Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats A custom '06' w/ a 26 inch barrel ?

my wife carries a 7.8 lb 7x57 mauser with a 25 7/8in long barrel this year,,, she practiced all summer 630 rounds or so, 4 days 3000 ft elevation rain sleet wind,, after the 70 yd shot, she looks at me and says, i hate that other gun you been making me shoot,,,,,

her other gun that she has taken 37 head of big game with is a 600 remington with a 22in mtn rifle barrel in 260 rem ,,, she says, that gun is to hard to hold still, it weighs a hair under 7lbs,,, so its for sale for all you short barrel guys,

us non shooting no field experience guys will keep makin due i guess

Very well said 300stw,thks for the great writing and the Great pixs , congrats to you and Wife, Thks Oheremicus great post topic!!! theres more of us here then I thought what a good feeling that is .

I remember an old sporting JP Sauer LR M98 ( .270win) I viewed with a slender factory original 26" full octagonal
with full integral rib... weight, balance and OAL were fine....for many situations the barrel length is not a problem.

Old sporting mausers in 7x57 often had 25" barrels and old mausers in .318WR often had 26"
I don't recall african hunters of past (who used them in all kinds of country) bagging them out in
their memoirs or publications.

Well, one thing you seem to have are pieces of barrel`s....I can`t afford to do that to all mine. I have used barrels in 22 to 26 inch range with various cartridges, and have seen examples in print of varing volocities at different barrel lengths. Your posts indicate that longer barrel length may be an old wives tale and have data to suggest such. I, for one would like to see such detail as you may have, so I could learn something. I would find that interesting.
Cal`s I shoot, .22cf,.25, 7mm, .30, 8mm.
Thanks

I get 2960 from my 24" Vanguard with a 24" barrel. You may have a slow barrel. But if your happy run with it.

IIRC the story correctly, Old Jack got his 26-inch "mountain rifle" hung up on an overhead ledge while sheep hunting and got the pooey scared out of him. Also, on the same day he went through a bad brushy patch and the long barrel got snagged on everything. He had it chopped and lived happily ever after.

On the other hand you like the long barrel, give it a fair try and see how it goes. You can always have it chopped later. Cutting it because of what someone else likes, thinks, or says would be stupid. Your gun, your situation, your decision.

That's exactly what I'm going to do. Try it out. Doesn't matter what I think or feel. It's what gets those big, old, running bucks that counts. E

Maybe it’s just an esthetic thing but I just don’t like the appearance of a 26 inch tube. I do have several rifles with 24 inch barrels in .243 and 30-06, as well as my 7mm and 30 caliber magnums that I like very much. That extra 2 inches leaves me cold, but beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder.

I have only a few with long barrels....my long range deer rifle in 300 wby....and my long range coyote rifle...a 6-284...both are hard to hunt with as the carrel is always getting caught on branches and they don't Handel as well in and out of a truck....for carry in the woods and walking I always carry somthing with a shorter barrel . A mod 70 FW in 06 or 308 an 88 or lately it's been the manlicker 257 Roberts...
I always thought 22 was a tad short for 30-06 but 23 or 24 might just be perfict..

A longer barrel allows standard cartridges and powder charges to duplicate shorter barreled magnums. Go to Hatcher's Notebook if you don't believe a 29" barrel will help .30-06 velocity, even with the powders available a long time ago.

I dont think anyone debates that fact.....the issue is that it really doesnt make a tinker's toot.