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Look, when you are on the bench, you need to be wearing hearing protection.., no matter what length barrel you choose.

Secondly, for hunting, carry, treestand, blinds, and all around handiness a short barrel is unbeatable. So, with that in mind, a 20" barrel is plenty long.

PLEASE DO NOT get caught up in that "longer is faster" mentality. It just doesn't amount to anything in the field.
IF you are tempted to go long for that reason, I would highly recomend that you read up on Mr Charlie Sisk's experiments with a number of cartridges in which he reduced barrel lengths one inch at a time from 27" on down to 20." The payoff is insignificant balistically.
If you want to go short, as in 20" and you need ballance, that is you need more weight forward, than by all means put that weight into a heavier conture instead of extra length.

That 260 will do just as much killing with a 18"-20" barrel length as it would with a 22"-24" barrel length.

Again, let me encourage you to concider checking out Mr. Sisk's experiments.



Scott


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I've had my share of 260's...

Go less than 22" and they get blasty IMO, and speed does fall off quite a bit.

When I rebarreled the Montana, I went 23", mostly just to hang another few ounces out there for a little extra shootability.

All that having been said, on the T3, I'd take a serious look at the Swede. Get the LA mag, and bolt stop while you're at the retube job and rock on. With data from Speer in that action, you get an extra 100+ FPS across the board over the 260.


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Originally Posted by 358wsm
That 260 will do just as much killing with a 18"-20" barrel length as it would with a 22"-24" barrel length.


Well, I sure cannot quite agree with you there. Many here are pushing 130s to 3000fps with a 24" barrel. My 18.5" cannot hit much over 2600 with 130s. That definitely makes a difference at longer ranges and is clearly noticeable in the field when it comes to trajectory and wound channels.

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I put a 260 Rem, 22" Douglas long chambered barrel on a VZ24 action.
100 gr bullet
Quickload prediction 61,328 psi 3261 fps
chronographs as 3,236 fps
Shoots sub moa

Last edited by Clarkma; 12/08/09.
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If y'all are worried about muzzleblast while hunting, why not put up an 18-inch barrel with a SureFire 6.8mm or .308 suppressor on it? No worse than a .22 target load in report.

And suppressors are legal in many states...


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I have

18.5"
20"
22"
26"

The 22" (mountain rifle) is my #1 hunting rifle. As soon as I have the $$ I'm going to have the 18.5" (Model 7) replaced with another 22"


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I don't have a .260 but a do own a 6.5x55 Swede with a 22" barrel and for me it seems about right.

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Optimum barrel length has as much--if not more--to do with balance and the aesthetic match with the dimensions of the forend than with mere ballistics. I could see a tiny light gun like a model 7 making sense at 18". But the last one I built was 23" because it looked so much better than anything shorter.

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Super T, I had a '96 Swede, 3 actually, 2 sporterized, one 24" the other 21", the short handled better, right at 100 fps slower, 120s running in the 2700 range with IMR4831 FWIW.

DD, agree on LONG shots having a difference, but at most common ranges, good shot placement will suffice even with short bbls IMHO, so long as you are running a decent load so you get good expansion, the real heavies and/or sub standard loads might give some problems past say 300 yds or so w/bullet opening up well. 120 Ballistic tips and other cup/c in that wt. should be fine.

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I've run 120 BTips in mine at one point, but also had one nuke on a shoulder knuckle. Not for me cause I do eat it all. They don't fly very flat either in my world when started at 2700, which is why I just went back to the 243 or step up to the 30-06.

If I were going to go back and run the 260, I'd go no less than 22" but would prefer a 24".

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DD, I don't shoot over 400 yds, but if I had a load getting 2700 w/120, I'd let lead fly up to 400 on a deer if broadside. Ran #'s, looks like a 200 yd zero at 3,000 MV drops 19.3", if started at 2,700, it drops 19.7" at 375, so basically you lose between 25-30 yds of PBR according to my #s.

Flat is relative to many things, but ALL bullets drop, and it's the shooters responsibility to be prepared to KNOW where the rifle will hit whenever leveling down and about to squeeze.

At 2700 mv, the 120 BT has 1,046 lbs. Plenty. My 6BR using a 105 at 2850 has 1093, and I did kill a deer fine w/it (LRF right at 400 yds), went maybe 20 yds after a double lung hit/exit.

Many bullets will/can blow on a knuckle, esp. at close range.

I agree a longer bbl is preferable, a 23 vs. say a 26 IMO is ideal for handling, maxing powder burn, lowering blast. Smaller the caliber, the longer the tube needs to be all else equal to get the powder burned. 26-30" 6.5s can really p/u some speed if one is needing it for long distances.

Lastly, IIRC, lighter bullets lose more speed than heavies in shorter tubes. If so, then a 129 gr might be a good compromise, if not the 130 Accubond, tad more drop, but heavier hitter downrange, but that variable is determined where/how one hunts.

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