260 remington bbl length/vel?

[vendetta333]

hey guys, i've been doing some reading, and testing with a friends rifle, and here is the jist. according to my reading and confirmed with my testing, a 308win does not suffer from severe velocity loss down to a 20" barrel. my buddies 20" savage lost roughly 40-50 fps from listed vel on box. (federal fusion 150 spitz boat 2820, ours was around 2770+/-). i know that as this isn't a hot load, and the powder charge is not too big, so it is generally completely burned in 20" of tube and that is why vel doesn't drop too bad.

but i also know that most people opt for a 24-26" pipe for the 260rem. to get max vel. my question is, will the smaller internal barrel volume ****** the load to the point where i would see severe velocity loss from a 20" barrel? really like the handeling of a 20"er, but don't want to lose all the virtue that a 260 has at 500, 800, 1000 yards. all info and thoughts, suggested places to read, all appreciated!

 

[Jumpalot]

Mine has a 25" barrel on it and it doesn't seem too long. Someone over on the Hide did an experiment on cutting his barrel down in increments until he got to 20" and didn't notice a huge velocity loss. Can't quite remember the numbers. However, if I'm going to be shooting longer distances, I want the extra weight out front to help steady the rifle.

 

[loaders_loft]

Search my posts, I inquired a while back about model seven owners and got a few good responses.

 

[LouBoyd]

All rifles are tradeoffs. You have to decide what you want and what's appropriate. I have a 260 Rem DPMS LR-260 with a 24" barrel and a 260 Rem XP-100 with a 15-7/8" barrel. It's not that one is good and one is bad but they're very different. The chart below assumes 123 grain Lapua Scenars, which have a decent BC and will fit in a short action magazine. I shoot it in both guns. Obvioiusly other bullets and loads will give different numbers. Numbers are from Quickload. The load is 100% fill, 42.8 grain H4350. 2.80 COAL at sea level standard metro.

Len MV ME 1KV 1KE 1KW

26 2965 2391 1524 634 71.6
24 2906 2306 1490 606 73.4
22 2848 2215 1453 577 75.6
20 2781 2112 1414 544 78.3
18 2705 1988 1366 510 81.7
16 2616 1869 1314 472 85.9

Len barrel length in inches
MV muzzle velocity in fps
ME muzzle energy in ft-lbs
1kV 1000 yard velocity fps
1KE 1000 yard energy ft-lbs
1Kw 1000 yard wind deflection for 10 mph wind inches

Draw your own conclusions. No one step in barrel length is dramatic. That's just one bullet and load.

 

[vendetta333]

if i may, what was the load? and thanx to the other two posters! good info guys thanx!