Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats .338-06 Barrel Length?

I am in the process of spec'ing a semi-custom .338-06. Just looking on opinions on barrel length. Going to be a "woods" gun. Any advantage to going A.I. in this caliber?

23"

I went with a 23 inch barrel on mine, a 21 inch would work real nice too. I thought about an AI and that is all. I'm very happy with the regular version.

I went with a Shilen SS #3 contour.

Good luck on your build.

21 or 22 would be my choice.

The advantage of AI is less case trimming; little else.

Whatever length allowed it to balance on the front action bolt.
I'd run the standard round....I think it will feed better. IMHO

19" to 21" of barrel length is a nice length, which in turn will translate into a real nice overall rifle length ideally suited for the woods. A great size for your 338-06 would be the same as my 20" barreled 40.75" long 375 Ruger Alaskan.

Remington has or had on their website a 35 Whelen available in a semi-auto 18.5" tubed carbine.

For the woods; better handling, speed, manuverability, ease in carrying trumps the small amount of additional velocity with a longer barrel, which in reality won`t affect the killing capability on game any differently anyway.

22-23" would be my choice.

No sense messing with the AI.

Both my 338-06's are 22" barrels, if I ever build a nice wood/blue rifle, I would go for 22-24" depending on balance.

+1 on everything squeeze said.

I went with 19" and slightly butt heavy to make a quick pointing, easily maneuverable rifle for stillhunting the woods.

Having one built currently, I decided on 23"

Nothing wrong w/say a 19-20", would be more like a 350 mag in a carbine, come to think of it, they'd be about neck in neck in performance.....so I might go short action/short bbl in 35.

I like 21-23 and in long actions the 22-23 would seem balanced for me. Mine was std. 23" and the only thing I would do different is a lighter bbl. It was ordered via Hart as .050 over factory mag contour but came out .73 on the muzzle. .65-.70 would be more like it, the 2nd owner fluted it.

It's one good shooting round, alot of hitting power, but tolerable recoil, unlike the Win Mag IME. A good pad helps any rifle but this round had more of a push than a sharp recoil. I used a Decelerator FWIW. 8lb sans scope, like a lb less for carry.

Built my 338-06AI with a 24" barrel - PacNor #5 supermatch grade stainless. Barrel work was done by my gunsmith-barrel is fluted/powdercoated. Built this caliber on a new Sako m75 Greywolf rifle ("IV" Action). Same weight as a factory Sako m75 Greywolf "V" action caliber (300WM/7mmRM/338WM)

22 for me

I went 22 and would do so again.

23" on mine. It balances nice for me, but you can always shorten it, you can't put more on....

I went with 22". Would do it again. Fast enough, yet handles well.

Most of mine were 22 inch, but the 338-06 with a 26 inch barrel will really produce some unbelievable velocities, especially with a long box and a long throat and IMR-4320..My pocket knife is as long as that extra 4 inches so it never bothered me in the least under any hunting conditions..I built one with the idea of cutting it back an inch at a time and chronographing it, but never cut any barrel off of it, instead I stuck a barrel band front sight on it and it became my favorite 338-06 until I went to the .338 Win shortly after its introductions and never looked back..I did the same thing with my 9.3x62 and settled on a 26 inch tube on my Mod. 21 BRno simi custom rifle and I love it with a 286 gr. Nosler at 2520 FPS and a 320 gr. Woodleigh at 2400 plus FPS.

I like both 20 inch carbines and long tubes..My 416 Rem custom Mauser sports a 20 inch tube. There is room for both and I mostly let the caliber dictate barrel length with its performance.

When you state "Woods Gun" is this a stalking gun, tree stand rifle, is weight a consideration, ???

I went with a 24" but I've yet to hunt with it. I mostly hunt from tree stands so the 24 isn't a bother for me.

I would be mostly using it "walking around". Most of my stands are over looking powerlines and fields, the 300 goes on those trips.

If it's going to be a "Walkabout" rifle, I'd suggest looking at 21 or 22 inches and a bit muzzle heavy.

Mine is a Pac Nor #3 at 24", 1" shank and has a .645 muzzle diameter.

If I had gone with a 21" barrel I was going to do a #4 with a 1/4" shank.