Cutlass, don't be scared of doing this. I cut my 7mm rem mag 26" barrel down to 24" and I think that was the best decision I've made in a long time. It handles so much better, is lighter and I'm not banging it on every damn thing. 26" is just way too long in my opinion and the velocity loss may not be as much as you are contemplating. I've had many 300 whinny's with 24" barrels and they perform quite nicely. It would be a "no brainer" to cut that down to 24" IMHO...
