Ballistis

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afishhard

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Question for you guys who know lot more about ballistics than me.
If you have a 300 win mag shooting a 200 grain bullet at 3000fps from a 26 inch barrel
And you shorten barrel to 22 inch wouldn't you be very close to 30 06 ballistics shooting a 180 grain bullet out of 22 inch barrel?
I am looking at getting a shorter barreled rifle and was wondering if any reason for 300 win mag. Not sure i would shoot farther than 300 to 400 yards. What are the experts thoughts?
 
For 300-400 yards a 30-06 is fine. I'd personally shoot bullets in the 165gr class. And save the 180+ for the magnums, and for that I'd be shooting 200+. That's just me and my take on it though. I know that doesn't answer your question. So here that goes:

Like Bernard said, there's a general rule of thumb for fps lost. The heavier bullet, 200gr in this case, will still be moving faster out of the 300WM than it would out of the 30-06 at the shorter length. The longer bullet, the 200gr would have better external ballistics than the shorter 180gr, and it would be moving faster. So yes going to a short 30-06 vs a short 300WM would sacrifice external ballistics. Speed can't really be made up for. That's why they developed the magnums.
 
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Not an expert but...
30-06 with 22" for 300-400 yards will work great. Many factory 30-06 rifles have been running 22" for years with great success.
 
When you have a large case like a 300 Win mag and you shorten the barrel there are more things to consider than simply velocity loss. The balance of the rifle, muzzle wip, muzzle flash are some to think about.
 
afishhard said:
Question for you guys who know lot more about ballistics than me.
If you have a 300 win mag shooting a 200 grain bullet at 3000fps from a 26 inch barrel
And you shorten barrel to 22 inch wouldn't you be very close to 30 06 ballistics shooting a 180 grain bullet out of 22 inch barrel?
I am looking at getting a shorter barreled rifle and was wondering if any reason for 300 win mag. Not sure i would shoot farther than 300 to 400 yards. What are the experts thoughts?
Click to expand...
What is the intended purpose of the rifle?

Will the rifle be suppressed?
 
cape cove said:
When you have a large case like a 300 Win mag and you shorten the barrel there are more things to consider than simply velocity loss. The balance of the rifle, muzzle wip, muzzle flash are some to think about.
Click to expand...
Muzzle wip will be dramatically less and could improve accuracy. Flash, if you're not getting total powder burn then change it up.

Going shorter only reduces your velocity, you can make that up shooting 180 class bullets or stick with the heavy's

I shortened a .338 Norma to 22" love it
 
afishhard said:
Question for you guys who know lot more about ballistics than me.
If you have a 300 win mag shooting a 200 grain bullet at 3000fps from a 26 inch barrel
And you shorten barrel to 22 inch wouldn't you be very close to 30 06 ballistics shooting a 180 grain bullet out of 22 inch barrel?
I am looking at getting a shorter barreled rifle and was wondering if any reason for 300 win mag. Not sure i would shoot farther than 300 to 400 yards. What are the experts thoughts?
Click to expand...
The general rule of thumb is 25 FPS/INCH.

 
I get the 30 to fps drop per inch. Do any of you know the different in energy at 300 yd between the two when both shot out of a 22 inch barrel. I really like the 300 win mag but if energy is going to be the same
Why do the 300wm?
 
waveslayer said:
Muzzle wip will be dramatically less and could improve accuracy. Flash, if you're not getting total powder burn then change it up.

Going shorter only reduces your velocity, you can make that up shooting 180 class bullets or stick with the heavy's

I shortened a .338 Norma to 22" love it
Click to expand...
Yes, well as far as accuracy goes that is pot luck. You can improve it or it could get worst, no telling till you try. If you want decent velocity then you will have to stick with the same slow burners ( 300 Win mag ) as the same powders that got you the best velocity with a 26" barrel will be the same ones with a shorter barrel. The notion of going to a faster burn rate powder in a shorter barrel to compensate for velocity doesn't hold water. This I tested. With a faster powder you will get less flash but greatly reduced velocity. I also found the muzzle flash to be large. If it were some other mag like a 375 H&H or 358 Norma then I could see where cutting the barrel would have less of an effect on muzzle flash as one would be using faster burn rate powders in the first place. Before I would cut a 300 Win mag to 20 or 22" I would instead use a 22" barreled 30/06. I believe it would behave much better. I guess all I'm trying to say is when you cut the barrel length there are other things to take into consideration beside velocity JMO
 
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cape cove said:
Yes, well as far as accuracy goes that is pot luck. You can improve it or it could get worst, no telling till you try. If you want decent velocity then you will have to stick with the same slow burners ( 300 Win mag ) as the same powders that got you the best velocity with a 26" barrel will be the same ones with a shorter barrel. The notion of going to a faster burn rate powder in a shorter barrel to compensate for velocity doesn't hold water. This I tested. With a faster powder you will get less flash but greatly reduced velocity. I also found the muzzle flash to be large. If it were some other mag like a 375 H&H or 358 Norma then I could see where cutting the barrel would have less of an effect on muzzle flash as one would be using faster burn rate powders in the first place. Before I would cut a 300 Win mag to 20 or 22" I would instead use a 22" barreled 30/06. I believe it would behave much better. I guess all I'm trying to say is when you cut the barrel length there are other things to take into consideration beside velocity JMO
Click to expand...
100% agreed. I keep my loads the same once they tried and proven, I was addressing his comment on large flash... I haven't had that issue. With accurate barrels, if they shoot they shoot. Can't cut down a barrel thinking it will improve accuracy, some barrels are just terrible!
 
Rule of thumb in my experience was tough to develop as it's not fully linear. Higher pressure and bigger bore usually always lost less, bullets in the moderate weight for bore diameter usually lost less than light for caliber or heavy for caliber. Overbore usually lost more per inch all things equal but usable barrel length also had an input.

The 40 fps for the 180 to 200 class between 26 and 22 is probably a fair a guess.
 

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