Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Shortening a barrel on a 788

I recently bought a Rem. 788 in .222 for varmint hunting. It has a 24” barrel on it . I would like to cut it down to 18 or 20”. What are some of the pro’s and con’s of doing this ?

Negatives: Velocity loss (maybe 25-30fps per inch), increased blast/noise over original length, change in balance point (may be good or bad, depending), perhaps some diminution in value on the rifle market.

Positives: Portability, barrel stiffness, change in balance point (may be good or bad, depending)

If balance matters, the 788s that came with 18.5" barrels were butt-heavy even worse than the 18.5" barreled 7s despite the heavier barrel contour.

The shorter barrel would make it handier.

I like a short barreled rifle when calling in and around cover and currently use a stainless Remington 7 with the Mannlicher-style stock in 223 for that purpose.

I'd sell it and buy something else

One of the "pros" is that often shortening a barrel results in somewhat better accuracy, due to the barrel being stiffer--but only if the recrowning is done right.

In general, typical centerfire rifle rounds lose (or gain) about 20-25 fps per inch of barrel on average. This means shortening a 24" barrel to 20" would result in about 100 fps less muzzle velocity--about as much as a typical 50-grain .223 Remington load loses in the first 25 yards. Some hunters would consider this 100 fps important; others wouldn't.

If I were to have a gunsmith cut the barrel, I’d also go ahead and have him run a .223 reamer down the chamber.

It will almost equal the velocity loss of chopping it off.
Not that it’s enough velocity to matter for a varmint gun. But you’ll be able to buy cheaper and a lot more variety of loads, if you just shoot factory ammo. And it’ll be much easier to buy brass for, if you want to reload.

You’ll pretty much ruin any “collectors value” when you cut it down, anyways. So rechambering to .223 or .556 won’t effect the value any how.

Back when 788’s were still cheap, and readily available, I did that to several .222 versions, when I wanted another cheap truck gun.
They all were extremely accurate, too.

222 rem in a 788 sell for 550 -750 depending on condition, they are a collectors item. A hell of a lot of them got rechambered to 223 further reducing their numbers and value. Sell it to some who appreciates it for what it is, obviously you don't. Take the money buy a howa 1500 in 223 and the extra on a better scope...you asked mb

Ohhhh, the humanity! That would be a cardinal sin, Neal.

I would leave it alone and get a mini Howa or something else.

I did commit the offense of restocking mine with a Boyd's walnut stock, though, so I guess I have no room to talk.

The pro's: shorter and lighter
con's: velocity loss, it will be loud, and you will ruin the value if you decide to sell it.

What kind of varmints are you hunting? I would see a 24" sporter barrel as an advantage for the varmint hunting I do. Try shooting it first and see if meets your needs before you do anything to it. The best money you could spend is to get a Timney trigger for it, IMHO.

That's not a bad suggestion at all.

If you decide to mutilate it, it will just take one more out of the pool of unmolested rifles and make them all just a tad bit more valuable.

Isn't there a Ruger American available in .223 with a 20-inch barrel? That might be a perfect alternative.

Please don't mutilate a nice rifle. Many of the later-run 788s came with too-short barrels; find one of them instead.

Many Savage Model 24s in 222 were rechambered to 223 also

Start at the beginning.

Ask yourself a Question: Why.........Hint.