NON-TYPICAL rifle build in mind; need some help...

[muleystalker]

I see what your trying to do but your thinking is a bit flawed. If you pick a cartridge that normally pushes a bullet at 3200fps in a 26" barrel and lop the barrel off to say 20", just because the Bullet is traveling a 150-200 fps slower because of the shorter barrel doesn't mean you are going to get better barrel life. You are burning the same amounts of powder and the damage to barrels are in the throat area and first 3-4". Nothing wrong with doing what your trying to do shortening the barrel to so you could add. The suppresser so it's not so long, but thing that the same load is going to have better barrel life in the short barrel than the long barrel, because you are losing some velocity doesn't pan out.given the same load in both the long barrel and short barrel they are going to get torched at the same time, it's the heat and fire torching coming out of the case that is doing all the damage that's going to make a difference on the barrel life, the speed of the bullet is just a byproduct of that explosion and the bullet is traveling down both barrels at the same rate of speed per given inch, it's just that the Bullet in the longer barrel gets more energy in those last extra inches to overtake the Bullet that has already exited the short barrel.

 

[PRCLITE]

I see what your trying to do but your thinking is a bit flawed. If you pick a cartridge that normally pushes a bullet at 3200fps in a 26" barrel and lop the barrel off to say 20", just because the Bullet is traveling a 150-200 fps slower because of the shorter barrel doesn't mean you are going to get better barrel life. You are burning the same amounts of powder and the damage to barrels are in the throat area and first 3-4". Nothing wrong with doing what your trying to do shortening the barrel to so you could add. The suppresser so it's not so long, but thing that the same load is going to have better barrel life in the short barrel than the long barrel, because you are losing some velocity doesn't pan out.given the same load in both the long barrel and short barrel they are going to get torched at the same time, it's the heat and fire torching coming out of the case that is doing all the damage that's going to make a difference on the barrel life, the speed of the bullet is just a byproduct of that explosion and the bullet is traveling down both barrels at the same rate of speed per given inch, it's just that the Bullet in the longer barrel gets more energy in those last extra inches to overtake the Bullet that has already exited the short barrel.

Yes my thinking was flawed for barrel life being affected by barrel length. I honestly didn't know but as many have mentioned it, I understand now. Thank you.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

In my lonely opinion there are no real positive aspects of it and it tends to cloud the mind. On the flip side of that, if I owned my own business I would have to put of necessity.

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No you don't. Not worth it even in that case!

 

[Hard rock]

I am thinking about starting a somewhat unorthadox build and need help from the experts out there. I'm currently hunting with a 6.5PRC which I love. I've have been shooting/hunting suppressed on/off with it and the only thing I don't like is the length of the barrel and suppressor together which on my current rifle is 31".

I've got an idea to build on a hot rod cartridge but cut the barrel down to 19 or 20 inches which will give me the barrel length I want but also slow my cartridge down as to not burn my barrel out so quickly. The key for me is to pick a cartridge either in the 6.5mm or 7mm family that usually screams with a standard 24 or 26 inch barrel and by cutting it down still achieves the same or better numbers than I'm getting with the PRC. If I would cut the PRC down, I would have less energy and speed than a 6.5CM which isn't what I want. The big deal is I need to pick a caliber that will still have efficient powder burn with a shorter barrel. I'm thinking one of the short mags is going to get the nod, but I'm not completely sure. Any suggestions on caliber?

I am thinking about starting a somewhat unorthadox build and need help from the experts out there. I'm currently hunting with a 6.5PRC which I love. I've have been shooting/hunting suppressed on/off with it and the only thing I don't like is the length of the barrel and suppressor together which on my current rifle is 31".

I've got an idea to build on a hot rod cartridge but cut the barrel down to 19 or 20 inches which will give me the barrel length I want but also slow my cartridge down as to not burn my barrel out so quickly. The key for me is to pick a cartridge either in the 6.5mm or 7mm family that usually screams with a standard 24 or 26 inch barrel and by cutting it down still achieves the same or better numbers than I'm getting with the PRC. If I would cut the PRC down, I would have less energy and speed than a 6.5CM which isn't what I want. The big deal is I need to pick a caliber that will still have efficient powder burn with a shorter barrel. I'm thinking one of the short mags is going to get the nod, but I'm not completely sure. Any suggestions on caliber?

N

I am thinking about starting a somewhat unorthadox build and need help from the experts out there. I'm currently hunting with a 6.5PRC which I love. I've have been shooting/hunting suppressed on/off with it and the only thing I don't like is the length of the barrel and suppressor together which on my current rifle is 31".

I've got an idea to build on a hot rod cartridge but cut the barrel down to 19 or 20 inches which will give me the barrel length I want but also slow my cartridge down as to not burn my barrel out so quickly. The key for me is to pick a cartridge either in the 6.5mm or 7mm family that usually screams with a standard 24 or 26 inch barrel and by cutting it down still achieves the same or better numbers than I'm getting with the PRC. If I would cut the PRC down, I would have less energy and speed than a 6.5CM which isn't what I want.

