Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Barrel length and noise

I agree but I like low noise and recoil. What cartridge gives the best balance of low noise, low recoil, and good performance for deer and hog?

As far as recoil goes I've found a 243 Win. or 250 Savage with an appropriate bullet to be very good. If you must have more juice than that to feel comfortable a 260 Rem / 6.5 Creedmoor / 7mm08 with a 120 grain bullet is very good. A 24" barrel will moderate noise on all of them.

I'm using 108's in my son's 6.5 creed. Its loud due to 20" barrel, but low recoil for sure.

I've been shooting 100 grain Ballistic Tips out of my 6.5 Creedmoor. The rifle is a Rem 700 5R Milspec, 24" varmint contour barrel. Very low recoil, although it's pretty comfortable to shoot with 140 grain bullets too.

I do know the 108s are deadly on game too. I'll probably jump to 123's this year just because he's getting bigger and can handle more. The 123's are better in wind at longer ranges.

One of my nephews has been quite deadly with a 243 and 95 grain bullets, Hornady SST handloads and Federal Fusion factory. I think he has an itch for a 308 though.

Years back when I was still a heavy chain smoker I was looking for a lighter weight rifle than the heavy 30-06 I was carrying. It would flat wear me out above 9,000 feet MSL on the mountain where the deer were. I got a good deal on a Remington 660 in .308 that with a scope weighed a good pound and a half less but damned if it didn't kick like a very angry mule. About that time my birthday came around and the kids got me a set of those Mickey Mouse hearing protecters. Well I went out to try and get that .308 to shoot a decent group and when I shot it with the muffs the kick was gone. Well not really gone but it just didn't hurt. Seems the muzzle blast from the 20" barrel was what was really causing the pain.
Too many years of shooting with nothing to protect my hearing has done considerable damage. I'm almost totally deaf in my right ear and only have about 50 to 55 % in my left ear. These days I wear muffs even on hunts. Probably my favorite deer rifle is the Ruger M77 RSI in .308 with an 18.5" barrel. The muffs make it a pleasure to shoot. My Mauser custom in.308 is noticeably quieter than the RSI but not as much fun to shoot. I like the RSI for my rare deer hunts when I draw a tag for the Kaibab.
Paul B.

I agree. And while not as popular, the .257Roberts with 115/120gr bullets is right there with those picks when regarding the "shooter friendliness to damage infliction ratio".

It’s amazing how much apparent difference there is between my 16” 6.8s and my 18-20” 223 ARs, with regard to muzzle blast. The 6.8 is almost pleasurable compared to the 223s. My 16.5” 357 max with even hot loads was the mildest on blast of any rifle I’ve had.....never even noticed any flash at dark. OTOH, the Savage LWH 20” in 243 was a loud little flamethrower. LOL

I shot a 7.5" AR from the hip...holy hell the blast was ridiculous

A fellow gun head picked up a Sako mannlicher carbine in 375H&H for cheap back in the 90s, and he sold it for cheap......

20" 243's will BLOW YOUR MIND!

I think this is spot on for deer/hogs. Went down from a .30-06 to .243 a couple years ago and couldn’t be happier. Deer have been just as dead and watching the impact in the scope sure is nice.

I have a .243 with an 18" barrel. I love the rifle but muzzle blast is pretty brutal.

Have identical bull-barrel AR’s (223), one with 16” barrel, and one in 20”.

The 16” will leave my ears ringing, even a couple hours later. The 20” does not.

Obviously, ear protection is important, but we don’t wear it while hog hunting.

I bought my son a Ruger American Ranch (16in barrel)for his first rifle in 556. That gun was absolutely the loudest I ever shot. On more than one occasion I had other shooters at the range inquire about the gun being so loud. For comparison I have a Ruger M77 mkII in a 243(16.5in barrel). It is loud, but not even close as to the ranch shooting 223 loads. The 243 makes more of a distinct loud shrill crack rather than a boom.

For another comparison, I own 2 Ruger M77 mkII 270’s. Both are stainless steel with boat paddle stocks. One is a standard model with a 22in barrel. The other is an ultralight model with a 20in barrel. So pretty much the exact same gun minus 2in of barrel length. I shoot the same loads in both, and yes there is a difference in muzzle blast and recoil. The shorter is noticeably louder and a little tougher on the shoulder. Where I shoot it’s covered with a tin roof. When I shoot the shorter rifle you can hear the roof panels rattle.

The quietest rifle I own is an old Ruger M77 mkI with a 26in semi bull barrel. It’s a joy to shoot and way more accurate than I can shoot it.

This is just my experience, maybe it will help.

I've owned both 24" and 26" barreled 257 Weatherby Mags and can say definitively the increased muzzle blast/noise from the 24 is very noticeable. The 257 Wby is already loud at 26", but at 24" it'll curl your toenails.

While not exactly apples to apples.....I’ll take a 20” to 24” barreled magnum rifle over a 4” (held with arms fully extended) any time! In my opinion barrel length does play into the equation, though probably not dramatic until going below 20” in length. memtb

maybe its me, but one of the biggest reasons, I like to use faster powders on reloading ammo, as it at least gives me the perception of less muzzle blast, than slower powders...

that is why I like 4064 or 3031 in the 243...over say 4350....

or why I use 4198 vs H4895 reduced loads from Hodgdon data, because the muzzle blast is a lot less with 4198 loads...( with better accuracy in my opinion I might add)...

using less powder to achieve the same velocity, doesn't hurt at all either...

no scientific data, just observation and personal perception...

slowing down the muzzle velocity also seems to work... again, less powder, less blast...


even in the extreme here....

I've chronographed factory 243 and 260 Rem ammo, that was suppose to be running at 2950 fps, and instead the chronograph read them at the 2600 fps MV velocity range...low 2600s

22 grains of Blue Dot, with the same bullets gave the same 2600 fps range... of course less kaboom or muzzle blast..

30 grain of 4198 ( IMR) were also chronographing in the 2600 fps velocity range.. again, less recoil and less retort...

both still giving as good or even better accuracy than the factory loads...

found the same resluts with Remington's Managed Recoil ammo when it came out... disassembled some of their ammo...
powder looked like 4198, and handloads with 4198, gave the same MV over the chronograph... with less recoil...and muzzle retort...

kind of the reason, I use these kinds of loads for most of my hunting, which is pretty much 250 yds and under in the Oregon Mountains and woods...

Take a 6.5 Grendal deer hunting, with a handloaded 140 gr Speer SP for example.. a 100 or 120 grain ballistic tip will also make you a believer in that combo...if so, why can't one do the same thing in a 260 or 243 case? 30 grains of 4198 or 20 to 22 grains of Blue Dot will give me pretty much the same velocity range as the Grendal is giving me...

My cz 527 7.62x39 is a loud little mother. I know that.