Barrel Length vs Velocity
I am looking at a Remington Model 7600 Patrolman with a 16.5 inch barrel. It is chambered in 308. I am just curious as to how much velocity I will be losing with a 16.5 barrel vs the standard 22 inch barrel. Thanks for any input.
Patrick
Patrick
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Does anyone know what is optimum barrel length for the 308 Winchester cartridge? At what length, does the bullet stop accelerating?
Thanks
Chris8161
Admit nothing, deny everything, demand proof!0 -
Figure 25 - 30 fps per inch loss.
Keep off the Ridgeline0 -
It's actually more like 100 fps per inch. Then add the enormous increase in blast and noise, loss of sight radius, etc, etc. 0 -
Hi and welcome to the forum.
My general "rule of thumb" has always been 50fps per inch and periodic measurements over the years have pretty much vetted it.
The 7600 your talking about is a law enforcement model intended for urban/close quarters use. Therefore the lower velocity isn't that big of a deal.
I don't keep up with Canada's changing gun laws so I can't comment on the legality of your owning one up there if your not in law enforcement. In the US the barrel length is legal for civilian ownership unless it conflicts with local laws. However, unless you have a need for this type firearm you would be better served to go with a longer barrel length so that you can take advantage of the attributes of the 308 cartridge.
If you only have time to do two things so-so, or one thing well ... do the one thing!0 -
As a matter of fact. When using soft points or hollow points at a distance. The lower velocity will actually give you MORE penetration,as the projectile will not open up. It will stay in tack and drive deeper. 0 -
Velosity loss due to barrel length has many factors most of which are dependant on the barrel of the rifle in question. How much bearing surface there is in the barrel, read # of grooves. Next how tight is the bore, they are all cut to a tolerance, but was the cutter new or old, they wear down. There is also a minimum length in which the powder in the case needs to burn, after which the bullet is still accelerating, but the acceration is starting to drop off from the friction. So a cutting a 29" barrel to 24" will have a different delta then cutting a 22" to 18". One summer I took a 8x57 Mauser 29" barrel that I knew that I was going to cut down to 22" and reduced the length by 1" increments just to see what I would get. My chrony read that it was on the order of 35fps per inch. But that was that case and there is no way to really tell what your rifle would have wiht the full 22". I'd recomend that you find somewhere to shoot the rifle over a chrongraph and see what it puts out. If it is good enough for what you want it for then buy it. If the person or place won't help figure it out, shop somewhere else. 0 -
Consider a modest and unimportant velocity loss. Anything that gets blasted with a .308 will stay that way wether the pipe was 16 inches or 22 inches. 0 -
like mentioned this gun was made for close quarters and not for long range . the shortend barrel should have no affect even with the lower velocities if it is used at close range . also it should be easier to manuver around with the shorter barrel .
hope this helped0
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