Greetings friends-

I am in the market for a new deer rifle for a ten year anniversary present. My current and only deer rifle is an old Rem Mohawk 600 in .243. It has no scope on it but is reliable and has taken many deer.
I am researching rifles, scopes, and calibers, basically starting from scratch. This rifle will be used for deer hunting out to 300 yards, groundhogs to beyond 300 and some occassional target shooting at the local gun club out to 200 yards.
I have settled on the .308 Winchester. I already have dies for it. My question is in regards to barrel length. I was looking on the Remington website and it appears that the only length they have for this cartridge is 20". I had my mind set on a 22" bbl but not sure why. Can someone explain the pro's and con's of these two lengths for this particular cartridge? More specifically, which barrel length would provide for the flattest shooting with this cartridge? I will be handloading all of my ammo, by the way.

I'd also like to hear opinions on the make and model of good rifles for this caliber. I definitely want USA made, traditional wood stock and blued finish bbl. I have a budget of about $750 for the rifle not including the scope, which I have already decided to be one of the new Redfields.

Thanks for any help!
Thomis

A longer barrel will always be flatter shooting. Slightly more velocity. For the ranges you are talking about, 20"-24" will be more than adequate. Shorter is lighter and handier. Here is one thought on the subject:

Chuck Hawks

Edit: Regarding rifles, I think you can't go wrong with a Savage. They shoot exceptionally well. I really like the Accutrigger, both from a functionality and a safety standpoint. For a wood stock, you'd be looking at a Model 14. You can get them in the Model 11 or 16 with the Accustock. You'll get as many opinions as there are people here on what rifle to get. Make a list of candidates, go handle them and see which one grabs you.

Here are the pros and cons of a 20" barrel versus a 22" barrel on a .308:

You will never notice the difference, either in shooting the rifle or results in the field.

In my experience, 22" is about the cut-off for where I notice the muzzle blast. That is the only thing that would weigh on my mind. That is one reason I don't like shooting AR15s.

You will do fine by the 308 but it is a little excessive for ground hogs. If you have a $750 budget I wouldn't get hung up on the fact that you already have dies.

If I were to buy a new walnut stocked 308 right now it would be a Ruger Hawkeye. American made, reliable as anything you can buy off a shelf and aesthetically pleasing. Guess what, it has a 22" barrel.

Are you looking at bolt actions??????I am sure Remington has 22 or 24" barrels for 308 Win.in Model 700`s.Model 7`s have a 20" barrel in Standard calibers and 22" in short mags.I have a model 7 in 308 and love it.Browse the Classifieds here,there are some super deals to be had.Good luck,Huntz

You're making way too much sense!

BTW, welcome to the 'Fire!

You happen to be in luck, in that neither deer nor groundhogs have chrony's. Any difference in velocity due to barrel length, will be irrelevant to your purposes.

Great cartridge, solid scope choice... sounds like you should be GIVING advice around here.

As for rifles, shoulder as many as you can, work the action, etc. See what chooses you. It's hard to make a bad choice.

FC

Balance is important to me, so while holding a rifle to your shoulder if the 22" barrel feels better than the 20" go with that or vise-a-versa.

I am 6'4" and really like most 24" barrel rifles, but have longer and shorter. A lot would depend on the weight of the rifle and where that weight is.

Welcome to the forum,

While the 308 Win. is a superb cartridge for game and target its not suitable for woodchuck hunting. Dangerous ricochets are all too possible.

Someone may load sabots in the 308? What I mean is say a .224" 55 gr bullet in a plastic sleeve loaded in a 308 case.

Your 243 on the other hand with lighter bullets is an excellent chuck cartridge.

For me too.....it's more about balance than anything else. A 22" (or even 24") barrel just seems to balance better on a standard bolt rifle. The shorter 20" models just seem a bit "whippy" and light in the front to me.

That said, the .308 is probably one of the best choices if one wants a barrel of less than 22" as it is very efficient and loses less velosity than more "intense" rounds in a shorter tube. You might look at the Ruger Mannlicher carbines as they are short, but seem better balanced with the full stock. Love mine!

Here is an interesting article on barrel length from the LA swat team.

Barrel length article

They started with a 308 with a 26" barrel and they would cut an inch off the barrel and test fire and check the velocity and accuracy at each length.

