I can't understand why anyone would want a barrel shorter than 24', to each is own I suppose but never appealed to me.
Gawd help us if 40-50fps (24" to 22-ish") is a deal killer.
It's not about velocity, I don't pay much attention to that but I do believe that most cartridges have "ideal" barrel lengths for max performance and complete powder burn. A 24" 257 Wby mag and a 24" 30-06 are not comparable, the 30-06 has a gas expansion chamber 20% larger than the 257. For me, I'm tall with long arms and short rifles do not have any appeal to me. As much as a stubby 308 works well in short barrels, I still prefer 24" for all of my rifles, velocity gain/loss not considered.
