16" Barrel on a 308? Or a 6.5 x 55? Or something else? Or don't bother?!

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This is for hunting right? Do you wear really good hearing protection while hunting because a 16" barrel is going to be loud and the muzzle blast offensive to you and anyone in the immediate vicinity.
I have shot alongside a guy using a Mosin Nagant carbine with a 20" barrel and had to retire till he finished. Not nice.
 
I pick up a 16" .308 this week. Should know what it's like in the next month or so. I got it for similar reasons to you. Running Boar and Woodland stalking. Will also use it for tracking and HD. Not sure about the hill, I like a bit more velocity for that job. I think realistically a 16" .308 firing a 165 grain at 2500 fps is best suited to shots inside 200 yds.
 
Greener Jim said:
We have pretty ready access to moderators here which minimises the problem. I don't know if you can in Australia.
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No we can't dont rub it in ;)
The first post said he wanted a really short rifle, that means a mod would put inches back on and negate the point of cutting the barrel down.
 
Sorry mate, it's one of the few places the UK dipped in with firearms law!

That's true however it's much shorter than a 24" with a moddy. Common thing here like.
 
20 inches works well on a .308. I see nothing gained by going shorter.

The reason for the short barrel tactical rifles is ease of getting in and out of helicopters, boats, and vehicles. They are also much safer to use in urban settings, going around corners, entering rooms, shooting over walls and window sills, and around side cover.
 
Southern said:
20 inches works well on a .308. I see nothing gained by going shorter.

The reason for the short barrel tactical rifles is ease of getting in and out of helicopters, boats, and vehicles. They are also much safer to use in urban settings, going around corners, entering rooms, shooting over walls and window sills, and around side cover.
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...so for foxing from a vehicle, stalking in woodland, climbing into high seats and shooting boxes in confined spaces, and possibly a fast moving gun for swinging on running boar it might be perfect.

I'm not going to tell him he's wrong until I've tried it, but you carry on.
 
NigelM said:
...so for foxing from a vehicle, stalking in woodland, climbing into high seats and shooting boxes in confined spaces, and possibly a fast moving gun for swinging on running boar it might be perfect.

I'm not going to tell him he's wrong until I've tried it, but you carry on.
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I have a .308 with a barrel just over 16". Its an excellent rifle for all of the reasons that you mention above. We are very hung up on barrel lengths in this country bearing in mind the average distance over which deer are conventionally shot. Why lug a huge barrel about if its not necessary for the vast majority of the shots you might take?
 
Why? Why not simply buy a short rifle instead of buying a long rifle and hacking bits off it until the length suits you? As mentioned there are lots of rifles out there which are very short due to their design.
 
caorach said:
Why? Why not simply buy a short rifle instead of buying a long rifle and hacking bits off it until the length suits you? As mentioned there are lots of rifles out there which are very short due to their design.
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Not sure if you are referring to me but mine is a factory rifle.
 
howa243 said:
Not sure if you are referring to me but mine is a factory rifle.
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Oh no, no one in particular but just a general comment. A lot of this stuff is like buying a Toyota Hilux and cutting two wheels off it because you really fancied a motorbike to start with.
 
NigelM said:
...so for foxing from a vehicle, stalking in woodland, climbing into high seats and shooting boxes in confined spaces, and possibly a fast moving gun for swinging on running boar it might be perfect.

I'm not going to tell him he's wrong until I've tried it, but you carry on.
Click to expand...
I have eight 7.62x51 rifles with 18.5 inch barrels, two .308s with 22-inch barrels, two more with 24-inch barrels, owned a 26-inch SSG-69, plus a dozen lever actions of 20 inches and 24-inches, and a half dozen Mannlicher, Sako, and Mauser stutzens in 6.5x54, 7mm-08, .30-06, .270 Win, 7x64, 8x57, and 8x60. So that is how I come by my opinon on 20 inches.
 
Secrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston Warehouse
by Dave Scott (Originally Published in Precision Shooting Magazine’s “Special Issue No. 1” in 1993)
In 1975, when a Houston concrete contractor opened the doors of his new business venture, the event didn’t exactly make ripples among the benchrest community. The project, an enormous warehouse on Houston’s east side, was built solely to be leased for industrial storage. And if the event went unnoted, its builder, Virgil King, was equally unknown to group shooters. No one could have predicted that the Houston Warehouse and Virgil King would write one of the more fascinating chapters on the subject of extreme rifle accuracy''''

Worth looking for the above , writer reckons there is something specialabout harmonics with 21? inch barrel
 
Southern said:
I have eight 7.62x51 rifles with 18.5 inch barrels, two .308s with 22-inch barrels, two more with 24-inch barrels, owned a 26-inch SSG-69, plus a dozen lever actions of 20 inches and 24-inches, and a half dozen Mannlicher, Sako, and Mauser stutzens in 6.5x54, 7mm-08, .30-06, .270 Win, 7x64, 8x57, and 8x60. So that is how I come by my opinon on 20 inches.
Click to expand...

Very impressive, you must have a very large cabinet and a lot of beasties to shoot....but I'm still not going to tell him he's wrong for stalking and foxing in Britain until I have tried it.
 
joe soapy said:
Secrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston WarehouseSecrets of the Houston Warehouse
by Dave Scott (Originally Published in Precision Shooting Magazine’s “Special Issue No. 1” in 1993)
In 1975, when a Houston concrete contractor opened the doors of his new business venture, the event didn’t exactly make ripples among the benchrest community. The project, an enormous warehouse on Houston’s east side, was built solely to be leased for industrial storage. And if the event went unnoted, its builder, Virgil King, was equally unknown to group shooters. No one could have predicted that the Houston Warehouse and Virgil King would write one of the more fascinating chapters on the subject of extreme rifle accuracy''''

Worth looking for the above , writer reckons there is something specialabout harmonics with 21? inch barrel
Click to expand...

Your subliminal messaging needs some work ;)
 
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