338 sherman short - barrel length/overall rifle weight

[CLP]

Hi all,

I didn't want to hijack another gentleman's thread about a lightweight dall sheep/bear gun so I'm posting this up individually. I'm wanting to build a bonafide bear rifle (brown bear in particular with the off chance of mid to long range elk) and I was reading up on the 338 Sherman Short today and am thinking seriously about going that route (I had a 338 Jarrett that I loved so this seems like a decent comparative cartridge).

That said, my question lies in barrel length. I mountain hunt a lot and have fell in love with short, lightweight rifles. Could I get by with a 20 to 22 inch barrel in a sub 7 lbs rifle with this caliber?

I'm thinking about building with a either a #2b or #3 Bartlein or similar.

 

[elkaholic]

I think you could still run near 2800' with a 250 Berger and a 22" barrel, especially if you build it on a Tikka or similar where you can throat it out a little. Another good Coice would be one of the Hammer bullets.