Both those cans come in steel, and would be priced that way.
 
Are you sure those prices are for the Ti versions? Both those cans come in steel, and would be priced that way.
I’m certain those prices were for Titanium. Bought the Enticer L-TI for that price and double checked with the dealer that it was titanium before buying. Stainless was $200 cheaper give or take.

Sometimes it’s better to go through the smaller independent guys.
 
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How many deer hunters choose a really light mountain rifle for the 20 minute walk to their deer stand where they sit and ambush hunt?

I get it if you're hunting the Continental Divide, but you're probably not, and probably not hiking and camping on a multi-day in unknown terrain either. Bring the right tool that you can shoot the straightest, and don't stress about weight. Unless, that is, you're one of the few who goes to the most inaccessible places on public land and plans to stay out for days or weeks. I can count on one hand the guys who I know who do that, and they don't do it all the time, because it's usually a draw.

I go bow hunting in The Rockies every year, and as I age I watch the weight of all my gear more and more, because I'm not 20 anymore and packing 1lb cans of Dinty Moore up to 12,000'.

I'm lucky if I'm fully sobered up at legal shooting time on opening day of deer.
 
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How many deer hunters choose a really light mountain rifle for the 20 minute walk to their deer stand where they sit and ambush hunt?

I get it if you're hunting the Continental Divide, but you're probably not, and probably not hiking and camping on a multi-day in unknown terrain either. Bring the right tool that you can shoot the straightest, and don't stress about weight. Unless, that is, you're one of the few who goes to the most inaccessible places on public land and plans to stay out for days or weeks. I can count on one hand the guys who I know who do that, and they don't do it all the time, because it's usually a draw.

I go bow hunting in The Rockies every year, and as I age I watch the weight of all my gear more and more, because I'm not 20 anymore and packing 1lb cans of Dinty Moore up to 12,000'.

I'm lucky if I'm fully sobered up at legal shooting time on opening day of deer.
I think you just made the case for lighter guns.
 
How many deer hunters choose a really light mountain rifle for the 20 minute walk to their deer stand where they sit and ambush hunt?

I get it if you're hunting the Continental Divide, but you're probably not, and probably not hiking and camping on a multi-day in unknown terrain either. Bring the right tool that you can shoot the straightest, and don't stress about weight. Unless, that is, you're one of the few who goes to the most inaccessible places on public land and plans to stay out for days or weeks. I can count on one hand the guys who I know who do that, and they don't do it all the time, because it's usually a draw.

I go bow hunting in The Rockies every year, and as I age I watch the weight of all my gear more and more, because I'm not 20 anymore and packing 1lb cans of Dinty Moore up to 12,000'.

I'm lucky if I'm fully sobered up at legal shooting time on opening day of deer.
For me, a light rifle is about 10 to 12 lbs loaded. Mostly, I am hiking in the woods no more than a mile on public hunting land and it is one of the largest chunks of public hunting land for rifles in my state. Most everything else is private property.

I would rather make allowances for rifle weight, if possible, if it makes the gun more shootable and therefore accurate. My other advantage is that the public hunting land I use is about 1 hour from my house. So, I can eat a quick breakfast. Take just a large quiet water bottle with me. Go into town if I want lunch.

Even if I was to make it to a canyon hunt for mule deer in the western part of my state, the public area is just not very big. It is compartment hunting. Stay in your zone and shoot this direction.
 
I was talking back packing in Colorado making 5,000’ elevation changes every day vs walking a mile and sitting. Do what you want. It doesn’t even matter if it makes sense as long as your self esteem is intact.
 
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How about a Henry 44 Mag X-Model??
I've got one of these. It's got a Bushwhacker 46 can on it, and a Viper PST 1-6 power scope. I load 240 Sierra Sports masters at 1100fps in it. It'll shoot clover leafs at 50 meters all day long. It's a fun setup.
 
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I own several shorter barreled bolt guns. These are my three favorites, and any of them would hammer any deer out there inside of 500 meters. Ruger Gunsite Scout .308, 16" barrel. Seekins PH2 18" 22CM. Tikka CTR 20" 6.5CM.
 
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That’s gorgeous. What muzzle device are you using?

Looks like my 16.5” lightweight deer rifle will be ready a lot quicker than I was expecting. Got a DD Enticer L-TI in jail but was planning on using direct thread. Now I will have the rifle for a few months before the suppressor so I was planning on using Area 419 Hellfire to switch between two Tikkas. But there’s so many options out there for muzzle devices and I don’t understand half of them.
 
