Barrel length question

[Shortdraw]

I'm considering a 7mm-08 or .308 in some sort of "mountain" rifle (stainless barrel, synthetic stock, etc). I've noticed that a number of rifles lighten their weight with shorter barrels. E.g., I'm looking at a Howa Alpine (as well as others). The Howa sports a 20" barrel. How much of an effect does this have on ballistics and accuracy? Also on felt recoil. I realize the latter is quite subjective. I like the idea of a lighter rifle that I might carry for days but shoot only once. OTOH I want that one shot to be reliable. Will my 20" barrel significantly deviate from a manufacturer's published ballistics? Thanks...

 

[Shrek]

Theoretically more accurate and a small loss in velocity. +/- 50fps loss over a 22" barrel with factory ammunition.

 

[rileybassman]

I have a savage LW hunter in 6.5 CM - which has a 20" barrel. It is super accurate and about 75-100ish fps slower then factory ammo specs. I have to run my handload around 3/4 of a grain higher to hit close to published velocity - ie 42.5 gr of 4451 over a 130 VLD gets me 2700.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Caliber and powder type have an effect on this as well. Big cases get the most bang out of them using slower powders that take more barrel length to efficiently burn up. You can run faster powders in a 7-08 which burn up quick so the effect of a 20" barrel on a 7-08 versus a magnum caliber isn't going to be as notable.

In a caliber like that I wouldn't bat an eye running a 20" versus a 22". In reality you won't be shooting long range on game with a 7-08 so the slight velocity loss won't really ever have much impact on hunting. Shoot your ammo combo at the distances you want to hunt and record the results.

 

[robtattoo]

If you reload, you can counteract the minimal velocity loss. Realistically you're talking about 'maybe' 80fps though.
I'm running a Savage LWH .308 & with some *ahem* 'experimental' reloading, managed to coax a hair over 2750 from 165 partitions. The accuracy load, however, was at 2690 & at that I'm completely comfortable taking a 400yd shot.
Oddly, my old remington 700 with it's 24" barrel could shoot much faster, but again, the best accuracy was around 2700ish.

 

[Brodie]

24" .308 and 17.5" .308 shooting the same match ammo had a difference of 100fps in my experience.
I'd go for the shorty!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ams]

I really like my howa alpine and as long as your expectations are within reason you'll be fine. It's not a long range rifle but I wouldn't hesitate to shoot 400 yards at a deer size target. If you expect to shoot over that I would look at something else. It's a joy to carry and handle through trees and such. There is more recoil than other rifles because it's 6.5 lbs scoped. When getting to know the rifle the biggest challenge was getting back on target when shooting from a tripod. The thing would jump up and you would the picture in your scope. Not an issue when shooting off hand or off a pack with a bit of downward pressure. Whatever you get, just practice with it so you know how it shoots. This was my first light weight rifle and I had to get familiar with it. It's super accurate for my purposes, sub MOA with ADI 165's, Hornady Sst 150, and actually hornady whitetail was sub also AND cheap.

 

[ams]

Just thought of something else. The DBM that howa has is not a good design and I use the metal hinged floor plate. This gives you metal on metal contact between the bottom metal, aluminum blocks, and receiver. The DBM sticks out from the stock and is annoying when trying to shoot off a pack. It also has the "detach" mechanism in the front and it is easily released. Lost a mag on a hunting trip when I first got it. Lastly, the mag is not a quality design and the bottom plate of the mag comes off way to easy. Recap, use the hinged floor plate

 

[Shortdraw]

Just thought of something else. The DBM that howa has is not a good design and I use the metal hinged floor plate. This gives you metal on metal contact between the bottom metal, aluminum blocks, and receiver. The DBM sticks out from the stock and is annoying when trying to shoot off a pack. It also has the "detach" mechanism in the front and it is easily released. Lost a mag on a hunting trip when I first got it. Lastly, the mag is not a quality design and the bottom plate of the mag comes off way to easy. Recap, use the hinged floor plate

Yeah I was never crazy about the detachable mag. Just looks like a problem waiting to happen and additional clutter on the firearm. I would go w the floor plate too.