Shortening .243 Barrel (T3 Hunter)

Caberhill

Well-Known Member
I have a Tikka T3 Hunter .243 that has been superseded by my Sako 85 .270. I have no intention of getting rid of the .243 and would like to make it into my rifle for Woodlands. I have a A-tec moderator to suit (nice and light weight) rather than carrying on with a T8. But the problem with the A-Tec is that it makes the thing to darn long. I have been using a .222 for Roe but the rifle is old and too short in the stock really unlike the T3 which is, in my eyes, a fantastic gun. I had a bad experience when I had my .222 CZ 527 shortened, the gun went from shooting clover leafs at 100yards to barely being able to hold a 2" group.

How short can I ask the gunsmith to take the barrel without loosing total accuracy? I know the answer will not be set in stone but experience from people reducing the barrel by say as much as 4-6" would be welcomed. The T3 is 2 years old and has maybe fired 2-300rounds, as it should it still shoots very well.

Cheers,

Ali
 
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Hi ali

I had a sauer 202 in 6.5x55 and i chopped 5 inch of it and it did not change its accuracy one bit all it did do was slow the fps down but none of the deer i shot for 4 years new the difference the speed the bullet was going. But make sure the gunsmith does know how to re-crown it properly.

regards
chris
 
I have similar experience to chrisc but in 223 calibre, i chopped my Ruger barrel my the same measurement as the mod i fitted, not sure what the velocity drop is but roe deer and fox go down just the same.

Will have my 243 done in due course although here in Scotland to stay dead on legal you have to be a little cautious with loads etc.

I would like to do the 30.06 but have been advised by some that the standard barrell lenght is better for the big powder burn,
 
...]I had a bad experience when I had my .222 CZ 527 shortened, the gun went from shooting clover leafs at 100yards to barely being able to hold a 2" group...
Ali[/FONT]


There is absolutely no connection between barrel length and accuracy. I would suggest that whomever shortened your 222 botched the job and didn't recut the crown properly.

To answer your question, I would have no hesitation in cutting the rifle down to 20". The handling of a 20" rifle with a lightweight mod is a revelation, you will want to give all your rifles the same treatment.

There are any number of smiths who can do a good to fantastic job cutting threading and recrowning, it is pretty basic stuff. My personal choice is Steve Kershaw, but there are no doubt others as good.
 
I have just had the barrel on my CZ Hornet chopped by 4 inches, no change in accuracy.
Only change I have noticed is the holdover for 200 yards (100 yard zero), 5 3/4" inches now, rather than the 5 1/4" it was before shortening.

Neil. :)
 
I have a tikka t3 laminate stainless and had the barrel shortened to 20", this along with the cmm4 mod makes it ideal and lightweight for a days stalking and the accuracy is still excellent under 1" with factory and about 0.5" with home loads
 
Had to have a Sako 243 shortened to 18" to remove a pressure bulge, still messing with mounts and bullet weights but shooting cloverleaf at 100 with 75 grain hornady v max, foxing rifle so not worried about too worried about velocity, still need to play at longer ranges might not hit a barn door at 200, will let you know next weekend!!!
 
I am pleased that other gents on here agree with what i said as on other forums they say it affects the accuracy. Just for the sake of it i know a chap that use to shoot 1000 yard pistol and he used a 308 bolt action single shot action with a 14 inch barrel .

regards
chris
 
I have a tikka t3 laminate stainless and had the barrel shortened to 20", this along with the cmm4 mod makes it ideal and lightweight for a days stalking and the accuracy is still excellent under 1" with factory and about 0.5" with home loads

Hi, I have a Tikka T3 Hunter In 243 and had the barrel cut to 18"...I use a DM80 overbarrel moderator It shoots as well as the rifle above, and as for FPS well I have never checked though anything hit properly stays down...HTH
 
Hi, thanks for all thre response, I think I am going to be really brave/stupid and just get 6" chopped of the end. which will take it down to just 17".

Just one question though to claret dabbler, is your statement regarding there being no relationship between barrel lengh and accuracy correct? Does the twist rate within the barrel not rely on a certain lengh to impart the required spin to maintain accuaracy? If a rifle was designed for instance with a given twist rate for a given lengh to impart a certain spin then to reduce one of these factors must surely have some effect on tehe imparted spin on the round which in turn would affect accuracy? That's how I saw it. But obviously this relationship can change with bullet weight and velocity.

