Cutting down 308

[muntjacmad]

Right guys I'm having a real hankering for a short little rig for woodland.im really toying with the idea of having my 308 tikka cut down to 18 inch. Now I know there are alot of figures and data to consider....
But in real terms stalking ranges am I going to struggle. I use factory ammo usually around 150.
Am I going to give myself a headache ?
Atb

 

[kenbro]

Right guys I'm having a real hankering for a short little rig for woodland.im really toying with the idea of having my 308 tikka cut down to 18 inch. Now I know there are alot of figures and data to consider....
But in real terms stalking ranges am I going to struggle. I use factory ammo usually around 150.
Am I going to give myself a headache ?
Atb

Try the Search feature on here and it will show lots of info you are looking for.
Cheers, Ken.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Right guys I'm having a real hankering for a short little rig for woodland.im really toying with the idea of having my 308 tikka cut down to 18 inch. Now I know there are alot of figures and data to consider....
But in real terms stalking ranges am I going to struggle. I use factory ammo usually around 150.
Am I going to give myself a headache ?
Atb

How long is it currently? 18” should be plenty - people using shorter than that in the UK and abroad with good effect.

 

[patjack]

I'm very happy with 20 inch on my Sako 75 and that was the advice given by those in the know, so 20 inch it was, also if you ever want to sell 18 might put people off somewhat...
20 inch running 130 copper gets high velocities and great results also.

 

[fresh slots]

Let’s of interesting articles on line with good data:

.308 Win Barrel Chop Test: How Velocity Changes with Length « Daily Bulletin

With barrels, one wonders Can a little more length provide a meaningful velocity gain? To answer that question, Rifleshooter.com performed an interesting test, cutting...

bulletin.accurateshooter.com

Velocity v Barrel length | Reloading | Gun Mart

Bruce Potts grabs his hacksaw and starts cutting down barrels to see what happens

www.gunmart.net

Quick answer, from what I recall a mathematically it works out about 25fps loss per inch of barrel reduction.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do.

 

[hunta]

20" sounds about right to me. However my Rem 700 in 300BLK has a 16" barrel and it's great walking through trees with the rifle shouldered and the moderated barrel not catching branches.

 

[Donkey Basher]

RPA Woodland Stalker was, I recall, a 16" barrel.

Shouldn't be any issue with an 18" barrel.

 

[scotch_egg]

I run a 16” .308 it’s brilliant.

 

[long_range_rob]

RPA Woodland Stalker was, I recall, a 16" barrel.

Shouldn't be any issue with an 18" barrel.

Just don’t mention the trigger/safety design fault

 

[Hook'N'Bullet]

Whats the current length of the barrel? I wouldn't see much point in cutting a 20" down to an 18".

 

[25 Sharps]

20" sounds about right to me. However my Rem 700 in 300BLK has a 16" barrel and it's great walking through trees with the rifle shouldered and the moderated barrel not catching branches.

Do you manage to get it north of 1700 Ft-lb?

 

[hunta]

Do you manage to get it north of 1700 Ft-lbs?

No but I get well above 1000 Ft-lbs.

 

[25 Sharps]

No but I get well above 1000 Ft-lbs.

Ah, for small deer only, that makes more sense.

 

[PeteMcG]

I had a tikka .308 heavy barrel cut down to 16" and it is my most used rifle. Excellent, well balanced little gun that makes it much easier for sneaking around in the woods!

 

[hunta]

Ah, for small deer only, that makes more sense.

Yes. Nosler 110g at 2400ft/sec is extremely effective out to 150m. In the woods that I stalk most shots are well under 100m and usually under 50.

 

[TringSaint]

Right guys I'm having a real hankering for a short little rig for woodland.im really toying with the idea of having my 308 tikka cut down to 18 inch. Now I know there are alot of figures and data to consider....
But in real terms stalking ranges am I going to struggle. I use factory ammo usually around 150.
Am I going to give myself a headache ?
Atb

My 16” rem 700 shoots 150gn just fine.
Range tested at 300 and 600 and performed well.

 

[Pipthedog]

I have a factory 18” 308 Mauser. It’s superb. Haven’t started with non toxic and hopefully the short barrel won’t hinder terminal speeds.

 

[jcampbellsmith]

muntjacmad
Have you considered the impact of using non-lead in a short barrel?
Regards
JCS

 

[scotch_egg]

Don’t worry about non lead in short barrel. It has been used for years by lads in New Zealand. It’s what first drew me to the short barrels in fact. The .308 is one of the most tolerant cartridges when chopping inches of barrel off. It was an article about the “bush pig” rifle. The concept has been well adopted and a quick google finds several topics discussing the concept and different rifles built with short barrels.

I use 130gr TTSX through my 16” .308 and it hammers fallow. I haven’t ran it through chronograph as it shoots bug holes and I’m using it in the woods so shots are <100m.

I recon it’s in the region of 2900fps.

 

[Foxyboy43]

Hmmm
25 fps reduction per inch is my recollection too. So here’s a quick calculation:-
(24 inch barrel)
150 gns does c.2800 fps = 2,610ft lbs
Loses 25 fps per inch
Reduced to 18 inches = 2800 less 150 fps = 2,650 fps
150 gns at c.2,650 fps = 2,340ft lbs
Still plenty of power - the accuracy is another thing for others to advise on.
I imagine a light moderator would help too.
Good luck.