.308 then bud
Short stalking rifle calibre.
- Thread starter Mrmjspice
- Start date
So maybe 308 with 18" barrel would be a good compromise?If you know how to shoot them
Shirt light 308’s can be notoriously jumpy, if you’re not learned in handling 30’cals in shorties, you might quickly blame the rifle or ammo for crappy groups
Smellydog
Well-Known Member
I gave you the pictorial answer then
Are you hoping to use a moderator? The trend in some parts of the world is to go short on the barrel in order to accommodate a large (often heavy) moderator without increasing overall length. The mod helps mitigate the increased recoil from the short barrel.
A small, light moderator on a slightly longer (20 inch factory spec) barrel might be a better compromise.
Ultimately there's no right answer, and you'll get as many opinions as there are members here!
As I say, 20” is a good compromise without losing too much velocity.
Mind you all of my stalking is done with 24-26” barrel with Ase Utra mods, but I’m never in woodland so like all the velocity I can get.
TringSaint
Well-Known Member
Mine is not so light.If you know how to shoot them
Shirt light 308’s can be notoriously jumpy, if you’re not learned in handling 30’cals in shorties, you might quickly blame the rifle or ammo for crappy groups
The original rifle was a 26” barrelled Remington 700 SPS, so heavy barrel.
Lopping 10” off it made some difference to the overall weight and its pointyness but even in an mdt oryx stock it’s not a lightweight rifle.
Recoil is absolutely fine with 150gn ecx’s.
Yeah I'm getting that impression ha everyone has a favourite and it seems there's no right answer. I will be using a moderator so maybe the compromise you suggested would be fine, puts me back up to the 20" barrel which then opens up the 6.5cm again
Yeah I wouldn't mind if I was in the open but through the woods you catch all the branches you try and duck under or have to keep taking the rifle off your shoulder and I just don't want to do that if I can avoid it.
I'd say carry muzzle-down, but that's a whole different a̶r̶g̶u̶m̶e̶n̶t̶ ... c̶a̶n̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶w̶o̶r̶m̶s̶ ... discussion
Smellydog
Well-Known Member
I gave you the pictorial answer.
I can carry my rifle off the shoulder in woodland for ages. In fact having it shouldered on a sling would cost me a shot!
It's only 6.5 lb unscoped. A little bit of tissue paper and no mod required
tackb
Well-Known Member
i can help you here , i have a two creedmoors one is a comp gun with a 24'' barrel and with the factory 140gr ELD-M ammo i use it runs at 2750 fps and a 19'' stalking gun that with the same ammo runs 2675 fps if you run the figure through a ballistic app you'll see that theres not much in it and a deer certainly wouldn't know the difference
i used to run a 19'' 308 , with 168gr hornady TAP ammo which was 2650fps , i used this all over the highlands and killed a lot of deer with it , then i had it rebarrelled with a 22'' 1-10 and the same ammo runs at 2700fps , again no significant difference
one time stalking at an estate in scotland one of the stalkers had a 19'' 270 win , which apparently was as flat as a laser , same weight bullets my 308 was flatter and as luck would have it i had my chrono in the car , it was very revealing when we tried the 270 over it ! lots of noise and flash so it 'felt' impressive but the facts are the 270 needs a longer barrel to really shine
so, get a short barrelled gun and if it drops an inch more at 200m it's still a very dead deer !
i used to run a 19'' 308 , with 168gr hornady TAP ammo which was 2650fps , i used this all over the highlands and killed a lot of deer with it , then i had it rebarrelled with a 22'' 1-10 and the same ammo runs at 2700fps , again no significant difference
one time stalking at an estate in scotland one of the stalkers had a 19'' 270 win , which apparently was as flat as a laser , same weight bullets my 308 was flatter and as luck would have it i had my chrono in the car , it was very revealing when we tried the 270 over it ! lots of noise and flash so it 'felt' impressive but the facts are the 270 needs a longer barrel to really shine
so, get a short barrelled gun and if it drops an inch more at 200m it's still a very dead deer !
HonestJohn
Well-Known Member
Or 7x57Yeah I'm getting that impression ha everyone has a favourite and it seems there's no right answer. I will be using a moderator so maybe the compromise you suggested would be fine, puts me back up to the 20" barrel which then opens up the 6.5cm again
16-18 inch 6.5 prc would be the same as a 22 in needsmore id imagine
HonestJohn
Well-Known Member
8x57 is a lovely 20” woods rifle
Thats fair enough, I’ve just bought a 20” .308, neee to get it conditioned for deer and will be interesting to see how it compares in the field. Would love some woodland stalking to give me the need for a short rifle!
Same thing as a .270, no point of lots of extra powder if you’re just firing it through the end of the mod.
I've spoken to a few friends aswell and they mentioned something called "minute of deer" they said as long as the rifle groups within the kill zone from 50 to 150 (maybe 200 depending on calibre) then that's all you need in regards to "flat shooting"
So I'm going to look into 18" inch barrelled 308.
Ideally I'd like non toxic ammo as one of the places I'm shooting only permits that, I guess I'd be looking at 140g?
So I'm going to look into 18" inch barrelled 308.
Ideally I'd like non toxic ammo as one of the places I'm shooting only permits that, I guess I'd be looking at 140g?
no such thing as flat shooting, just adjust your zero for mpbr if you simply want to point and shoot.
I have a 65cm currently nice round, a bit anemic in factory loadings and the narrower bore kind of suggests it is better with longer than shorter barrels BUT depends what you are shooting and how far out.
308 with the bigger bore is more forgiving to shorter barrels. It can be a bit more loopy but we are allowed to aim. If that’s not your style then a 125gr ish sorts that. All deer are shot short range anyway so marginal differences between 65 and 308 that close in.
270 is not really one for a short barrel. Without a mod there is enough bang and flash without cutting the barrel. Obviously you can do it but all that suggests it’s well outside the design parameters.
If it was me (it’s not) I would go 308 with lighter bullet (maybe even 110 TTSX). If you were hand loading then a 65CM wi a 114 TLR would do a job out a short barrel as well. If you want flat shooting. If factory only stay away from the Creed
I have a 65cm currently nice round, a bit anemic in factory loadings and the narrower bore kind of suggests it is better with longer than shorter barrels BUT depends what you are shooting and how far out.
308 with the bigger bore is more forgiving to shorter barrels. It can be a bit more loopy but we are allowed to aim. If that’s not your style then a 125gr ish sorts that. All deer are shot short range anyway so marginal differences between 65 and 308 that close in.
270 is not really one for a short barrel. Without a mod there is enough bang and flash without cutting the barrel. Obviously you can do it but all that suggests it’s well outside the design parameters.
If it was me (it’s not) I would go 308 with lighter bullet (maybe even 110 TTSX). If you were hand loading then a 65CM wi a 114 TLR would do a job out a short barrel as well. If you want flat shooting. If factory only stay away from the Creed
Freeforester
Well-Known Member
For walking with when stalking, a Blaser Attaché or
K95 in up to 7mm-08 or below would fit the bill, been using one of the former since 1995, still going strong, and a pleasure to walk with rather than a pain to lug around. The ‘Flat shooting’ bit is a non-issue, IME, and in any case a rifle with an 18” barrel will not be so flat shooting as one with a 26” barrel. That said, if you zero to shoot one inch high at 100m you’ll not have to change point of aim out to 200m.
It’s nearly all walking here, and it’s not flat!
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