Why a 22 inch barrel on 7 rem mag from factory?

[Oskurmyboy]

All I read is that the 7 mg looses its effectiveness in a 22"barrel and that 24" to 26" is a must to take advantage of the cartridge. This all makes perfect sense to me.....what I don't understand is why in the heck does Tikka T3x Hunter in stainless steel come with an 22 2/5 inch barrel? Do I really have to swap out a brand new barrel to run the 7 mag like its meant to be shot?

 

[gohring3006]

I had a 24" barrel Savage 7 mag that had some frost in the bore about a 1 1/4" down in the bore.
I cut it off at 1 1/2" down and recrowned it. I lost 15 fps.

 

[MudRunner2005]

All I read is that the 7 mg looses its effectiveness in a 22"barrel and that 24" to 26" is a must to take advantage of the cartridge. This all makes perfect sense to me.....what I don't understand is why in the heck does Tikka T3x Hunter in stainless steel come with an 22 2/5 inch barrel? Do I really have to swap out a brand new barrel to run the 7 mag like its meant to be shot?

Most manufacturers do some really stupid things that make no sense to most people, and the rifles they build fit one preferred group, or the other, but rarely does a rifle fit all of the desired characteristics that allow the hunter & shooter the fit, form, and function that would allow the rifle to be used in any/every way possible for all customers to be 100% satisfied. Actually 26-30" takes the best advantage of the cartridge. But 26" for hunting works best, as it's the best compromise of velocity and maneuverability.

 

[MudRunner2005]

I had a 24" barrel Savage 7 mag that had some frost in the bore about a 1 1/4" down in the bore.
I cut it off at 1 1/2" down and recrowned it. I lost 15 fps.

I'm calling shenanigans! Everyone on Al Gore's green interwebz knows that only Remington 700's are allowed to have barrel problems...

Just figured we'd drag that dead horse out of the barn to beat, as well...Since we were at that dot on the map.

 

[Aoudad shooter1975]

I had an acquaintance, do some mighty great things with a 7mm mag and a 22 in barrel. He shot a lot more stuff than I can pay for...

 

[John Blaner]

IF you reload? You could probably go to a slightly faster burning powder to improve performance with the shorter barrel.

 

[jreagle]

what I don't understand is why in the heck does Tikka T3x Hunter in stainless steel come with an 22 2/5 inch barrel?

something does not add up. other models of the T3, blued and stainless, have a 24 1/3" barrel listed for 7mm rem Mag; same barrel length as other magnum calibers.
were you able to actually measure up the barrel on the Hunter Stainless?

 

[Barrelnut]

I agree that it may just be a misprint on the Tikka specs pages. If you already have it, measure with a cleaning rod down the muzzle until it hits the bolt face and see what it's got.

Jack O'Connor is famous for saying that if you shoot a 7RM in anything shorter than a 26" barrel, you might as well be shooting a 270 Winchester, cause the performance level would be about the same.

 

[Oskurmyboy]

something does not add up. other models of the T3, blued and stainless, have a 24 1/3" barrel listed for 7mm rem Mag; same barrel length as other magnum calibers.
were you able to actually measure up the barrel on the Hunter Stainless?

I got the 22 2/5" from Tikkas website.

 

[Garycrow]

Jack O'Connor is famous for saying that if you shoot a 7RM in anything shorter than a 26" barrel, you might as well be shooting a 270 Winchester, cause the performance level would be about the same.

He was wrong.

The older I get the shorter my barrels tend to get. I used to be a confirmed long barrel guy but as I shot more and killed more stuff I realized that long barrels are a PITA and any performance gain from them is grossly exaggerated. My 7mm rem mag wears a 24" bartlein and if it were 22 5/8" it wouldn't bother me a bit.

 

[graywolf]

Tikka magnum model barrels are 24", I'd wager that is a misprint.

 

[machoking]

I don't have a T3x hunter, but I do have a T3 Hunter in 7 mag and it's a 24+" barrel.

 

[Rich Coyle]

They do it to try to sell rifles.

 

[Barrelnut]

He was wrong.

The older I get the shorter my barrels tend to get. I used to be a confirmed long barrel guy but as I shot more and killed more stuff I realized that long barrels are a PITA and any performance gain from them is grossly exaggerated. My 7mm rem mag wears a 24" bartlein and if it were 22 5/8" it wouldn't bother me a bit.

I wouldn't call him wrong at all. He was speaking in generalities though. He was basically saying a 7mm started giving up too much with a shorter barrel and it wasn't worth shooting a short barrel 7RM vs a 270. That they wouldn't be enough difference in them to justify the added recoil and muzzle blast of the 7RM.

Here's a great case in point. Link below is to a Rifle Shooter article, where a guy actually cut the barrel off of a 7RM, 1 inch at a time and documented the results. They are interesting.

For test Load #1 he used factory Federal 7RM 150 gr SP ammo. By the time he got to 23" the 7RM 150 Gr bullet was only doing 2821 FPS. Federal states the velocity of their 270 Win 150 Gr SP ammo to be 2831 FPS. So..... In these tests a 23" 7RM barrel was really only running at 270 Win speeds.

I think, generally, it is considered a true assumption that a 7RM really doesn't start to shine and pay for itself until it gets to a 26" barrel. It is just handicapped some otherwise. So why handicap it? You are paying more money for brass, bullets, and powder, for not much gain at all.

Given the results below, I would never shoot a 7RM with a 22.5" barrel. That's just hurting your shoulder and wallet for nothing. My 7RM uses a 26" barrel and I wouldn't have it anyother way.

Link to the test and results:
https://rifleshooter.com/2015/04/7mm-remington-magnum-7-rem-mag-barrel-length-versus-velocity/