Thoughts on using a 45cm (17.7'') barrelled .308 on Highland Reds?

[RP82]

Thoughts on using a shorter 45cm/17.7'' barrel on a .308 on Highland Reds?
Ballistics suggest it will be fine, but I would welcome any feedback from those with experience with a shorter barrel.
Bullet choice remains Copper, Barnes TTSX 130gr.
Max out to 300yds, but most likely 80-220yds.

 

[tackb]

308 performs well in short barrels

i wouldn't be worried about any loss of performance as long as you land the bullet where it need to be it will work fine

i shot hinds for years with a 19'' gun in 308

 

[Wmjas]

You’re over thinking it, put the bullet in the right place and the animal won’t notice any difference.

 

[wytonpjs]

I would have thought no issues provided you stick to sensible ranges and shot placement. I use exactly the same bullet out of my 20" .308 S20 and I remember one runner up on Arran (shot my my stalking partner with a 30-06) legging it rapidly to the boundary but dropped on the spot at 330m with my follow-up round.

 

[Malxwal]

As long as you know your drops through testing and not theoretical, crack on.

 

[Bowland blades]

Should get the job done fine and legal . I run my .260 rem with a shorter barrel and handloads 100 grain Barnes and it will generally put one hole in entering and one hole out on the far side at 300 yards . BTW slightly faster powder helps with shorter barrels ( though your suggestion of short could work shorter still ) in the days now we nearly all put moderators on and if we don't shorten the std barrels the rifle gets front heavy and too long in total ( shouldering on a sling it very soon starts to tip backwards on a full length barrel ) Stalking in the hills is a lot of steep slopes and something that slips back to 2 0'clock or 3 0'clock is a PITA .
A typical 308 TR is a poor stalking rifle would be a nightmare for this , before you put a moderator on
only a more experienced stalker should be shooting out to 300 yards IMHO its nothing like being laid on a mat shooting , contours and undetected channelling winds can see you spending the day trying to catch up with a three legged beast ( drops are the least of it on reds in the hills )

 

[kenbro]

I would have thought no issues provided you stick to sensible ranges and shot placement. I use exactly the same bullet out of my 20" .308 S20 and I remember one runner up on Arran (shot my my stalking partner with a 30-06) legging it rapidly to the boundary but dropped on the spot at 330m with my follow-up round.

That’s some commendable shooting Sir, Legging it rapidly and dropped at 330 metres!
Ken.

 

[wytonpjs]

That’s some commendable shooting Sir, Legging it rapidly and dropped at 330 metres!
Ken.

The added fear factor of missing the Friday lunchtime ferry significantly contributed to my desire to stop it exiting the beat! Why oh why, did it always happen on the Friday morning FFS

 

[RP82]

It has just landed (see pic). It is short, no doubt. Will fit it out and test over 100, 200m to gauge the drop and go from there. If it delivers tight groups, happy days.
If zeroed at 100 yds, does a 0.5cm drop at 100m / 9cm drop at 200m sound about right? Seems a lot.
(Using Barnes TTSX 130gr). I'll know soon enough.

 

[HonestJohn]

Expect a drop at 300 of around 30cm

I’d zero at MPBR

 

[Leec6.5]

Thoughts on using a shorter 45cm/17.7'' barrel on a .308 on Highland Reds?
Ballistics suggest it will be fine, but I would welcome any feedback from those with experience with a shorter barrel.
Bullet choice remains Copper, Barnes TTSX 130gr.
Max out to 300yds, but most likely 80-220yds.

My 7x57 had an 18” barrel, as long as you know your projectile speed and have a cheat sheet/ or know for drops crack on

 

[Heym SR20]

Thoughts on using a shorter 45cm/17.7'' barrel on a .308 on Highland Reds?
Ballistics suggest it will be fine, but I would welcome any feedback from those with experience with a shorter barrel.
Bullet choice remains Copper, Barnes TTSX 130gr.
Max out to 300yds, but most likely 80-220yds.

