What length of barrel for a 270 #5 contour?

[clark270]

I'm going from a stock Winchester sporter 24" barrel to a Shilen #5 contour the smith wants to cut it at 22". I was thinking longer 23"-24" for a 500 yd. deer gun. I just don't want to add too much weight for an extra 35-80 fps. Or just listen to the gunsmith.

 

[FearNoWind]

The Shilen #5 is a light weight varmint barrel which, I believe, is delivered at about 28 inches. Cutting it down to 22 inches doesn't make sense to me when a #2 Lightweight or a #3 Sporter come closer to that spec. The only advantage to cutting it to 22 inches, IMO, is to lighten it up and make it easier to carry in brush. But, again IMO, an inch or two doesn't lighten it up enough to make much difference so, in your place, I'd stick to my guns and order the longer version. You can always cut 'em off but you can't make 'em longer.

 

[clark270]

That's what I was thinking what's 2 inches anyways.

 

[seattleman1969]

That's what I was thinking what's 2 inches anyways.

Depending on your specific loading, powder, etc, 2 inches can make a fairly dramatic difference in velocity. Optimal for the .270 is 24 inches and what most manufacturers use for a standard rifle in that chambering. 26 inches won't get you much more if anything from the .270 unless you are using a very slow burning powder.

 

[SansSouci]

Clark270,

I'll add my two cents which, when considering international exchange rates, ain't worth the copper it's imprinted upon: 22" barreled rifles are ideal for western big game hunting, especially where air is thin, lungs labor, and heart rates beat faster than Ginger Baker. I've made a few long shots out of a 22" barreled .270 Win. My longest barreled rifle is my 7MM Rem Mag, which comes installed with a 24" barrel.

After last month's elk hunt, I think that from here on out I'm hunting anything and everything with my 22" barreled .270 Win, and I hope to get to Alaska for Dall Sheep and moose. But first I have a bunch of desert big horn sheep bonus points that I want to put to good use. That is my primary hunting goal. As soon as God blesses me with a tag of dreams, the rest will be easy. I used to think that I wanted a perfectly symmetrical 30" 4x4 muley. But darn if I ain't comin' down a bad case of desert big horn fever.

 

[FEENIX]

The Shilen #5 is a light weight varmint barrel which, I believe, is delivered at about 28 inches. Cutting it down to 22 inches doesn't make sense to me when a #2 Lightweight or a #3 Sporter come closer to that spec. The only advantage to cutting it to 22 inches, IMO, is to lighten it up and make it easier to carry in brush. But, again IMO, an inch or two doesn't lighten it up enough to make much difference so, in your place, I'd stick to my guns and order the longer version. You can always cut 'em off but you can't make 'em longer.

+1! I have a Lilja 30" 1:8 3-groove SS #6 contour (.750" @ the muzzle) in my .270 AI propelling the 175 Matrix VLDs at 2993 FPS (my current accuracy load).

 

[clark270]

I'm not worried about weight the farthest walk I have is 15 min. up hill not bad. And the woods is thinned out that I can shoot through most of it to the field on the other side. I just sit in my box tower all day. Most likely will never hunt out of state, I would like to go but never works out. I can't even go bear hunting in the same state. I have 18 points that's 1 point a year. Maybe one of these years when I have both time and money at the same time it will work out. The gun weight 8 lbs. even right now.

 

[el matador]

It depends on which bullets you'll be shooting. If you like the 130s a 22" barrel would be about perfect and you won't gain much of anything by going longer. 140s is kind of middle ground, but if you wanna shoot 150s you'll gain a decent amount of velocity by going 24". Heavier bullets like slower powders, and those powders need more inches to burn.