Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Best short barrel caliber?

I have an itch for a lightweight deer/coyote/occasional rock chuck rifle. Of the standard calibers .308, 7mm/08, 243 is there one that performs better out of a 20" barrel than the others? Along the same lines do slightly faster powders work a bit better than standard powders for a short barrel? Thanks.

I'd say the .308 would lose the least per inch. I've not had a 7-08, but have owned long and short versions of the other two. The short-barrel .308 velocity was closer to the long barrel version than the .243 was.

The same powders that result in the highest speed in a long barrel will do so in a short barrel.

For reference of the point Vic so aptly stated, here a link to hodgdon powders.

http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/

The charm?

Set the filter to your cartridge, say, .308 Win. and compare notes under rifle and PISTOL categories.

In pistol, .308 Win is mostly shot in 14,5" barrels and the powders that gave the best rifle length performance (Varget, BL-2 (?)) are still the best.

Thanks, mathman, for the tip.

Centershot,

In general, the more overbore a cartridge is, the more it benefits from a longer barrel. Of the 3 you mentioned, I'd expect the .308 to least degradation in performance due to a shortened barrel.

How far will you be shooting game?

I had a 20" bll Ruger 77 UL (ultra lite) and it gave velocities on the heels or equal to 22" ers.

The smaller the caliber the MORE vel (speed) is lost on shorter barrels has been my experience.

For deer, coyote, chuck I'd go .243 without the slightest hesitation. If .223 was on the list I'd have to flip a coin to choose between it and the .243. The .308 and 7-08 wouldn't be in the running.

+ 1

Faster powders do not give better velocity in shorter barrels.

The 308 will lose the least velocity per inch of barrel.

I thought about telling you what I want but answered your questions instead.

Shod

The 308 will probably give up the least speed of the 3 with short barrels but for the animals you mentioned I would look hard at a 243.

What mathman said about powder burn rates has been true in my experience

Now which one will hurt your ears more out of a short barrel?

I recall a Ruger compact in .308 that I bought the boy. It had a 16.5" barrel. That somebitch was loud.

A two inch barrel length Velocity difference between any of the short action cartridges is going to be negligible. You are talking mabe 10 fps at the most from most to least. With 100, 140 or 150 gr bullets, all have velocities in the 2850 fps range. Think we are talking nits.

I've run an 18.5 and a 20 inch in 243. I would not do the short one again (too loud/blast/recoil). The 20 inch seems just fine.

The difference is closer to 40 fps in a .308, and 100 fps in something like a .270 Winchester.

When did the 270 come in to be compared? I was comparing short action cartridges from 243, 708 and 308.

+1 my oldest son has a Remington 700 ADL Youth with factory 20" barrel. It shoots 95 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips in the 2900-2950 fps range and kills stuff like lightning. I can't tell much difference between 20" and 22" 243's except 20"ers are easier to handle.

..............For the above hunting you are going to do, either the 308 or the 7/08 will work just fine from the 20" tube. The 243 would be my 3rd choice.

With either the 308 and the 7/08 from a 20" barrel vs a 24" barrel, the total velocity loss will probably average around 2.5% to 3%.

Below is a link that shows what a 7/08 can do from a 16.5" barreled Ruger Frontier. Scroll down to the paragraph "Short Barrel, Long Reach." The author notes that the same percentage of velocity loss should also hold true for all other Frontier chamberings.

www.shootingtimes.com/long-guns/longgun_reviews_scout_102606/

Imo, you may be splitting some performance hairs between the 7/08 and the 308 for the game you mention.

In terms of bullet speeds, the slower burning powders that offer higher speeds from the longer barrels, will also do the same from the shorter barrels. Just as with longer tubes, faster burns will not offer higher velocities from shorter barrels.

........Well if ya wear good hearing protection then it wont matter which one.

Here is my exact same Ruger Frontier (nicknamed mighty mouse) in the same chambering. BTW, my ears are fine.

www.gunblast.com/Ruger_FrontierRifle.htm

No ear protection?......Not with this one.

Don't know how short "short" is for you. Can say that I own 3 22" 7-08's that all run 120's @ 3050fps. I currently own 1 20" 7-08 and have in recent past owned a 2nd in that length and they both run the same load (R-15/120TSX or V-max) @ 3000fps on the nose. 50fps means little to nothing IMO.

I'd run any of those rounds in a 20" barrel and not worry about small velocity loss.