That’s gorgeous. What muzzle device are you using?

Looks like my 16.5” lightweight deer rifle will be ready a lot quicker than I was expecting. Got a DD Enticer L-TI in jail but was planning on using direct thread. Now I will have the rifle for a few months before the suppressor so I was planning on using Area 419 Hellfire to switch between two Tikkas. But there’s so many options out there for muzzle devices and I don’t understand half of them.

Thanks, it's a little over the top for Bambi and friends but I am happy with it and that's all that matters. It's the CB Brake mount for TBAC suppressors.
 
Just got done with this handy little 16.5” .308 build. Weighs in at 9.8lbs (with everything except the bipod). It’s a nice and handy package. Bat Machine TR, MDT HNT26, Proof Sendero 16.5”.

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That’s awesome. Did a 18.5” 6.5 CM on a 737 with HNT26. Sitting next to a Fix by Q. I’m hooked on the short barrels with the folding stocks.

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Moved my 16” 6.5x47 into a manners PH View attachment 8200261
This really makes me want to order a Manners. Waiting on Iota to fix their mistake on my Eko stock for my shorty build. Rear pillar wasn't installed properly and was about a tenth of an inch off from where it should have been. They are changing the inlet for free and fixing their mistake, but wished it wouldn't have happened because I would have the rifle in my hands already.
 
This really makes me want to order a Manners. Waiting on Iota to fix their mistake on my Eko stock for my shorty build. Rear pillar wasn't installed properly and was about a tenth of an inch off from where it should have been. They are changing the inlet for free and fixing their mistake, but wished it wouldn't have happened because I would have the rifle in my hands already.
I held that stock last week and you should order it. Very nice!
 
I held that stock last week and you should order it. Very nice!
Was looking at one of their EH1 stocks that was ready to ship. It’s for a Proof Sendero contour but I’ve got a Bartlein #4 bull sported and didn’t think it would be close enough without there being a decent sized gap between the stock and barrel.

Should have gone with Manners six months ago. Let this be a lesson to anyone wanting to get an Iota stock. Wished I could have realized the mistake 6 months ago but even the gunsmith didn’t catch it until he went to put the barelled action into the stock. On the bright side, the carbon fiber Bartlein looks amazing.
 
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Eh1 is sweet also just a different bird though when you compare the fore end. I have an eh2 and an lrh. I had to bed the arca rail on my eh2 so the rail would have something flat to mate up against. Granted when I bought my eh2 I don’t think arca rails were even invented yet lol. I say this cause I think the front is similar on the eh1 so if you ever think you may put something long and flat on it, it may not be the best choice unless your prepared to do work to it like I had to.
 
Eh1 is sweet also just a different bird though when you compare the fore end. I have an eh2 and an lrh. I had to bed the arca rail on my eh2 so the rail would have something flat to mate up against. Granted when I bought my eh2 I don’t think arca rails were even invented yet lol. I say this cause I think the front is similar on the eh1 so if you ever think you may put something long and flat on it, it may not be the best choice unless your prepared to do work to it like I had to.
That’s good to know but it would be strictly for hunting. I’ve got a RRS adaptor so I can use Arca or picatinny. Already have a KRG Bravo with Arca. There’s also a EHTA ready to ship but it’s for the factory CTR contour and Manners says it can take a #3, but didn’t know if my #4 would be too large.

I’ll probably just wait on the Iota stock since I’m buying a house right now and know the money would be better spent elsewhere.
 
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I have a PH on order to replace my AG Adjustable Hunter. It won't arrive until years end so it'll be too late for this years season but I'll get it swapped over and fine tuned for next fall in the spring.
 
I have a PH on order to replace my AG Adjustable Hunter. It won't arrive until years end so it'll be too late for this years season but I'll get it swapped over and fine tuned for next fall in the spring.
Just order one from someone who has it in stock.
 
I’ve always been a Manners fan over McMillan or the others. Plus, their stocks feel better in my hands.
I honestly liked the iota stock more so than Manners that I’ve felt. Just called Iota and they knew exactly who I was and what went wrong with the stock. They will be seeing if it can be repaired but if it can’t they offered to let me swap colors and change the inlet from T3X to CTR for free. Said it would be a max of five weeks till it’s back. So there’s no way I’ll be buying a Manners right now. Iota has gone above and beyond to make things right.
 
