Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Shortened barrels what do you like

Spare parts rifle, Sako S491 Action, 223 AI

10/4 on that,

ear plugs work for short barrels with or w/o muzzle brakes!

Ask me how I know!





and a bit of evening entertainment!


ya!


GWB

I'm not afraid to have a barrel chopped, but as Stick mentioned, bear balance in mind. I can only suffer a 24" barrel on something like a 7RM. Everything else gets cut from 20" to 22". I have a few factory 18-18.5" guns, but I'd honestly prefer 20" on a carbine. It's short enough for "handy" but not terribly loud if burning under 50gr of powder.

I'd go 20" and maybe a heavier contour.



BTDT . . . and my ears are still ringing

Kimber Montana chopped to 18”

22” - 24” is all I care for. Had a Sako 85 with a 20” barrel & just could not warm up to it.

I think I may have one of the only Sako 85 Finnlights 308 Win with a 22” barrel in existence.

22 inches for most. I've had a few 20" barrels and liked them alot. I did put a 23" barrel on recent and wish I'd gone 22.

Not a fan.

Don't do any rifle hunting out of a blind. Did start my kids out on 20" .308 bolt guns just because they were short in the arms at the time. Most every rifle I hunt is a 24 or 26. Wish I had 28's on an STW and a .300 Wby. My flinter is 32, so...............

I won't go under 20" in most cases, too dang loud for me. Smaller, quieter, rounds can go shorter, provided the balance is good.

I think 20" is about ideal for 308 as an all around length. I have 2 with 22" barrels, but can't see enough difference to justify cutting only 2" off of them so they will stay at 22". I have one of the Ruger Predators with an 18" barrel. It is a little shorter than I'd prefer, but since I already have others with 22" barrels it fills a niche. If it were 20" it wouldn't be enough different than my 22" guns.

On 30-06 class cartridges 22" is perfect. I want no more, or less. I can deal with 24" on magnums, but I no longer own any and if I needed 26+ to get the performance I'd just have to pass.

If I had 24" to start with and wanted something shorter I'd probably compromise at 21" just to be unique.

Love my .208 Ruger Scout with 16.1" barrel. Pur a synthetic stock on it, with which Ruger says gives it a weight of 6.25 pounds. Added a muzzle break. Mot much recoil and very handy. 2699fps with 150g BT, 2805fps with 130g TTSX, both over Varget.

At 300 yards, twice what OP was concerned about, those loads retain 2135fps/1518fpe and 2099fps/1271fpe respectively.

22 and 24 for me. Had a few magnums with 26 but they went down the road years ago.

I don't do any magnum calibers so 22 inches Ive found to be universal. I do have one rifle with a 24 inch Bbl. but its for looks more than function...


But it looks good!

Light matters to me more than short these days, and a longer barrel helps with anything that might get used with irons.

I have a RU77 .30-06 Tang at 17", with stock shortened fore and aft, and slimmed for looks and fit to my wife. Decelerator pad. Handy little thing, 1.25 MOA - good to 400 yards ( first game taken was a ram at 330, later a caribou at over 375) if range is known. It came used with a bulge at the muzzle, hence the barrel chop.

I don't shoot it off the bench much, and then with double hearing protection, usually no more than 5 rounds at a time, if that.. I do carry it hunting a lot, with a slip on pad over the Decelerator for better me-fit. It has killed sheep, black bear, caribou, and moose.

Most all of the 308 rifles I use deer hunting are 22 inches long. I do have one that is shorter, but it is cut for suppressor use.

All but one of my 338 WM's and both my 375 H&H's had 22" bbl's. For those two, 22-23" was just right for me.

I really appreciate everyone's opinions. This thread has been a big help in my decision, and I'm going to enjoy taking this 21" stainless M700 with me.
Happy Hunting

Yes, a 21" would be about perfect. I climbed a lot of trees with a 24" on my 7 mag and that barrel caught on near everything. The 18.5" on my 742 carbine was better for tree climbing, but a little loud on the back side. I cut a .35 Remington down to 19" for a walk around rifle, but when I built up a custom 7mm-08, it has a 20" with a #1 taper. If I built it again it would have a #2, but that 20 or a 21" would be about ideal.

I'm love my 16.5" Ruger frontier. Its extreme handy in the stand or blind. Rides perfectly on that dash of my Jeep and easy to grab for a quick shot on a hog or coyote.

straydog- how did you decide on 21"? Is you Mod 700 a standard 700 sporter? I see where the Mod 700 comes in a 20" heavy barrel model ( as do many others, tacticool) that would be a sweetie in a box blind. Since I am tall, I don't mind a longer rifle barrel, with 24" feeling perfect and a 22" feels "almost" short to me.

Jwall- stock fit had to come into play on that Ultralight 308. I had a Savage 99c 308 that felt just fine to me, yet it slapped my friend every time he shot it!