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shorter barrel 2 improve accuracy?

rp85
hello;

thanks for all replys on using a stainless steel barrel in a carbon steel receiver.

the gunsmith is trying to convince to cut the barrel from 24" to 22" or even 20". he said no real change in bullet speed but may improve accuracy because a 20" will be more rigid. speed not real important to me, accuracy is.

fact, fiction, or b.s.?

the barrel in question is a 24" remington barrel.

thanks for any input.

rp
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Comments

6 comments

Date Votes
  • Hawk Carse
    Well, a short stiff barrel is common in benchrest shooting.

    But I don't know if it would do much good to cut off a factory barrel. It won't likely hurt. If you do, one of the Secrets of the Houston Warehouse was the 21 3/4" barrel.

    http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2149325
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  • yoshmyster
    Bull Barrel or Taperd? What caliber? Rifle Twist rate? Lots of things comes to play at this type of a party.

    quote:Originally posted by rp85
    rifle is a 308win. standard remington barrel found on their sps rifles.


    I wouldn't expect much difference with a stock barrel chop and mod. I would instead save the cash for a better barrel to work that voodoo.
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  • tsr1965
    rp85,

    Barrel length has little effect on accuracy, if any at all. The crown on the other hand can have a major effect. If it is just a factory barrel, you need to give us some more information. What chambering is it, and what contour...varmint, or sporter, or the VTR triangular barrel.

    At any rate, I would get a second opinion, as a high performance round can loose up to 100 FPS per inch, depending on the bore diameter, and case capacity.

    Depending on the chambering, the twist rate can have an effect on how well your load is being stabalized. To slow of a twist rate, with a heavy bullet, will make the bullet hit the paper sideways, if at all.

    Best
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  • dcs shooters
    Yosh asked THE question [^]
    It's what we need to know. A few years ago we built a REM 700-223 that the guy wanted a 30" bbl on. We chronoed it along with a 24 and 20" The 30 got the most FPS with the same loads. Accuracy was about the same from all three.
    The kicker is that after the first year shooting it he brought it back and had us cut it down to 24" Said it was too front heavy [^]
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  • beantownshootah
    In *theory* all else being equal, a short barrel should be more accurate, because its stiffer and because bullet dwell time is shorter.

    In *practice* I doubt you're going to see any improvement in accuracy by cutting down an otherwise good barrel by 2".

    If you're trying to wring out every last bit of accuracy, first things to look at are crown, trigger, bedding, and ammo.
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  • rp85
    rifle is a 308win. standard remington barrel found on their sps rifles.
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