Thank you for the comments. I'm still trying to weigh everything out. I love my PRC and the 6.5 family as a whole. I would essentially be starting a new build or rebarrelling to subtract 4" of barrel length which is expensive either way you look at it. I would love to stick with the PRC and just build a load to match my needs in a 20" barrel but I wasn't sure how much I would lose in performance. What I didn't want to do was fund a whole new build on the same caliber to find out I should've gone bigger and badder. I wonder what kind of speed I can get out of the 156 Berger on the short barreled 6.5PRC.... anyone have those numbers?

big deal is I need to pick a caliber that will still have efficient powder burn with a shorter barrel. I'm thinking one of the short mags is going to get the nod, but I'm not completely sure. Any suggestions on caliber?

This is what makes shooting/building fun. A possibility to consider is something my gunsmith has put together (nemesis machine) he took a 260 rem and put a creedmoor shoulder and neck on it. Boost performance with standard components. This should like the ubiquitus (in a normal year) 4831 powders.
Use a standard 6.5 creedmoor die for full sizing but set it long (ie don't size the last .10 case

No you don't. Not worth it even in that case!

Why not make your rifle a switch lug one barrel short for suppressed and the other long that way you can use same every thing else you can cange calibers barrel lenghts etc as long as the bolt face is the same or you have a xtra bolt for said cal
. This way you don't need custom dies. Yes it requires fire forming 260 brass.

 

[Hard rock]

Why not build a switch lug so you can change cal or keep same cal one short barrel and one long or as many barrells and cal as you like keep same every thing else I built a switch lug with the West Tx switch Lug on a Curtis Axiom 6.5 Prc 26 in next barrel will be a shorter 300 wsm if I want to change to a smaller cartridge ill change bolts it is a very accurate rifle

 

[PRCLITE]

Why not build a switch lug so you can change cal or keep same cal one short barrel and one long or as many barrells and cal as you like keep same every thing else I built a switch lug with the West Tx switch Lug on a Curtis Axiom 6.5 Prc 26 in next barrel will be a shorter 300 wsm if I want to change to a smaller cartridge ill change bolts it is a very accurate rifle

Not sure I've ever heard of a switch lug.

 

[Hard rock]

Not sure I've ever heard of a switch lug.

You loosen the lug with a allen wrench and un screw the barrel by hand and tighten by hand the head space can be set too accommodate for not crushing back in a barrel vice very simple

 

[Hard rock]

N

Google West Tx ordance the site will explain

 

[PRCLITE]

Wow - I'll check it out!

 

[PRCLITE]

Let me get this straight... this is simply a recoil lug machined to fit an action that stays in place and each barrel is already properly headspaced? So I could essentially run a medium action and swap between 6.5PRC, 6.5SS, 270WSM, 7WSM, 7MAX, 300WSM and have repeatable performance throughout each barrel/caliber change?

 

[JuddL]

Yes, but you could do that with a properly shouldered barrel. My opinion...they solved a problem that didn't exist. You don't need that WTO lug...just have a smith make you a switchbarrel and buy a torque wrench, a barrel wise and an action wrench and you can do that same thing a WTO lug does. More of my opinion...I want a barrel torqued up against a shoulder rather than a clamp or set screw holding it together anyway.

 

[PRCLITE]

Yes, but you could do that with a properly shouldered barrel. My opinion...they solved a problem that didn't exist. You don't need that WTO lug...just have a smith make you a switchbarrel and buy a torque wrench, a barrel wise and an action wrench and you can do that same thing a WTO lug does. More of my opinion...I want a barrel torqued up against a shoulder rather than a clamp or set screw holding it together anyway.

I would have to completely agree with that. It wouldn't take that long to remove the barreled action from the stock, remove the scope/rings, and throw it in a vise. The idea of this is a little tempting and I'll have to look into it more.

 

[tooth doc]

I see what your trying to do but your thinking is a bit flawed. If you pick a cartridge that normally pushes a bullet at 3200fps in a 26" barrel and lop the barrel off to say 20", just because the Bullet is traveling a 150-200 fps slower because of the shorter barrel doesn't mean you are going to get better barrel life. You are burning the same amounts of powder and the damage to barrels are in the throat area and first 3-4". Nothing wrong with doing what your trying to do shortening the barrel to so you could add. The suppresser so it's not so long, but thing that the same load is going to have better barrel life in the short barrel than the long barrel, because you are losing some velocity doesn't pan out.given the same load in both the long barrel and short barrel they are going to get torched at the same time, it's the heat and fire torching coming out of the case that is doing all the damage that's going to make a difference on the barrel life, the speed of the bullet is just a byproduct of that explosion and the bullet is traveling down both barrels at the same rate of speed per given inch, it's just that the Bullet in the longer barrel gets more energy in those last extra inches to overtake the Bullet that has already exited the short barrel.

Been discussed here several times. u r correct though

 

[foul bore]

i have not noticed the 6.8 western mentioned. would this be a viable option? guns and ammo have a good write up on this. One thing to consider is the availability of ammo and or components that said the smart thing might be to stay with the 6.5 PRC