Remington varmint barrel, 20", 22", 24" or 26"???

[Rob96]

I have a Remington Varmint that came with a 26" heavy barrel. My question is which is the optimal barrel length for the 308? I was thinking of having it cut down and recrowned at 20-22". The purpose of this gun is mainly as a precision/predator control gun.

 

[RockyMtnTactical]

Seems a little much for predator hunting, what ranges are you needing it for?

 

[Rob96]

Upper limits would probably be 300yds. This rifle may also see use on a cattle ranch in Nebraska for Mule Deer, so that will present some longer shots.

 

[strambo]

You shouldn't have any problems velocity wise out to 8-900 yds with a 20"...I don't see a reason for longer. Heck, even 18" would be plenty...I've seen some precision rigs with 18" barrels in .308.

 

[Lloyd Smale]

i dont think they made a 20. they make a 18 and 22

 

[rangerruck]

if precision/long range is what you are doing, and if it is a heavy bbl contour, leave it right where it is. that round gains, or loses about 35-50 fps, for every inch of bbl, your mileage may very, depending on ammo and rig being used.

 

[Jim Watson]

The opimal barrel length for the caliber is the longest you can get. A Palma shooter wanting the longest sight radius and the last fps of velocity he can get for 1000 yards will have at least a 30" barrel.

The optimal barrel length for the shooter depends on how far he has to hump the rig. The target shooter only has to get from the parking lot to the firing line, the hunter has to cross hill and dale. The original platforms for the caliber were the M14 and the Model 70 Featherweight. Both have 22" barrels, so if you want to start cutting, that seems a logical place to start.

 

[Blowingsky]

I spoke with someone at Remington and they said that for .308 (700 police), the 26" bbl provided maximum performance for the round...without question. The guy spoke with a kind of defensive assertiveness that I took to mean that he had been asked about bbl length many many times. I have the 700 police with a bipod and boyo that gun is heavy in the over-hill-and-dale sense but it is an incredibly smooth shooter and when I can get out to a 600 yard range I expect I will be happy with the 26".

 

[Rob96]

I spoke with someone at Remington and they said that for .308 (700 police), the 26" bbl provided maximum performance for the round...without question. The guy spoke with a kind of defensive assertiveness that I took to mean that he had been asked about bbl length many many times. I have the 700 police with a bipod and boyo that gun is heavy in the over-hill-and-dale sense but it is an incredibly smooth shooter and when I can get out to a 600 yard range I expect I will be happy with the 26".

I kinda suspected this considering the 700P and 40X rifles come with the 26" barrel. I may just leave it as is.

 

[sneedb82]

Check out sniper school or sniper central and you can read all about the 18" barrel .308s that they have out there, 1/12" twist barrels, all starting with 26" or 22" barrels.

You may lose velocity, but it's marginal at best in terms of what you'll be using it for. There is little loss in energy in terms of reducing the said velocity from the 26" barrel down to 18".