Velocity loss for 20" , 25-06 barrel

[JJones75]

Any of you guys shoot a 25-06 with a shorter barrel? I have a heavy Encore barrel in 25-06 and I'm thinking of cutting it back to 20" from 26" to drop some weight and help balance the weapon for my daughter.
My Daughter is 12 yrs old , medium to average build for her age and loves to shoot , she wants to get into deer and hog hunting this year. Her encore is currenly chambered in 223 and she shoots it very well to 400yds , I don't like the idea of shooting deer and hogs with that small of a round , especialy for children.

I was planning to put an extra 25-06 barrel on her gun but its too front heavy hence wanting to cut it back some , I'd like to keep some reasonable power with the 25 cal bullet so this is why I'm asking what kind of velocit loss I will get with factroy ammo out of a 20 barrel

NOTE , this barrel eat factory 117gr SST hornady ammo great , average velocity is just over 3000 fps. I know they make a light mag load that steps it up to like 3200fps but I have yet to have their light mag ammo shoot as well out of any of my guns

 

[HunterBear71]

Re: Velocity loss for 20" , 25-06 barrel

I had always heard that the 25-06 really needed the extra barrel length to get all the benefits of the cartridge. However, on one of the other sites a gentleman with a chrono claims he loses less than 200fps from the shortened barrel.

 

[JJones75]

Re: Velocity loss for 20" , 25-06 barrel

How short did he go with that barrel?

I think that a 117gr bullet will still have plenty of punch to kill a big hog at 300yds if launched at 2800 fps I have shot some deer with this barrel and a 100gr Ballsictic tip run out at 3300fps and its awsome , I just don't trust the BT's on pigs. Most shots will be in the 100yd range but we do hunt some cut overs and pipelines that 300yd shots are possible

I may just post it in the trade section and see if I can get a lighter conture barrel in a comparable caliber

 

[balkandom]

Re: Velocity loss for 20" , 25-06 barrel

Based on several sources I have read from over the years, muzzle velocity loss on the "Varmint" rifles (What I call .25 cal and under) is approximately 50fps per inch of barrel length from 26 to 20 inches, more from 20 to 18.

Never tried it myself, just relaying what I've read.