300 rum short barrel

ttfreestyle

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Jul 16, 2014
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How short can I cut my 300 rum barrel without (Totally) killing the performance and the reason I built the rum. Shots to be 800 and less with 180 to 200 class bullets. Thanks
 
I can't tell you exactly where there is a significant change in velocity. 22" would be the shortest I'd try.

I took a 24" 300 win mag Rem takeoff that I rechambered to 300 RUM. Shooting the 230 Berger I got 2975 fps with 100 gr of RL-33. I toned it down and now use 86 gr of H-1000 for a velocity of 2777 fps.

Cut it down and let us know your results.
 
Id have to agree... the shorter the barrel, the quicker the powder you need to make up for the lack of time of the bullet being in the barrel. HOWEVER, keep your load at LEAST 80% of the case capacity to avoid detonation.
 
Prudent... yes. However, that is not what he asked. I'm quite certain he's well aware, that a cigar like that takes barrel to be efficient.
Even IF you do a 22 in barrel, your still going to be at or better performance that a 300 Win Mag in a 24 in barrel.

All in all... it's his money.... his hunt.... his rifle.

Personally, Id LOVE to have a 26 Nosler or a 338 Rum in a Savage Stryker.
Why? Why not? I know the losses and frankly don't care... gun)
 
I have had 3, 300 rums and they are relatively inefficient even with long barrels. The shortest barrel I owned on one was 27". If this is really what you want to do, just know that, as has already been stated, you are going to get very marginal performance with a lot of unburned powder, muzzle blast, recoil, etc., etc. Personally, I would not consider it but thats why they make Fords AND Chevys:D.......Rich
 
Thanks guys, I have a 300 rum in a 30 inch that I love. This one is for horseback pack trips, so I'm thinking 24 max on this including the brake. Thanks again Troy
How about a 308/26-Nosler in a 24" tube.

I made one from a Wby Mark V in 30-06. Like it so much I got a Proof barrel to replace the 24".
 
Prudent... yes. However, that is not what he asked. I'm quite certain he's well aware, that a cigar like that takes barrel to be efficient.
Even IF you do a 22 in barrel, your still going to be at or better performance that a 300 Win Mag in a 24 in barrel.

All in all... it's his money.... his hunt.... his rifle.

Personally, Id LOVE to have a 26 Nosler or a 338 Rum in a Savage Stryker.
Why? Why not? I know the losses and frankly don't care... gun)
:p LOL

I have 2 300 RUMs at the moment so experience goes with the data and opinion.

To directly answer the OP question, you will loose ~25fps per inch. That is well established. In actual, a little more a little less. Depends on the barrel and some other details.

If you load something like a 190 Berger Hunting VLD, which is dead middle of your range over Reloader 25 your efficiency, as in powder burned in the barrel will say quite reasonable.

As short as a 22" barrel is capable of 3100fps with the above combination at the same pressure a 26" should be more like 3250.

As Jokester (just pulling your leg, keep smiling) points out and I whole heartedly support: make, take, bake what YOU want.
 
Oh yeah, like I said. Almost every other powder will give pretty hefty muzzle blast and recoil with the shorter barrels.

You pays you money and you makes you choices.
 
There's a couple fellows on Specialty Pistol forums who are shooting the 300 RUM from XP-100 specialty pistols. Not sure on barrel length (some where in the 20" range) but I think one is getting around 2800 FPS with Berger 230 HT.
 
My hunting barrelled rum is currently 28 including brake, I am cutting it down to 23 barrel plus brake and will see how it does. This is a fast barrel so I hope not to lose more than 150 fps but more importantly I hope my accuracy is still there. I realize I will have to tweak the load or maybe even have to develop a new one, but that's the fun isn't it? Thanks again for all the replies.:D
 
Well it's chopped off to 23 inches, gonna start load testing this week with 180 class bullets. Gonna start with the load of rl25 that shot good when was longer. Thinking I'll need to try a faster burning powder maybe.
 
ttfreestyle,

I have read on several occasions that a faster burning powder is not the solution for a shorter barrel. The various authors including Ross Seyfried said to stick with same powders that a longer barrel uses.

In Ross's article where he experimented with faster powders and disproved the theory, he made another comment: Heavier bullets loose less velocity when used in a shorter barrel.

If you do choose to use a faster powder please post your results here.
 

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