Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Barrel Length for 6.5x47L Hunting Rifle?

Should be getting a call from gunsmith soon. He told me to let him know how long to cut the barrel when he called to let me know was starting on rifle. Rifle will be in a McM Hunter stock with edge fill, Bighorn hunting action, Bartlein 2b contour, Aluminum bottom metal, and 1 inch Decelerator. I originally spec'd 24" to squeeze out some velocity. Would 22" balance better with this setup? Could split the difference and go 23". I have done a #3 24" Bartlein in an Edge fill stock and it was overly nose heavy. This gun is not meant to be a "sheep" rifle or a "beanfield rifle". Idea was to have built a mild hunting rifle that I can enjoy and my sons can shoot in a couple of years. Might have an additional adjustable or "beater" short stock configured for them to use with it. I get overly analytical when having custom rifles built.

Getting one back this week, 22" on a Bartlein 2b. Will eventually end up in an edge stock of some sort.

What reamer are you using? Went with .169 freebore on this one. Trying for 140 vlds.

No clue on the reamer. Jon Beanland is building it. I told him I would probably shoot 120 ttsx, and 130 vld's.

Bonefish,

Honestly the 6.5x47 is so damn efficient that you could go with a 20" barrel and not lose too much velocity.
You always hear that for every inch of barrel length lost you lose "x" amount of velocity.
This statement is BS and doesn't bear any weight or reason.

Some calibers are just very efficient and the old adage 25 FPS for every inch you cut a barrel back just doesn't hold true.

One thing that you have to keep in mind is that the shorter the barrel the more muzzle blast...It just loud.

I would bet that the difference between a 26" barrel and a 22" barrel is 50 FPS.

Ultimately you want a well balanced rifle. Well balanced rifles feel better, shoot better and are just better.

Shorter barrels are stiffer barrels. Stiffer barrels are more accurate barrels. No question.

Go with a little more "meat" in the shank area and cut is down to 22". It'll balance like a dream.

I am building my girlfriend a 6.5 CM and just got her barrel in today. Its a modified light palma contour, 22" finish length, .720" at the muzzle.

The unchambered barrel, Model 7 action, bolt, bottom metal, Manners EH6 and everything else weighed 6.5 lbs. Im guessing all said and done it'll weight 6.25 lbs after bedding.

Shoot me a PM if you have any questions. I have 6.5x47 on a short barrel. You'll love it.

You won't miss or need another 30 FPS. Accuracy trumps speed all day every day.

Get rid of your 1" decelerator too. Its just unnecessary weight. Go with a 1/2 pad. They're 3 or 4 oz lighter. You don't need a 1" pad on a 6.5x47

My 22.5" Rock Creek has a .123 freebore and makes 2,900 with 129gr LRAB bullets and RL17. No regrets on length.

Mine's a no turn .123" freebore running 130 VLD's at 2820 in a 23" #3 Brux. Took it to 2950, but the accuracy wasn't there. An inch of barrel at the noisy end is hardly an ounce in a #3.

Sits in a Classic Edge with a 1" pad. 1/2" saves an ounce at the most.

I always assumed it was more weight like you're saying. Manner's quoted me 6oz heavier if I went from a 1/2 to a 1".

When ordering my last Hunters Edge I had McM weigh both sizes, exactly one ounce difference in the pads by themselves. So with the longer stock material in a half inch pad, the net gain would likely be under 1 ounce.

I believe you. Just strange that one manufacturer claims 1oz and the other claims 6 oz. Unless McMillian uses a lighter decelerator. I know the stock with decelerator I got from Todd Bettin has a different decelerator than the standard 752B I've used on others.

I made my Creedmoor 18 inches and I am very happy with it. Factory Hornady 140 grain AMAX load goes 2550fps.

I killed two does that where together at 300 yards one afternoon. It works fine.

The only thing I'd add is that you need to consider the shank length. The standard 2b has 2.75" of straight shank. So if you want less than ~2" of exposed shank and you didn't special order a longer blank, then 24" finished length won't be possible.

Jon built me a similar rifle in 6.5x47L. Mine's a Borden alpine action, Bartlein #2 contour, aluminum bottom metal and a Mcmillan hunter's edge stock with 1" decelerator pad.

I had him finish it at 22" and the shank length is 1". Bartlein doesn't say they'll make a #2 contour in 6.5 but I called Frank on the phone and he agreed after I pleaded my case. My rifle balances perfectly, in my opinion your rifle would be nose heavy with a 24" barrel in #2b contour. I wouldn't go more than 22" in a 6.5x47 hunting rifle, I long ago decided that the little bit of velocity gained from long barrels isn't even remotely worth having to put up with the extra barrel length. I don't like to go below 20" just because muzzle blast becomes obnoxious.

No way I'd do 24" on that rifle, and I'd have him shorten the shank to 1" or less.

The tan one is an 18" 6.5x47L. I run 140s around 2680fps. I would not go longer than 20" if it were me.

Crow Hunter, Do you have a pic of that rifle? The shank will be 3/4" on this one. I will probably cut to 22". What velocities are you getting with 120-130's in your accurate loads? Very slightly nose heavy is okay with me, if not a plus in a hunting rifle. Overly nose heavy is a major PITA. I would rather have a heavier gun that was close to balanced than a lighter rifle that was very nose heavy. The ultralight stocks seem like a good idea until you match them up with a heavy, long barrel. I had a beautifully balanced NULA in 260 that I struggled holding still in field positions. Making a conscious move to a slightly heavier rifle.

Ignore the Hubble on it

I haven't shot any 120's or 130's out of it. I had my own reamer made with a .112 freebore to shoot the 100 TTSX and that's all I've used through it for deer. It shoots them into tiny groups using 40 gr. Varget at 3100 fps. I did take it prairie dog hunting and ran 100 gr. amax's through it, it made for some fun PD shooting but it's a bit much obviously. I haven't weighed it but it's pretty light, handles great and is a hammer on deer. It's not NULA or Kimber Montana light though, which is a bit too light for me. Recoil is almost non-existent.

Mine is light palma 20" - love it.

In a 2B, I would go 21 to no more than 22.5

You cannot go wrong in that range. Blast and balance decide.

Speed and accuracy aplenty.

22" max...

My 20" makes 2950fps with the 123 amax or scenar. Its a 9 twist so never tried the 140's.

I went 22" on my light Palma bartlien. I'm shooting 120 b-tips and have no complaints. Haven't fluted yet, but might. I like the looks of a 1" pad and won't feel the weight difference. 😁