Barrel length vs velocity 28" to 16.5" .308

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

ldp4570

Sharpshooter
Joined
Nov 19, 2008
Messages
6,461
Reaction score
120
Location
McAlester
Always a good read, and something to present to others when the discussion comes up about the difference between long an short barrels. Unless your an "F" class shooter or a sniper the need for a long barreled rifle really isn't there. A short easy to operate an move barreled gun will do anything you need.
 

dennishoddy

Sharpshooter
Supporting Member
Special Hen Supporter
Joined
Dec 9, 2008
Messages
84,543
Reaction score
61,815
Location
Ponca City Ok
Good data. For the record, I've never shot a .308. But I've shot hundreds upon hundreds of rounds of 30-06, and .270.
some of the Crusty old hold overs that serve me well. Last Elk was a head shot at 440 yds midway between the eye and ear socket. Head is still in the freezer waiting to extract the Barnes 168 grain TTS bullet.
I've LOL'd at a lot of shotgun shooters that think grandpa's old goose gun with a 30"+ barrel generates more velocity than an 18". I don't have chrono data to prove it, but magazine articles say the powder burn is done in the first 16" depending on the powder.
Shotgun speeds are tough to chrony unless you have one of the barrel mounted ones like was pictured in the OP's post #1

Tried it with my F1 chrony, but you're only getting the wad speed as it comes in second behind the shot column.
 

adamsredlines

Sharpshooter
Special Hen
Joined
Mar 8, 2016
Messages
7,845
Reaction score
13,544
Location
Boone, NE
I ended up going with a "short" 20" barrel on my long range gun. It'll do everything I need it to do, came factory threaded and isnt a hassle to mess with during transport. I used references like above to help with my decision, it gets plenty velocity at that length and I think people are more open to shorter barrels than they used to be.
 

swampratt

Sharpshooter
Supporting Member
Special Hen Supporter
Joined
Nov 3, 2010
Messages
12,719
Reaction score
19,274
Location
yukon ok
I purchased a savage .308 10FP heavy barrel.. .880" at the muzzle end at 24" barrel length.

Friend that shoots and builds all kinds of guns told me 18" or 20" is whet they cut all their .308 barrels to.
I was old school thinking.. he stated it makes no difference to 800 yards.. in fact the shorter barrel is more accurate to 800.

I called BS until I cut my own barrel to 20.5".. my accuracy greatly improved..I recently purchased a savage with 18" threaded barrel.
It shoots better with only 4 loads tried in it than my 24" did with 3 years of trying different loads..3 Years!!!
When I finally cut it short it was not as finicky.
 

ldp4570

Sharpshooter
Joined
Nov 19, 2008
Messages
6,461
Reaction score
120
Location
McAlester
People have a hard time wrapping their head around the fact that a shorter barrel is more accurate when sight radius is not a factor.

The shorter barrel doesn't have the issue with harmonics like the longer barrels do, so the vibrations are less leading to a more accurate flight path for the bullet. With the exception of my Remington 581LH, my Walther KKJ .22lr, and my M1 Garand, all of my rifles have barrels that are 18" to 16", that's only four though. A Ruger Scout .308, Ruger 10/22TD, Marlin 336Y I turned into a "Poor mans Scout rifle", and my AR/M4gery...
 

beastep

Sharpshooter
Special Hen
Joined
Jul 3, 2016
Messages
3,138
Reaction score
1,009
Location
Garvin Co. Oklahoma
The shorter barrel doesn't have the issue with harmonics like the longer barrels do, so the vibrations are less leading to a more accurate flight path for the bullet. With the exception of my Remington 581LH, my Walther KKJ .22lr, and my M1 Garand, all of my rifles have barrels that are 18" to 16", that's only four though. A Ruger Scout .308, Ruger 10/22TD, Marlin 336Y I turned into a "Poor mans Scout rifle", and my AR/M4gery...

I agree completely.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom