I've had Rem. 600's in .308 and .243 and an early 700 ADL in .30-06 w/ a 20" bbl. My view is that the short action rounds have less muzzle blast (noise and flame) than the long ones, so much so that I re-barrelled the .30-06 w/ a 24" .270 bbl. The 18.5" on the M600 .308 was also pretty "active", so my current bush gun is a Kimber Classic in .308 w/ the barrel shortened to 20". Blindfolded, I have a hard time telling the difference between it and my Rem. 504 (until the trigger is pulled). This is about as much noise and recoil as I am willing to tolerate any more, and the short, light receiver makes up for any weight/handiness saving you might get with a shorter barrel.
Just my 2 cents.
