300 WM with 20" need advise...

Its funny you say that, since I have a pile of 10 and 15" contender barrel, and have quite a few of the 21 and 23" mates, there is no difference in accuracy from 204rug up to 45-78. The only major thing I have notices (7-30waters) 15" vs 23" is a 460fps loss with the same load. Yes the 204, 222, and 223 aren't as bad, but the only benefit is they are fast to get out a truck window! Other than that its pretty much like putting a ristrictor plate on a alcohol funny car, pointless!
 
Its funny you say that, since I have a pile of 10 and 15" contender barrel, and have quite a few of the 21 and 23" mates, there is no difference in accuracy from 204rug up to 45-78. The only major thing I have notices (7-30waters) 15" vs 23" is a 460fps loss with the same load. Yes the 204, 222, and 223 aren't as bad, but the only benefit is they are fast to get out a truck window! Other than that its pretty much like putting a ristrictor plate on a alcohol funny car, pointless!
Still in the contender game, eh. I got out when I realized their 14" barrels in 30-30 didn't shoot nearly as well as the 10". I still wish I had my 14" 35rem barrel, though. I was getting 2000 fps with her with rl12 and a 200 hornady, or exactly what the 20 inch rifles get. You have to work up loads specifically for short barrels, otherwise YOU are handicapping your rifle.
 
Thank's for the GREAT input and advise. I have alot of food for thought and further investigations to do before hacking inches off this select match grade stick I have here. I was considering a silencer option also, so If I go that route a fire ball won't be an issue and the exit air would be cleaned up as well. I to thought that powder choice would be pretty critical with a 20" barrel......This is almost as crazy making as choosing a new scope.....But for me thats all part of the fun. Watching the vid. with Tod H. coaching the instructors from Magpul hitting steel out at a mile with short. stiff, silenced barrels chambered in 308 and 300WM just gave me a bit of a chub and has me thinking of what I have sitting here......gun)lightbulb
 
Thank's for the GREAT input and advise. I have alot of food for thought and further investigations to do before hacking inches off this select match grade stick I have here. I was considering a silencer option also, so If I go that route a fire ball won't be an issue and the exit air would be cleaned up as well. I to thought that powder choice would be pretty critical with a 20" barrel......This is almost as crazy making as choosing a new scope.....But for me thats all part of the fun. Watching the vid. with Tod H. coaching the instructors from Magpul hitting steel out at a mile with short. stiff, silenced barrels chambered in 308 and 300WM just gave me a bit of a chub and has me thinking of what I have sitting here......gun)lightbulb
Whatever you do, have fun and post some results.
 
I get a kick out of the fact that there are some guys that actually justify that a 20 inch 300 Win Mag might actually be a good idea...:rolleyes: I wouldn't even bother having a 300 win mag in less than a 24 inch barrel..... Far to many negatives having short barreled magnums
 
I get a kick out of the fact that there are some guys that actually justify that a 20 inch 300 Win Mag might actually be a good idea...:rolleyes: I wouldn't even bother having a 300 win mag in less than a 24 inch barrel..... Far to many negatives having short barreled magnums
If you bothered to read the posts I've written in support on this, you'd notice that even in support of this idea I mentioned possible drawbacks. A few here seem so ingrained in the fact that a barrel needs to be a mile long that it reminds me of when every duck hunter had to have a 30-32" barrel to hunt ducks. He's only talking about 4" shorter folks. I've worked with short barreled guns and they are fine.
 
Gonna go out on a limb and say striker barrels under 15 inch vs a 20 inch tube are comparing apples to oranges.

Velocity loss is not linear, years ago a friend cut down a 26 inch barrel 375 h&h several times each time trying to make it more and more handy for dense brush, 26 down to 23 was a drop but only 30 fps or so, 23 to 20 averaged closer to 45fps, when he took it to 18.5 it dropped to the point where rebarreling became and attractive option to him. I'd hazard that a 20 inch 300 winnie would loose no more than 40 fps per inch. Velocity loss would be from my experience will be more pronounced as you go under or over the mid weight bullets.