I'm not that fused over the loss of say an 1" in accuracy @ 100 yards, I can live with that.

I'll let you know how it turns out

Cheers

...There is absolutely no connection between barrel length and accuracy...
 
i have seen a 243 with a 14 inch barrel yes nice and light but accuracy was very poor. cutting some off it to say 20 inches like the guys above said is the ideal length.
you can make some speed back up on your reloads depending on what powder,bullet's you use etc
 
How poor would you say was very poor? 14" seems a bit extreme, I'm already relenting on my previously stated 6" chop and maybe only loss 4"... I'm scared of fooking a good rifle but at the same time I know I'll always pick up the Sako unless I can give meaning to the .243 again! The 85 seems to be queit a heavy gun and don't get me wrong I like the weight, but a nice light .243 with no Bipod and a CMM-4, well I could use that.

Maybe my next thread will be "what glue do I use to stick the bit they chopped of my barrel back on with!"

I don't load my own and can't see me starting, I'll just play around with various factory ammo till I find something that suits.
 
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Ali, don't get confused by two different things, pure accuracy, and bullet stability.

Cutting a rifle will only stiffen the barrel for any given diameter, adding a mod will also help to make it easier to shoot well. I stick by my previous comment on shortening and accuracy, properly done it should have no effect and may improve accuracy.

Now twist and stability is where you may get in trouble, especially with a 243. Shortening the barrel does not change the twist, a 10" twist is a 10" twist, no matter how long or short the barrel is. However, you do need a certain amount of velocity in a given bullet weight / barrel twist to achieve stability and accuracy. ie If the muzzle velocity falls below a certain level, the barrel will not have imparted sufficent RPM's on the bullet to achieve good stability. Most 243's are 1 in 10" from the factory, which is really only just enough to stabilise a 100gr bullet with a normal length barrel. This should not be an issue in lighter bullets, but will be if you areusing 100gr, or pure copper bullets such as Barnes. You will also note most guys building custom 243 go 1 in 8, and this is the reason for it.

There is another point, the 243 uses relatively slow powders, usually the same as a 270win. These powders require a certain amount of barrel length to fully burn and allow the bullet to achieve a decent velocity. Would you cut a 270 to 17"? Not in this lifetime.

So if you know guys who have gone really short on a 243 and are having accuracy trouble, it may well be that they have lost velocity to the extent that they are not get full stability.

To further illustrate my point, The yanks in particular are going for ever shorter M4 carbines for urban warfare. The standard barrel is currently 14" and there are even 10" versions. They are using heavy long 224 cal bullets, but the rifles have 8" twists and they have no trouble with accuracy or stability.

I hope I have expressed myself clearly here.


I would not cut that 243 any shorter than 20". Cut it to 20" and live with it for a while. It is always easier to cut another inch or two off than add them back on.
 
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if the barrel was crowned properly it would improve accuracy ,it would also make it much stiffer less whip ,with a shorter barrel you lose a little velocity but if you reload use a better powder to suit length of new barrel and you could get the velocity back or even faster than previouse
i recomend take it to a decent custom gunsmith for these type of jobs to get a precision crown you pay a little more but you get a top quality job
 
I took 4 inch off my .223 and didnt affect accuracy one bit, all it did was take 50ft per sec off, advantage was a rifle that was better to transport in the car and easier to use when fixing. I remember seeing a test that was done in the US on the net a few years back where someone took an inch at a time of a rifle right down to about 15 inch and concluded the accuracy didnt change.
 
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Cheers!

I'll go with your advice and try a light bullet also. Will post results as soon as threads cut and rifles zero'd.
 
Thought I'd just let you all know how I got on.

I got the barrel cut down to 18 1/2" from 22 3/4" by Cromarty Gunsmiths, I used to shoot 1" groupings quite happily at 100 yrds with 100gn soft points. Now despite the change in barrel length the rifle shoots as it did previously with the same weight and type of previous 100gn SP's. I did try some Remmington 75gn Accutip but saw no improvement over the heavier soft points, which in my opinion is probably a good indicator that the 1" is due to my ability and the rifle is probably spot on.

TBH I'd be more than happy to have taken off another 2" at the time but glad I went with the advice of the gunsmiths and stuck to 18 1/2"

I now have the perfect light weight rifle... Although I still took the .270 out this morning!

aliS
 
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