20 inch barreled rifles

[OKFF610]

I was about to ask if you if you were limited to factory ammo but if you’ve owned the above I’m going to guess not.

That said I have a load recipe for my 260 Remington Rem 700 mountain rifle with 130 grain Berger running over 2900fps. This is with a factory 22” barrel.


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No sir I’m not limited to factory ammo although on some stuff I shoot it just out of ease and convenience. That 260 is a great round, I have one in Browning Micro Medallion. My father in law has a mountain rifle in a 260 I’m trying to talk him out of. It will match my 7mm-08 mountain rifle.


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[JTCowpoke]

I'm getting 2754 fps with my 20" 260 shooting 129g ablr. I didn't load to see how fast I could push it I just found a good node and stuck to it.

[meltingfeather]

Actually it’s a lot more complicated than that. There’s several factors that come into play. Powder used being one of the main contributing factors. To make the most of a barrel length you’ll want to try to achieve complete powder burn. The shorter the barrel the faster the powder burn you’ll need to achieve thorough burn, but that may negatively effect accuracy or consistency. So you try to find a good compromise l.

Agreed-- and if I had to pick I'd actually say magnums lose more speed per inch of barrel length than a typical '08-sized case.

[meltingfeather]

Why do the 308 and 7-08 do so well in a short barrel? Efficiency of the cartridge?

fast burning powder

[meltingfeather]

If I am *actually* shooting 500 yds (rather than a "forum post" 500 yds), I want a 300WM or at least a hot 7mm.

lol what kind of groups are you getting with your 500 yard forum posts?

[OKFF610]

Agreed-- and if I had to pick I'd actually say magnums lose more speed per inch of barrel length than a typical '08-sized case.

What do you think would be a rough estimate of what they lose then?


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[cva34]

Something else not mentioned : most of my Rifles are 20"+-1"....Blind hunting it when short wins every time..getting it out widow..Right now is when I really notice it in BlackPowder season with a 28"barrel.. and wrestling it out window quietly Just another pro!

[Balcones_Walker]

I have a load recipe for my 260 Remington Rem 700 mountain rifle with 130 grain Berger running over 2900fps. This is with a factory 22” barrel.

Can back that up - this is 143 gn 24" 6.5 Creedmoor using a fairly warm load. 6.5 PRC is great for trading up to a long action that squeezes a little bit more fps out of 6.5 CM, but it seems like you'd want to keep that little bit more by running it 24-26".

[meltingfeather]

What do you think would be a rough estimate of what they lose then?


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The reloading manual tables I’ve seen have it by velocity, not case capacity. But that easily translates to a 7 Mag losing more per inch than a 7-08 all else equal. By the Lyman tables this would be somewhere in the range of 10 fps more loss per inch of barrel length reduction for this caliber comparison with the same weight pill. So where a 7-08 would lose 20 fps/inch a 7 Mag would lose 30 fps/inch. There’s plenty of data/info available on this and as with almost everything, it depends on the particulars.

[OKFF610]

Thanks for the info


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[meltingfeather]

I would be very interested in the results. I’m wanting a can for my next build.


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New thread here:

https://discussions.texasbowhunter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=756061

[gatorgrizz27]

If I am *actually* shooting 500 yds (rather than a "forum post" 500 yds), I want a 300WM or at least a hot 7mm. Personally I wouldn't shoot an animal with a 6.5 caliber bullet at that real life range, regardless of barrel length. And for a 300WM or hot 7mm, I prefer a 26" barrel.

Now, if you want a 20" "deer hunting rifle", you can't really go wrong. Anything from .243 to 7-08, and everything in between, will perform great at 20".

Not saying your opinion is wrong, or that a 6.5 is even a good choice for an elk rifle, but here’s Wayne van Zwoll killing one at 600 yards with a pass through. Granted it’s in the middle of a clearing, not dark timber near private property, but the bull died really quickly.

https://youtu.be/IOo6gprtKeA

I wouldn’t hesitate to shoot a 150 lb whitetail with one, I still prefer .30 for elk regardless of range.

[Balcones_Walker]

Not saying your opinion is wrong, or that a 6.5 is even a good choice for an elk rifle, but here’s Wayne van Zwoll killing one at 600 yards with a pass through. Granted it’s in the middle of a clearing, not dark timber near private property, but the bull died really quickly.

https://youtu.be/IOo6gprtKeA

I wouldn’t hesitate to shoot a 150 lb whitetail with one, I still prefer .30 for elk regardless of range.

We're in total agreement - even a .22lr will kill an elk DRT with a pass through if you hit it just right. Not many (any?) animals are going far with both lungs or their heart punctured. I'm like you though, I don't judge what others take into the woods but if I'm going elk hunting I prefer a larger bore.

[gatorgrizz27]

Why do the 308 and 7-08 do so well in a short barrel? Efficiency of the cartridge?

They are more efficient in terms of burning less powder than long action or magnum cases, and they are also less overbore than the 6.5 Creedmoor and .243. The highly overbore cartridges will lose more with shorter barrels.

The problem with the 500 yard stipulation is that comes down to the BC of the bullet at similar velocities. A large caliber, small volume cartridge isn’t going to push heavy for caliber bullets well, so you end up shooting bullets with poor BC’s and .30-30 like trajectories.

What you end up with is rankings that are completely opposite of each other. IMO, the 7mm-08 does well for both criteria because it’s more or less in the middle of both, so it doesn’t suffer as much in either category.

FWIW, even though cartridges that burn more powder lose more in short barrels, they are still ahead of those that burn less. A .300 WM will still be faster than a .30-06, which will be faster than a .308, even in 16” barrels. What you end up with is a ton of muzzle blast, fireballs, and small enough gains that it isn’t worth it though.

[cblackall]

I’m running a 20” APR 7-08. I’m getting ~2640 fps with a 162 ELD-M suppressed. I’ve run it out to 1000 on steel without issue. Hunting wise, it’s done great on everything from coyotes to elk out to 400 yds. My buddy is running a 20” APR 7-08 AI and getting ~2735 with the 162 ELD-M.