Optimum barrel length for 30-06

[adcoch1]

Looking to build a 30-06 long range hunting/target rifle, and i am curious about optimum barrel length. Long range for me is probably 1000 yards and under (only shot over on a few occasions) and realistically 500 max for any hunting situation. I have shot sub moa groups with a 26" 1917 30-06 in the past out past 500 yards, so i already like a 26" barrel a lot. But do i gain much by pushing out to a 28"? 30"? I handload, and plan on shooting 208 amax or ELD projectiles, but any advice would be appreciated. Also, i am going to be using a savage action most likely and a wood custom stock. A chassis system may come later but i need to get confident at long range before dropping cash like that. Optics are a separate topic, just looking for barrel length experience and information here.

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[jmr40]

For hunting 22" is plenty even for 500+ yards and no more than 24" is really needed. I can get 3000-3050 fps easily with 150 gr bullets in my 22" guns. It is a balance of weight, portability, balance and personal preference. I like 22" best, but can live with 24". Some guys hunt with 26" barrels, but they'd be more of a hindrance than help for most of MY hunting.

I'm not into long range target shooting, I practice for hunting out to 500-600 yards, but no farther. I know some guys do use 28"-30" barrels on long range rigs. When you get to 1000 yards the extra bit of speed might make the difference, but I'll leave that advice for others.

 

[adcoch1]

I have a nice 20" carbine for close in stuff(out to 250-300 or so) in 30-06 with peep sights, so the portability issue just isn't a problem for this build. I will primarily be shooting the heavier end of the spectrum projectile wise, so all the speed i can get is my idea. I also don't mind if this rifle ends up kinda heavy either, so weight isn't a driving factor as it usually is for me...

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[RPRNY]

Imo 24"

 

[longknife12]

Guess I'll stick with the 24", it has always worked for me.
Dan

 

[adcoch1]

Are you guys hunting or target shooting? A 24" does do pretty darn good, just trying to decide if more is better.

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[USSR]

I've got several .30-06 hunting and target rifle, but they are either a hunting rifle or a target rifle, not both. IMHO, the optimal barrel length for a hunting rifle is 24", while my .30-06 target rifles sport heavy contour 26" barrels. I have always shot the 190SMK in my target rifles, although I do have a box of 208gr Amax bullets I would like to try sometime. Hint: with the heavy bullets, buy lots of RL22.

Don

 

[adcoch1]

Thanks Don, maybe i should clarify that this will be a 90% target rifle that may get used for some clearcut hunts over BIG clearcuts from a blind. So the hunting work will also be target shooting i guess.

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[redbullitt]

Go short if it gets moved or carried a lot. If it is a target or bench or more stationary type rifle then go long.

For me 20 inch would be good shorter length, but I would go 16 if I wanted to carry it a bunch. I have had both in a rem 700 308, semi heavy barrel. Rifle came with a 20 inch. I really liked it, but when I got it threaded I went to 16 inches. FWIW I would not go back to 20 on that rifle. Keep in mind this is not a target rifle... It is a carry around "all purpose" rig.

Maybe this will help. I have 2 rifles I hunt with most of the time. One is a 16 inch 308, the other is a 28 inch 260 REM. I hunt in the woods, AND over a large valley where all the shots are fairly far. Woods hunting is ranges out to 250 yards. 16 inch 308 is perfect here since I am moving and having to carry it. Lots of offhand and positional shooting chances. If I hunt from the hill across into the valley the 260 gets the nod. Shots are 350 to as far as I would want to take. I pretty much set up for the day and stay pretty close to that spot since I have such a good view. Both rifles will do either hunt fine, but I am glad to have the most well suited one when I go.

 

[Captain O]

24" is optimum for the .30-'06. This will allow for using heavy and light bullets alike. Learn to "hump it" a bit, and you'll be happy with the rifle's performance.

Good luck.

 

[lencac]

Here's what I know.
I have a Gruning Precision Remy 700 in 30.06 with a 27" Douglas barrel.
With 190gr. Sierra MK on top of 60.5gr of Reloder 22 it will generate 2900 fps. easily. No signs of pressure, and just very slightly flattened primer.
200 gr. Sierra MK on top of 59.5gr. Reloder - 2800 fps.
A long barrel with a relatively slow powder like RE 22 and I'm getting the 30.06 generating near 300 Win Mag velocities.

 

[jmr40]

If you're going to go long, then go long. There are no guarantees a 24" barrel will shoot faster than a 22" barrel. There is far greater difference between individual barrels than 2" of barrel length makes. I've seen 130 fps difference between 2 different 30-06's with 22" barrels. I have one that is consistently 60-90 fps slower than the others. I've seen a 20" 308 shoot faster than a 22" gun and equal a 24" gun. I've also seen 20" guns be 150 fps slower than a 22" gun. It is the individual barrel that makes the difference much more than the length.

