I have a 20-inch BLR in 7mm-08 and an 20-inch Model 70 Compact in 7mm-08. I prefer more weight and less muzzle blast than barrels shorter than 20 inches have. Velocity loss in the 7mm-08 is not much, so going to a 21 or 22 inch barrel should be all about balance and feel for you, not 50 fps.
As stated, the 139-140 grain bullets are the norm. 150s and 154s will start to lose steam with the smaller case and shorter barrels. 160-gr is really in the domain of the .280 Rem, .284 Win and 7x64mm.
For flat shooting to 300 yards, go to the 120-gr BT or TSX.
It is hard to find a Steyr that won't shoot well, and like the Tikka T3, they aren't picky about various loads.
I'm not sure I understand this one Lee24. I have a 20" Barrelled carbine on a Mark V Weatherby in 7mm-08. Great little round and also read Metcalf article on velocity loss. It was an eye opener. Now I can understand why you lose more velocity out of say a '06 length or long mag case as you have powder that has not burned down the shorter tube. But on a case such as the '08 case you have efficency in burn rate which gives you little velocity loss prior to exiting the barrel.
Your comment states that as you get into the heavier bullets, you lose more steam. Wether the bullets is 120 grs or 154 grs isn't velocity lose going to be the same percentage?
..............................In side by side chrony comparisons with my own 16.5" barreled 300 WSM Ruger Frontier along with two 24" 300 WSMs and given the same variety of identical loadings in powder, charge weights, bullet brands and a variety of bullet weights, the percentage of velocity loss "remains" about the same.
In other words, the percentage of velocity loss from the shorter tube does not increase simply because a heavier bullet is used as opposed to a lighter bullet. In all bullet weights used from the 150 gr up to and including the 200 grainers, my overall velocity losses averaged from 4.2% to 4.5% vs the 24" barrels.
I will also point out that the M77 MK2 Ruger Frontiers have a heavier tube along with the additional weight of the scout scope base mounted on the barrel forward of the receiver, of which the new M77 Ruger Hawkeye compacts don`t have. The new Ruger Hawkeye compacts use a lighter barrel with no scout base, hence a pound lighter. And as a result the new version will have less muzzle stability.
So imo, there is no muzzle stability or balance issues due to a too light a muzzle when it comes to the Ruger compacts in the earlier Frontier versions only. In fact, it balances just as well and is as stable from the muzzle as most of the 24" barreled rifles I`ve fired from various freehand positions (using a conventionally mounted scope), including shooting while resting on a standing bipod used for hunting. And when a scout scope is used (I do both; a conventional and a scout scope), the muzzle stability gets even a little better with little effect on rifle balance.
Depending on which rifle version and just because a barrel is shorter down to a 16.5" length, doesn`t automatically mean the muzzle is less stable or that the rifle won`t balance well.
