Recently had a thread about building a bolt rifle with a twenty inch barrel. After doing a bit of reading I found that a lot of tac guys are using 20 and 18 inch barrels in their work. They are stating very little difference in velocity out of their .308s and at times increased accuracy. The only differences between their rifles and mine are, they are sporting heavier barrels, and 1 in 12 twist as my 700 is 1 in 10. Also they are using a 168 grain projectile where as I will be using mostly 150 so the rate of twist difference is probably negligible. So hears the million dollar question,,,,,, wait for it,,,,,,,why shouldn't I cut my rem 700 barrel down to 20 inches?
.308 20 barrel velocity questions
- Thread starter Dambugg
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desidog
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- Nov 21, 2008
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I'd love to argue, but i was thinking along the same lines with a Winchester M70 .308 Featherweight....and then putting a red dot on top....
My question was How much would it cost to have a barrel cut down and crowned; by some one who really knows what they're doing? and should it be taken out of the action and put on a lathe?
I'm glad that others are struggling with these weighty decisions too!
My question was How much would it cost to have a barrel cut down and crowned; by some one who really knows what they're doing? and should it be taken out of the action and put on a lathe?
I'm glad that others are struggling with these weighty decisions too!
Zak Smith
Member
If you're shooting at small targets at 0-200 yards, a 20" doesn't lose much performance. If your job consists of carrying around a rifle in your trunk every day and possibly shooting something small at an average of 70 yards, going down to 20" doesn't cause much problem, and it's more handy.
If you're shooting at any target at 500-1000 yards, going from a 24-26 down to a 20" will be a marked disadvantage. The best .308 loads out of long barrels are already a handicapped setup compared to the preferred rifles/cartridges for those distances.
At the 2008 Steel Safari, we had a former USMC sniper and very good rifle shooter using an 18" .308 (the DARPA XM-3) shooting mil-spec 175gr match ammo. I would rate his skills amongst the top 5 shooters at the match. He came in 15th. The best .308 shooter was using an approx 24" barrel firing the 155 Lapua Scenar at over 2925 fps. I would also rate him amongst the top five shooters for skill. He came in 7th. The top 10 places were dominated by 6.5 mm and 7 mm cartridges.
Cartridge differences aside, this should demonstrate the relative abilities of long .308 barrels with a great load vs. a short barrel with a legacy load.
If you're shooting at any target at 500-1000 yards, going from a 24-26 down to a 20" will be a marked disadvantage. The best .308 loads out of long barrels are already a handicapped setup compared to the preferred rifles/cartridges for those distances.
At the 2008 Steel Safari, we had a former USMC sniper and very good rifle shooter using an 18" .308 (the DARPA XM-3) shooting mil-spec 175gr match ammo. I would rate his skills amongst the top 5 shooters at the match. He came in 15th. The best .308 shooter was using an approx 24" barrel firing the 155 Lapua Scenar at over 2925 fps. I would also rate him amongst the top five shooters for skill. He came in 7th. The top 10 places were dominated by 6.5 mm and 7 mm cartridges.
Cartridge differences aside, this should demonstrate the relative abilities of long .308 barrels with a great load vs. a short barrel with a legacy load.
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