I have a 270 wsm chopped down to 17.5 inches, it slowed down between 250 fps and 360 fps depending on bullet weight. the 130s are a modest weight for the 270 and posted an approximate average loss of 250 fps, the 110's lost a hair over 310, the 85 e tips weren't tested in the 26 but chronied 320 fps below the barnes data for 85 grain bullets. The few 160 partitions lost the big 360. Now the 270 wsm striker pitols with the 13.5 inch barrels ususally seem to post larger losses per inch.

I also have a 375 ruger that's only 20 inches, on the 235s I'm off 150 fps from the book speeds with similar load data, on 260s with rl 17 I'm posting a negligible difference from published velocity On the 300 weight bullets I'm off 50-80 fps depending on bullet type, and on the few 350 weight bullets I was off 200 fps.

The 300 winnie is between the two on bore efficiency so that is why took a stab at 40 fps worst case scenario.

Have now had the chance to shoot 375 ruger's with 20,23, and 26 inch barrels. They all had muzzle blast, obviously mine was the most extreme. But I'd like to point out that none were pleasant muzzle blasts. Same with the 270 wsm, yeah the 17.5 makes a nice breeze in my hair when I shoot it, but at 26 it wasn't exactly something I'd shoot without ear protection either.

On the topic of powders, from reading the sp posts dating back as far as I can, it appears that the same powders that go faster go faster in short tubes as well. My best loads in the 17.5 are eerily similar in the good loads in its 26inch twin. Some powders like rl 17, magpro, and retumbo really are quite remarkable. Initially with the 375 I tried to mess with powders seeing if faster powders worked better in the shorter tube. In that limited experience, nothing was gained, actually the mid speed 4350 and rl 17 were a fair bit better than the varget and h414 recommendations.

For me it boiled down to portability, the loooong barreled 7 rum and 300 wsm I had only made it 50 yards from the truck in Kodiak before I'd had enough of carrying them through alders. But in eastern OR, I shoot for miles with nothing but sagebrush and they work great. If portability isn't a huge concern I'd go as long as the blank would allow, the added 200 fps would be well worth it to me when going past 500 yards.

As always that's just my .02$
 
"Gonna go out on a limb and say striker barrels under 15 inch vs a 20 inch tube are comparing apples to oranges." comfisherman
Yes it is a bit apples to oranges, but it shows the fact that this has been done to a much more extreme level and it works within reason. That's the whole point I was making. You can not expect exactly the same speed as a longer barrel, but the sky is not going to fall either as some assume.
 
You should read all of this article before going on with your plans. It is good stuff.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f28/secrets-houston-warehouse-15150/


Sniper2 asked me to post this:

Secrets of the Houston Warehouse
by Dave Scott

(Editor's introduction: Many, many years ago, when the earth was young, and the oceans still covered much of the land, and dinosaurs were to be found on every street corner... okay, if you insist on a date, it was 1993....................
.
But no bit of information was, Virgil believes, more valuable than a little advice Jim Gilmore passed along. Jim said a barrel MUST be 21 3/4" long for optimum accuracy. That precise length, he stated, sets up a vibration pattern that duplicates well from shot to shot. Virgil faithfully followed that advice on his guns.
..................................

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After reading this I would not have a barrel less than 21 3/4" if I was going below 24" to 26" range!
Seems it is a lock....milage may vary!
Good luck.
 
Odd, 22 inches was where I settled for my stubby 7 rum experiment, well 21 7/8".

Lefty, I totally agree that just because we go under 24 inches the world doesn't stop spinning and the sun explodes. Many of the sp fellows are launching bullets with a degree of precision that I cannot obtain in a 29 inch rifle. If I really wanted to stretch my legs the longer the barrel the better for me personally. But my 17.5 inch 270 has become my favorite rifle, the I'll be re-barreling it soon at the rate that its been shot lately.
 
I'm contemplating a 20" 300 WSM to hunt suppressed. A little less powder consumption than the 300 WM, more compact, and still maintain great 30 cal performance.
 
Is that measurment of 21 .75" measured from the bolt face?

Never thought about it - was not involved, but I would check out what the smith standards were back in that day before I cut one down, and go with that. I never did any of this but close the bolt and slide a wooden dowl down the tube -mark it and measure the distance is what I would do. Are you cutting one? If so what other way would you use?

So much game...so little time. :)
 
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