If you were to go 28-30" then you'd guarantee more speed. FWIW a quality aftermarket barrel seems to almost always shoot faster than typical factory barrels.

Here is a good link describing different length barrels and their speeds. They don't discuss 30-06, but several similar rounds such as 270. You just don't gain nearly as much as most think.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f19/short-barrel-magnum-velocity-19346/

 

[Llama Bob]

Long heavy profile barrels tend not to balance well without a very heavy stock in my experience. Long light barrels balance OK, but are very sensitive to heating and load timing. You may or may not care about that. Generally speaking shorter barrels and heavier profile barrels are slightly more accurate, all else being equal.

If it was me I'd run Quickload simulations with your preferred bullets to see what the impact of barrel length is. Then I'd look at lengths in the 20" to 24" range, probably tending towards shorter with a heavy profile.

 

[USSR]

With 190gr. Sierra MK on top of 60.5gr of Reloder 22 it will generate 2900 fps. easily. No signs of pressure, and just very slightly flattened primer.

Good to see someone else has found the goodness of RL22 with heavy bullets in the '06. I get 2900 fps in my 26" Krieger barrel with 60.7gr of RL22 in Lapua brass.

Don

 

[JackSprat]

I've never had a 30-06 any shorter than 22 inch,but I do have a 7-08 with a 20 inch barrel,and it's painfully loud..I can only imagine how loud a 30-06 would be in 20 inch,or less.

 

[USSR]

I can only imagine how loud a 30-06 would be in 20 inch,or less.

Exactly, Jack. My rule of thumb is nothing less than 24" for an '06. Much shorter and you run up against 2 negatives: the ear-splitting loudness that you mentioned; and a drop to nearly .308 Winchester velocities.

Don

 

[Llama Bob]

and a drop to nearly .308 Winchester velocities.

Not really. The only reason they're even close at all is that there isn't THAT much difference between .308 and .,30-06 to begin with. But the drop in velocity from shortening the barrel is negligible. For example, with Accurate 4350 and a 180gr bullet, there is only a 25 ft/s drop for each inch between 20" and 24".

 

[Slamfire]

Looking to build a 30-06 long range hunting/target rifle,

These categories are almost mutually exclusive. I recently weighed a couple of my 308 target rifles and they are 14 pounds each. I want enough weight to tame the recoil and provide stability and not murder my sling arm. Which, I am going to tell you, after a 25 minute block time string, my poor support arm hurts. I only have to carry this deadweight collection of lumber and steel from the truck to the firing point. Some of my Match AR15's weigh around 17 pounds and carrying those the 1000 yards walk to the pitts on Viale at Camp Perry is torture. Why anyone would want something as heavy as a match rifle out in the deep dark woods is a mystery to me. You will fall out of your tree stand and shoot your eye out.

I prefer 24 inch barrels on my 30-06 hunting rifles, my 30-06 target rifle is 26 inch. I have a pre 64 Featherweight and the muzzle blast is not fun.

 

[USSR]

The only reason they're even close at all is that there isn't THAT much difference between .308 and .,30-06 to begin with.

Perhaps when you're talking about 150gr bullets. But when you're talking about a 190SMK, there is about a 200 fps difference.

But the drop in velocity from shortening the barrel is negligible. For example, with Accurate 4350 and a 180gr bullet, there is only a 25 ft/s drop for each inch between 20" and 24".

A 25 fps drop per inch looks good on paper, but you can't count on it being true. For example, I have 2 .30-06 match rifles, both with 26" barrels. With the exact same load (178gr Amax with N160 powder), the rifle with the Krieger MTU contour barrel does 2950 fps while the Winchester factory barrel only does 2875 fps. So, there is a 75 fps difference with barrels of the same length.

Don

 

[Art Eatman]

I hunted for several decades where the mule deer season was short and shots could be very long. I was quite happy with my Weatherby Mark V. German made; 26" #2 profile barrel in '06. After a bit of tweaking, it was reliably sub-MOA. My longest shot was 450 yards.

In comparison shooting at my 500-yard home range, depths of impacts on a steel plate showed that my version of reality was better than .308s.

With Sierra bullets, but for two bad hits that were my fault, it was bang/whop/plop no tracking.

Which is a long-winded way of saying I liked the 26" barrel.

 

[Gtscotty]

For hunting I like 22" barrels on my .30-06 rifles. 22" barreled rifles are pretty handy, and don't lose a whole lot of velocity. I'm down to one .30-06 at the moment, but with 180gr SGK's I get 2,800 fps, and with 165's I get 2,920. That's enough for me in a 7.5 lb full up hunting rifle, and a fair bit stouter than my . 308's. If you need substantially more than that in a hunting situation, it might be time to step up to a magnum of some variety.

I don't have any experience with dedicated target rifles in .30-06.