Got to shoot with my suppressor for the first time, I won’t be shooting without one any more. I now see why people like them so much, just makes shooting pleasant to you and people around you. This ultra 7 does a very good job, can’t wait to see what my ultra 9 and magnus are like. 16.5 inch 6.5 creedmoor and 22 inch 22 creedmoor.
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I honestly liked the iota stock more so than Manners that I’ve felt. Just called Iota and they knew exactly who I was and what went wrong with the stock. They will be seeing if it can be repaired but if it can’t they offered to let me swap colors and change the inlet from T3X to CTR for free. Said it would be a max of five weeks till it’s back. So there’s no way I’ll be buying a Manners right now. Iota has gone above and beyond to make things right.


Have you got the stock back?
 
Have you got the stock back?
Not yet, but it will be sent to the gunsmith. The bartlien cf barrel is done and that leaves cerakote. Hoping it’s in my hands before the start of rifle season in four weeks, but I’m not getting my hopes up. Thinking the suppressor will be here before the end of deer season in January.

I’ll call Iota later today to see if it could be fixed or if they gave me the other color that I asked for. Thanks for asking about it, it’s been a busy month moving and closing on my first house.
 
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Not yet, but it will be sent to the gunsmith. The bartlien cf barrel is done and that leaves cerakote. Hoping it’s in my hands before the start of rifle season in four weeks, but I’m not getting my hopes up. Thinking the suppressor will be here before the end of deer season in January.

I’ll call Iota later today to see if it could be fixed or if they gave me the other color that I asked for. Thanks for asking about it, it’s been a busy month moving and closing on my first house.
Called iota and they said the RMA was completed. Ended up replacing the stock since it couldn’t be repaired. Replaced it with the color I wanted and changed inlet to CTR from the regular Tikka. Fingers crossed that phone call gets the ball moving with shipping and the stock has no further issues.
 
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I'm curious if anyone has experience using a 16.5in barrel 308 or 6.5cm for hunting. Most of the factory rifles with a 16.5' barrel are heavy. My thought was to buy a tikka tx3 lite in 6.5cm, have a gunsmith cut the barrel to 16.5" and thread it. Could probably either thread to 1/2x28 and add an adapter to get to 5/8x24 or just add the 1/2x28 xeno brake for use with my nomad. Top with a 3x9 or LPVO and have a 8ish pound short light woods rifle for whitetail. I know 6.5cm thrives in long barrels, i have a 24in long range 6.5cm, but looking at the ballistics it seems like i can get over 1000ft/lbs out to 300 yards or so. My shots are typically inside 150 and deer in the carolinas a small. kind of a scout, kind of like a fix or cross but in a traditional stock. 6.5 will have lower recoil and less drift and drop and at the distances I'm hunting I don't think i'll miss the gains in energy by using 308. Has anyone tried anything like this or can talk me out it? The thing holding me back is that if it was a good idea i bet there would be factory rifles in 6.5 this short. Thanks for any input
Tikka action, vortex ldlh, carbon 6 light varmint barrel, stocky stocks carbon stock.
 

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Just to close the loop on this, I got a tikka tx3 lite in 6.5 creedmoor with a 24in barrel. I had it cut 16in and threaded and mounted a leupold 3x9 I took off another rifle. Weight with scope, nomad, and sling is 8.6lbs. Love the length and weight, just have to take it out and shoot it now. Here it is next to my 24in 7mm rem mag. Thank you all for your suggestions and advice!View attachment 8052834

If anyone else is in this search, here's an option I didn't see recommended. Granted it's 18" versus the 16 1/2" you were looking for. It is threaded 5/8-24

Browning X-Bolt Speed SR



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I picked up my 6.5 gen. 2 ultra 9 today and shot it on my 22 creedmoor. We had a 22 lr with subsonic ammo, not suppressed. That 22 creed was so quiet it was truly hard to tell it from the 22lr. We also shot the creed with gen 2 30 cal ultra 7, it doesn’t sound bad but quite a bit louder than the 6.5 ultra 9.
 
I picked up my 6.5 gen. 2 ultra 9 today and shot it on my 22 creedmoor. We had a 22 lr with subsonic ammo, not suppressed. That 22 creed was so quiet it was truly hard to tell it from the 22lr. We also shot the creed with gen 2 30 cal ultra 7, it doesn’t sound bad but quite a bit louder than the 6.5 ultra 9.
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