[CV32]

What barrel length do you find best for each caliber (.308, .338, etc) ? Is longer always better when it comes to barrels ?

 

[morpheus]

Well it depends alot on if you ask if "longer is better." Nowadays on a standard hunting rifle barrels are 22 inches long. But For tactical and match shooting that is within oh probably not much longer than 600 yards (I'm not for sure though about how long away) a short, heavy barrel is better. That is because of the rigidit of such a barrel. A short barrel doesn't "whip" back from recoil and a heavy barrel is almost always more accurate than a smaller diameter one.

Of course the match shooting out to 1,000 yards and so on you'll need all the velocity you can get, so they opt for probably a longer barrel. And varmint hunters also have slightly longer barrels some times.

But this is just what I have read about and observed, so correct me if I'm wrong.

morpheus

 

[Jeff_850]

believe that the palma guys that shoot 1000y w/ .308s use 30" barrels or longer
my Remington 700P is a 26" barrel, thats a good length for tactical rifles... 24-26" is a good length any longer just gets in the way too much for a sniper
for urban sniper rifles Savage and Remington have 20" barrels on thier .308s definitely fine out to say 600y and definitely better for any tight spaces where you dont want to have a HUGE rifle

 

[spade]

yeah, jeff and morpheus are both right, shorter barrels can shoot well but if your looking for severe velocity for long range shots then a longer barrel is a must. The faster a bullet travels, the flatter it shoots (generally). I know some 50 caliber shooters who actually have rifles with 42 inch barrels! :shock: They regularly shoot 1000 yards benchrest.

 

[Jeff_850]

yea only the benchrest guys get barrels that long... it must give amazing velocities though just how much would a match grade/bull barrel like that cost for a .50?
less than ideal for hunting in thick brush, urban areas or even out in the open carrying something that big and heavy just would get in the way

 

[spade]

541 dollars for a lilja barrel non fluted. 2 inch stainless steel.

 

[HD Rifles]

On a 308, 24" is the longest you will ever need on an SWS. The factory ammo and Varget loads will get pretty much top velocity out of a 24" tube.
The Palma 1K guys shoot 155GR bullets with alot of slowish powder. That is why they use the long barrels, to burn all that slower powder.

We use 26" tubes on 300 Wins and27" tubes on 300 RUM and .338 Lapuas. Seems to get the job done pretty good without making the barrel so long it is worthless to deploy.

FWIW
Celt