Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 26 inch barrel

I have a 26" barrel on my M70 7mm Rem Mag. It hasn't proven to be a problem in the 15 years or so that I've hunted with it. I wouldn't avoid a rifle because it had one.

The Abolt 308 could have the tube cut back and recrowned if you wanted, and you could end up with a custom....

On a 308 hunting rifle anything over 22" is just in the way. A 26" sporter weight barrel makes no sense to me. On a long range, heavy barreled paper puncher I'd not stop at 26". You're only looking at 50-75 fps over a 22" barrrel. If I needed more speed than that I'd go 28-30", or better yet move up to a bigger round.

I could see some advantage with some magnum rounds. Not a 308.

Got something you will sell for a LA Ru 77?

The only barrel I have for a Ruger is a 26" 25-06 barrel that Came off a #1. I was going to try and screw it on my tang safety 77 25-06 but went another direction instead. Never really ever found out if you could mate the two together.

I'm thinking....

Years ago I had a factory standard 77V in .25-06, with full fiddleback stock that I foolishly sold ("not enough gun for moose", after I moved off the North Slope, and "too heavy to pack for carry" -I'm now using a 10 lb. tricked out .338 now for moose hunting - mostly because of brown bear...).

As my German immigrant Granddad used to say in his heavy accent " Too zun vee ged olt, too late vee ged schmardt".

With factory loads that 77V shot 5 inch groups - with fire formed neck-sized handloads, it shot MOA.

It would, of course, royally piss my wife off if I rebarrelled "her" carbine...which I mostly carry, and have killed a chit-pot full of game with..

Kinda begs the question, no?

No. 26" is fine.

If you like the feel of the rifle, buy it. After you've had it for a while, if you find you don't like the long tube, you can always have a gunsmith shorten and re-crown the barrel.

I own a Browning A-Bolt in 7mm RM, a Remington LSS in 257 Bee and several Weatherby's, I love the feel and balance of those 26" barrels!

Yep.

No stands or shooting houses where I hunt, some timber and a lot of brush in some areas.

If you like the gun, get it. Carrying and shooting with a 26 is a non-issue.
I carry 28in barrels for mountain grouse through the thickest crap and even manage to shoot a few of them on the wing.

I have a 26" heavy barreled .308. Love the rifle. Ballistics are very close to 30-06 numbers. I would hunt with it in situations where I did not have to hike much or I spent most of my time watching an area. It is great to shoot off a bipod. On the other hand, carrying it in woods or other thick stuff is problematic and the extra weight is not enjoyable when climbing the steep stuff. I have a Kimber Montana for the steep stuff.

I'll offer some observations on this often discussed topic.

A rifle that can "handle well" will depend on more than barrel length, I think that the stock design, the action and an individuals height will be key factors in this as well.

For me, one of the best handling rifles I own is my 26" barreled Model 70. This is my primary hunting rifle that gets packed everywhere. The weight is a little forward, and for me, this rifle is easy to shoot free hand.

FME short barreled rifles don't point or handle well. This could be because I am 6'4" and long armed where as someone that is 5'6" with proportional arms for their height may find an 18" barreled carbine "handy" and "just right".

This may be why this is such a vigorously debated topic. Like the guy who says a long barreled rifle hangs up on everything, for him, that may be true; certainly for me it has not been the case.

I have owned and used in the BC-AB wilderness CRF rifles with bbls. from 18.5" to 26" and packed these every day for months on end while earning my living.

I don't really care much as any rifle from 20" to 26" bbl. with all the other aspects of it properly adjusted to my specs works just fine and about the only REAL issue with the long tubes is when you carry it on your backpack...here, shorter IS better.

Of all the scores of rifles I have had in the past 49 years, the ones I find balance best for offhand game shots are the old P-64 Mod. 70-.300H&H-26" bbls. The same rifles in .338WM with their 25" tubes are also very good in this respect and I have shot my best "freehand" targets with the old .300s.

That said, I tend to get my custom tubes at 23" now and find that works very well for about anything I will ever use a rifle for.

"Horses for courses", "Different strokes for different folks".......

I like 14" LOP's on my rifles, 26" barrel/s balances out perfect for me, 27/28" tubes are not bad either, both on the carrying and shooting parts.

Gunner

You big gorrilla

Gunner

Kutenay, What calibers are those 23 inch barreled rifles... Love those 26 in barreled .300's.

My longest barreled rifle is 25.5" in length. It is a Remington 700 in 338 Win. with a muzzle brake. I'm only 5'5" tall and this is probably my best balanced rifle. I don't do a lot of hunting in brushy areas any more and when I do a 22" barreled gun usually goes along.

Jim

Never used a gun that had a barrel too long, but there's a few with barrels too short. That would include barrels 16"-42". I don't care for excessively short barrels due to muzzle blast and to lesser degree, loss of velocity. I find little advantage in handling, that being driven more by balance than dimension. On the other end, the 42" barrel is on a flintlock rifle that weighs a few ounces over 7# and handles like a wand. I still hunt almost exclusively.

When I hear tales of barrels snagging brush because they are too long I get an image of a bull in a china shop for some reason.

That said, whatever blows air up your skirt is fine with me.

22" is the absolute maximum I want on any rifle, hunting or not. 16-19" is my preference, by far. The handiness and weight outweighs, for me, any negative benefit.