Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing shorting barrel length and its effect on accuracy

i'm considering cutting the barrel length down of my tc encore 25/06 from 26" to 24". i like the look better and its slightly more compact. i'm curious as to what effect it would have on accuracy? any one have any experience with this?

Should not have any impact on accuracy except maybe improve it.

Your barrel would be a touch stiffer

Cut a 26" .30-06 barrel down to 21" which made for a lighter, better handling rifle. It also seems to shoot a little more accurately now. Not much, but a bit.

I've shortened a number of barrels over the years, and never had one shoot worse. Mostly they shot better, as some people have already suggested, due to being stiffer.

Besides making the barrel stiffer the shorter barrel reduces the chance of shooter-induced error from movement.

shorting the barrel should not affect accuracy just be sure who ever does the job finishes it with a good crown. that would make more difference than the shorting job

If you are not using the rifle as a truck gun, you are piss'en in the wind. If you want to see a difference in handling, then go to a 21" barrel, then be prepared to have the 25/06 teach you a whole new lesson on LOUD! I am afraid that hearing damage would be a very real possibility.

You will have no effect on handling between a 26" and a 24" on an encore, there is no action length to begin with, so your encore is close to being the length of a standard Model 7 right now.

Good luck, it is fun trying new things.

I have had a bunch of them cut. I can say that I have never seen one shoot worse shorter.

Depends on your caliber and load. .308 burns all its powder in less than 18". A .300 Mag needs more length. More of a velocity thing than accuracy. I agree with the shorter = stiffer comments. Cut 'er down and enjoy.

pal,

Sorry, a shorter barrel does not reduce shooter error. Though I'd be interested to hear your theory about why that might be so.

It isn't my theory, but I can't recall where I read it--actually thought it was common lore.

The theory, I understand, is that inadvertent shooter motion has less time in which to act on the bullet and affect the trajectory, in much the same way that faster shutter speeds diminish motion blur in a photograph by shortening the exposure time.

Is there no truth to this?

My encore had fixed sights, so my experience resulted differently than the others posting on this matter. Reducing barrel length reduces sight radius and increase sighting errors. Any improvements from barrel stiffness would not overcome the reduction in sighting radius. Outside this, I agree if speaking in terms of optical sights.

Best

I have chopped a handful of barrels on the breech end as I clapped them out, then I recut the threads and rechambered. They all shot better in their second life (not on a third, yet)>
Why? Probably because I nitpicked the metal work -- a "custom" crown and chamber and headspace and all the other barrel whatnot. But all of them shot well to start with, which is why I decided to give them a second chance.
Bottom line is, if you cut down a good barrel at the front and have a nice crown, your chances of improvement are pretty good. And, if you have a marginal barrel that is such because the crown has a secret defect, or because it vibrates "wrong" at the current length, a cut and crown might be magic.

Yes, within reason, these are all separate factors, each w/ its own contribution, tiny as they might be, pro or con. Arguments can be made either way, for example, the longer, heavier barrel somewhat aids to aiming stability; this set against a stiffer barrel... Sight radius is a separate (non?)-issue. Including the possibility that some barrel weirdness (cleaning rod wear...) or crown flaw will be eliminated using optimized technique in hopes of improving, not hurting, end results.

Not a gunsmith... I sweated this on a very accurate .338 that was 26"... As others have said, I didn't hurt the accuracy going to 22.5".

Some barrels have loose & tight spots in the bore. I think that's what is behind air gauging. Anyway, if by pure bad luck you cut right on a loose spot your accuracy might suffer.