Barrel length on a bolt gun

[AFSG]

16, 20,24 or other What's the opinions on barrel length for a .308.

 

[taliv]

26 unless you’ve got a good reason for something else

 

[rbernie]

The last 308 that I used to shoot a deer had a 16" barrel. The target 308s in my safe all have 26" barrels.

What are you gonna use it for, and how are ya gonna use it?

 

[AFSG]

The last 308 that I used to shoot a deer had a 16" barrel. The target 308s in my safe all have 26" barrels.

What are you gonna use it for, and how are ya gonna use it?

Tree stand hunting 100 to 300 yards

 

[.308 Norma]

16, 20,24 or other What's the opinions on barrel length for a .308.

For 308 Winchesters used primarily for big game hunting I like 22" barrels, although my own 308 Winchester only has a 20" barrel. My 308 Norma Mag has a 25" barrel.

 

[rbernie]

Tree stand hunting 100 to 300 yards

Depending on how much scrub / branches you have to contend with on the way to / up into the stand, and how far you have to walk or climb, a 22" or 20" may be a good call. A 20" tube will lose ~100fps relative to a 26" tube, but inside of 300 yards I don't expect that will make much of a difference for you.

http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2015/06/308-win-barrel-cut-down-test-velocity-vs-barrel-length/

 

[.308 Norma]

Tree stand hunting 100 to 300 yards

26 unless you’ve got a good reason for something else

+1 for the 26" if I was only hunting from a tree stand. On the other hand, what do I know? I've never even seen a tree stand except in pictures.

 

[Jim Watson]

The U.S. Army and Winchester thought 22" was right when the round was new.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Yes 22" would be the sweet spot. Any less and it will look "stubby", if looks matter. (I'm all about "looks" in a firearm) 26" on a bolt gun kind of looks "long-tom", but I like long barrels more than short ones. 24" is probably the length that looks most "right", and offers some ballistic advantage. (not that I don't have any stubbies, I have a very cool 350RemMag with a 20" ER Shaw barrel) I've seen tree stands, but my fear of heights only let me get about halfway up one, before I hurriedly returned to the ground.

 

[Picher]

My Rem 700, .270 Win Stainless has a 23" barrel. I doubt that my hot handloads stretched it over the years, so we can assume it came from the factory that way.

 

[bassjam]

Assuming this is whitetail, 16" will get you plenty of oompf out of a .308 for out to 300 yards. So any of those lengths will work.

 

[Ru4real]

A 16” barrel will be easiest to get into your tree stand, it will be the lightest most handy option, the deer won’t care, and you won’t notice a 16 vs 26 in ballistics shooting deer out to 300 yards.

 

[Varminterror]

Tree stand hunting 100 to 300 yards

16”.

And assuming this is DEER hunting from a tree stand out to 100-300yrds, I wouldn’t even feed a 308win to do it.

 

[adcoch1]

16" In a carbine for spot and stalk, but a 308 is a bit loud and Blasty that short. For a fixed position I prefer 20" or more if there isn't any barrel treatment.

 

[entropy]

Tree stand hunting 100 to 300 yards

20" is the sweet spot for your use.

 

[LoonWulf]

Don't like short barrels so add me to the 26" group lol.

I don't hunt from stands, but I've made and hunted from improvised "hides" (mostly just a tarp drapped over a stick or steing frame so I don't get rained on or cooked by the sun), and moving around in them with a nearly 4' long gun can be cumbersome. That said I'm usually only pointing in one direction when making something like that, so the gun dosent get moved once situated.

Shortest barrel I'd want on a .308 would be 20"
Any less than that and I'll go to a smaller cartridge.

 

[jmr40]

In 308 you don't gain much velocity beyond 20" until you get to 26" or longer. And if you need that much speed you need a bigger cartridge. You don't lose much going shorter either, but noise starts to be a factor. Either 20" or 22" is what I like.

 

[JFrank]

Although I’m not an expert I still believe in defining a mission, so hunting probably 22 in on a non magnum like 308 maybe 24-26 on a Magnum or Varmint rifle , my BR target rifles are 28 in. I can’t comment on F class but I’ve heard talk of 30 ish

 

[taliv]

I’ll add I generally agree with rbernie and others about 16” ....however.... if you don’t need the ballistics of a 26” bbl then you also don’t need a bolt action. For 16” I’d switch to an AR or similar

 

[Offfhand]

Many years ago I resolved my 22" vs 24" quandary by specifying 23" barrels for most of my hunting rifles, like this trim .308 built on a Pre-64 M-70 action. this

 

[gotboostvr]

Many years ago I resolved my 22" vs 24" quandary by specifying 23" barrels for most of my hunting rifles, like this trim .308 built on a Pre-64 M-70 action. this View attachment 953075 View attachment 953076

Beautiful wood on that. Is that zebrawood?

 

[BLACKFIN]

Tree stand hunting 100 to 300 yards

For that purpose a 20” in more than enough

 

[.308 Norma]

any years ago I resolved my 22" vs 24" quandary by specifying 23" barrels for most of my hunting rifles

Yeppers, I did the same thing when I ordered my Montana Rifle Company 308 Norma Magnum. I couldn't decide between a 24" and a 26", so I ordered a 25".

 

[JDGray]

I had a 20” Savage 308, and that stubby bastard was very accurate!! That’s my vote for your application

 

[Hookeye]

18.5-22"