Welcome thomis!.............The only difference between a longer barrel vs a shorter one, will be in the velocity dept only. In theory and vs longer barrels, shorter barrels have less length to vibrate, writhe or resonate, and in theory, are inherently a little more accurate. But imo, what more determines better accuracy for any rifle regardless of barrel length, is the powder, bullets, seating depths, or components that the individual rifle prefers.

For your use or any other usage that you can think of for the 308, there are no cons using a 20" barrel vs a 22" barrel. A 20 to 30 fps per inch or 40 to 60 fps in total velocity loss, won`t make any difference on your killing power or effectiveness and will be very miniscule in the overall trajectory dept.

If your looking for a handier and lighter rifle with the 20" barrel, the Ruger Ultralite (made in the USA), is available in the 308 (with wood,,,a matte barrel ok?) and is within your budget.

And, I don`t think there will be that much of a difference in noise levels between the 20" vs the 22" barrels. Get below 20" or so and you`ll notice an increased noise level. I own a 16.5" barreled Ruger carbine and am very familiar with increased noise levels. I wear very good field and range hearing protection which more than off-sets any increased noise.

I`m not familiar with what Redfield offers in their scope line.

Good luck!

Thanks all,
This is all good stuff. I just need to visit the local shop and heft a few makes and models. I have no idea how I'm going to decide though.
I'm liking the new Win Model 70, the Ruger Hawkeye and the Savage Model 11 and 14. My gut tells me to venture away from Remington for this one. For no apparent reason.

And yes, my .243 is an excellent chuck killer and has lay many a whistle pig to rest.

Has anyone seen a list of USA made firearms manufacturers?
I'd like to see a list of those made in USA AND owned by Americans.
I may have to start putting one together.

I like two barrel lengths..20 inches or 26 inches...Guess I'm an extremeist...I really like a 26 inch tube for off hand shooting and for running shots on game..but a good thick fairly heavey 20 inch barrel will work about as well, at least for me/

No one has mentioned the Mossberg rifles. The 100 ATR's are reasonably cheaper than all the others. My dad has a Mossberg .243 from the 70's that he has used to take many deer and he loves it.

The remington 788 has a straight taper barrel which gives better control and accurcy than the barrels tapered to a pencil thin profile. so if you can find a 788 then go for it. It would be a used rifle as they are no longer made.it came in 308.

Don't longer barrels promote shorter barrel life anyway? I don't see any job a 24 or 26 incher won't do in any case. You could go 28 inch or 30 inch if you really wanted to, start practicing now by caring around a broom with a scope on it. :P

Years ago, I looked a Ruger Mod 77 .308 with a cutdown 19" heavy barrel in a small town in IL. IL was a shotgun only deer state at that time and I could have bought that rifle dirt cheap. I didn't buy it and have regretted ever since. Maybe the perfect feel/point for a bolt rifle. Good luck.

As someone else has already said, a 22 to 24 inch barrel just hangs better for me. I still like to hunt the thick stuff and 20 inches and shorter just feels butt heavy and whippy to me.

Even in the thick stuff, I never have problems with a 2 to 4 inch longer barrel. Plus aesthetics play a part. I just like the looks of a longer barrel.

Of course any rifle can be built to handle well with any barrel length.

A lot of bench Rest guys like a stout 20" barrel for shooting Hunter Class.Like said before less vibes and little loss of velocity.Also the extra weight in the tube ,would help for off hand shots.

There has been some concern about the bolt coming loose on the ATR.
Do a search about past discussions on the ATR.

take a look at the Marlin XS7 in 308-22 inch barrel and ACCURATE for under 300 bucks! my XL7C 270 shoots like gangbusters and is out of the box stock!

Does anyone know this... the difference in the Hawkeye standard and ultralight is only 2" bbl but 3/4 pound. 2 inches of bbl can't weigh 3/4 pound. what else is cut out? is the bbl thinner as well?

............As opposed to the standard Hawkeye, the Ruger Ultralite appears to use a thinner and lighter barrel. It has to be lighter than the std Hawkeye to live up to its model name of Ultralite.

The Ultralite is a real nice handling pkg.

Still don't know what "over-kill" really is.

I think your cartridge choice is perfect and your scope choice is a frugal one. As far as new rifles go, your budget would be wisely spent on the new FN M70. That will give you the 22" barrel. 22" barrels can become 20" barrels if you so desire.