I would have a good look at the actual velocity you are achieving, together with the recommended min impact velocity for your chosen bullet, and see at what sort of distance it runs out of steam. In my experience red stags are very variable in size, but they all seem to not be bothered by being hit by a bullet in the correct place - they don’t seem to read the correct procedure.

I would consider looking at ammunition designed for short barrels or a faster burning powder to get velocities up.

In Scotland drops and distances are not the main issue, wind is much more of an issue. If its windy, get close.

Interesting article on effect of barrel length, velocity loss and MPBR

308 Winchester / 7.62x51mm NATO: Barrel Length versus Velocity (28″ to 16.5″)

308 Winchester / 7.62x51mm NATO: Barrel Length versus Velocity (28″ to 16.5″) Introduction Released by Winchester in 1952 (and adopted by NATO in 1954 as the 7.62x51mm NATO), the 308 Wi…

rifleshooter.com

 

[Jagged77]

I shoot mainly with an 18” .308 with 130gr Barnes TTSX. At the muzzle it’s producing 2300ft lbs of energy and it’s flattened everything I’ve shot with no runners. I think it’s a brilliant combination and wouldn’t hesitate to use it on anything in the UK

 

[Foxyboy43]

Rule of thumb is 25/30 fps lost per shortened inch of barrel so a 24 inch barrel shortened to 18 will lose c.150fps with the same load. Providing you are not loading at the top end of your powder data you will have wiggle room to make up the shortfall by increasing (incrementally) the powder charge. Viht shows a powder range of c.3gns between min and max for 150 TTSX and a velocity increase range of 250/300 fps.

 

[Motul1974]

I only lost 15fps/inch going from 22 to 18" shooting 150grn sako super haammerhead

 

[1894]

Your max range will be determined by the minimum velocity required for adequate expansion. Take your MV and BC and calculate at what range that velocity is no longer achieved.
My own 18” 308 is approx 2800fps with 125gr without trying to squeeze the ultimate out of it.
Assuming similar velocity then your chosen bullet is 2050fps at 300yds. It would appear Barnes would have that as sufficient. I’d work up to that range as my 168gr TTSX experience was poor expansion on moose at 200yds and Barnes say that expands down to 1500fps. My impacts were slightly above 2150fps
I’ve shot 300yd moose with mine but that was a 180gr Partition MV 2,400fps.
If you like the rifle but find TTSX performance disappointing you could always try a fragmenting design such as Virtus or Yewtree.
In addition there are 110/120gr Barnes TACTX and Hornady CX designed for 300blackout that really expand although some BCs are not great. I have started to use the 110gr CX but not at range

 

[Selous]

Your max range will be determined by the minimum velocity required for adequate expansion. Take your MV and BC and calculate at what range that velocity is no longer achieved.
My own 18” 308 is approx 2800fps with 125gr without trying to squeeze the ultimate out of it.
Assuming similar velocity then your chosen bullet is 2050fps at 300yds. It would appear Barnes would have that as sufficient. I’d work up to that range as my 168gr TTSX experience was poor expansion on moose at 200yds and Barnes say that expands down to 1500fps. My impacts were slightly above 2150fps
I’ve shot 300yd moose with mine but that was a 180gr Partition MV 2,400fps.
If you like the rifle but find TTSX performance disappointing you could always try a fragmenting design such as Virtus or Yewtree.
In addition there are 110/120gr Barnes TACTX and Hornady CX designed for 300blackout that really expand although some BCs are not great. I have started to use the 110gr CX but not at range

Totally agree with the methodology. I regard 2200fps as the lowest velocity for optimal expansion in the TTSX. From a 20 inch barrel I can easily get 2950 to 3000fps which drops below 2200fps just before 300 metres. With a 3 inch shorter tube it may be better to set 250m as a maximum range.

 

[RP82]

Zeroed the rifle today at a range (WLSS) of 100yds, using Barnes TTSX 130. Nice tight groupings, nothing to worry about. At 200yds, the drop was a consistent 4 inches only. Again, nice, tight groupings. very happy with my purchase. Will be confident out to 250yds and call it a day there.

Many thanks to all for your help on this. Much appreciated.