How much to shorten barrel for suppressor ?

[LouisianaHunter]

I have a Sako 85 Varmint 308 with a 24" heavy barrel. It shoots 2890 with factory Hornady Superformance 165 SSTs.
It's mission is to be a 400-500 yard whitetail rifle from a box stand. I have a 9 inch suppressor in jail that I hope to receive in time for this season.
Thinking about shortening the barrel when I get it threaded. Looking for opinions on whether to do it and how much. Thanks

 

[WanderingGoatie]

My bolt Guns are 18.5" and 22". If I could do it all over I would do as short as legal. I prefer the convenience over marginally better ballistics.

 

[ducky]

My bolt rifles are as follows.

Rem 700 .223 Rem and RAR .300 BLK are 16.5".
Sav 10 6mm CM and Rem 700 .308 are 18".
Howa 1500 6mm CM and Howa Superlite are 20".

I try to keep my barrel and suppressor length under 26" total with a 6" suppressor. In your case with a 9" suppressor I'd consider 16" barrels pretty seriously.

 

[338 dude]

I went from 26 inches to 22 inches when I got a suppressor.

 

[Joefrazell]

Doing one right now and it's $125

 

[HuntnPack]

For box stand hunting If you can swing it,
I'd go at least 18" or shorter.

 

[LouisianaHunter]

For box stand hunting If you can swing it,
I'd go at least 18" or shorter.

I'm good with 20" pretty easy. Would take a leap of faith to go to 18". Bet I don't go shorter tha that. Thanks for the opinions .

 

[lancetkenyon]

I run surpessed on all but two of my rifles.
My suppressors are 6.5", 7", and 9".
The rifle barrel lengths they are run on are:
20" (6.5SS)
22" (X3, 6.5SLR, 6.5PRC, 6.5PRC/SI)
24" (X3, 6CM, .260AI, 7SS)
26" (X5, 25CM, 25CM, 25SST, 6.5SS, .300PRC)

Hunting out west lends itself to allowing longer barrels and longer shots.

When the 20" 6.5SS barrel is.shot out, it will get a 22-24". No need to go 20" for my hunting style. But thenagain, I would not build a rifle for only 500 yard max.

 

[ATH]

I got my first suppressor in December and the first dedicated rifle I built for it was a 20" 2223AI. 308 is pretty efficient, so I think a 20" would serve you well for the stated purpose.

I am not sure I'd step down to a 16" barrel if I wanted to shoot game to 500yds with a 308.

 

[waspocrew]

I prefer 18-20" for my suppressed bolt rifles, but like Lance mentioned above, western hunting does allow for longer barrels (at least where I hunt).

 

[Kimber7man]

for hunting from a box blind, do you need to pull the rifle inside and move it to another window/opening? Or is it just out the front? Manuvering a long barrel inside a box blind is a pain in the butt, so if that's the case I'd go 16" or 17" barrel. Or maybe consider a shorter suppressor.

 

[LouisianaHunter]

for hunting from a box blind, do you need to pull the rifle inside and move it to another window/opening? Or is it just out the front? Manuvering a long barrel inside a box blind is a pain in the butt, so if that's the case I'd go 16" or 17" barrel. Or maybe consider a shorter suppressor.

In my no.1 spot it will spend most of its time out the front window on a sandbag. There's a 450 yd. long narrow food plot . Everything else is thicket .

 

[Shane Lindsey]

My 308 is 20". I am in Virginia and treestand/blind hunt mostly. With my can, it is a little bit long and I have to "manipulate" around things a bit. That said, I would do a 16.25" if I had to do it over for that reason. Because it is a 308, barrel life is forever, so it won't be getting changed for a while.

That said, I do not have any loads (there are many) except with a 215 Berger that the bullet is above 1800 fps "recommended velocity function" beyond about 500 yards. Go to 16" and it probably decreases a good bit before that.

 

[7.62 Gunner]

I have a Sako 85 Varmint 308 with a 24" heavy barrel. It shoots 2890 with factory Hornady Superformance 165 SSTs.
It's mission is to be a 400-500 yard whitetail rifle from a box stand. I have a 9 inch suppressor in jail that I hope to receive in time for this season.
Thinking about shortening the barrel when I get it threaded. Looking for opinions on whether to do it and how much. Thanks

16" for sure
The 308 is really efficient in short barrels, the absolute max velocity you'd lose going from 24 to 16" is 200fps.
Run those numbers and you'll see that at 500 yards your 165 sst is still over 1950 fps with 1400 ftlbs..

I live and hunt the Intermountain west and have taken elk close to 1000 yards, my longest barrel is 19".
It's not just the vegetation that you have to consider when hunting with a 9" can on your barrel, it's really more the rifles balance and maneuverability in a variety of terrain and conditions.