Short barrel 300 Norma

[cmor]

Now that Lapua is making 300 Norma brass, I'm thinking about building a 20-22" hunting rifle in this caliber that I will shoot suppressed. I'd like to hear from those that have a similar configuration regarding real world velocity to expect with a 215 berger.

Thanks

 

[sable tireur]

Most of the rifles built for this cartridge and others having 100+ grains of capacity usually wind up with 26" to 30" barrels. And there's a good reason for this; it usually takes a longer barrels to get all that powder burned IN the barrel where it does you some good.

But given the desires for hunting with suppressors, shorter barrels can be the best requirement for some degree of convenience. The work I've done is usually with 26" and longer barrels using loads in the 3100+ range and the 215 Bergers. So lopping off 4 to 6 inches will result in somewhere around 150 to 200 fps less velocity. Retumbo is my powder of choice when running shorter than average barrels. It should all burn in a 22" barrel.

Regards.

 

[JJMoody]

IIRC, Todd Hodnet wrote a great article on this type of a configuration. Short, fast twist barrel running 230s and 215s ) I think) maybe someone can post a link of the article.... great comparisons between the 338 Lapua, the Winnie and the 300 nm. I think he ran a 20" bbl on his

 

[JJMoody]

http://www.accuracy1stdg.com/content/docs/Binder7.pdf

His was a 26" in the article to remove variables in testing but typically runs 20"

 

[cmor]

I've read his stuff, it's what got me thinking about this build. I have a 300 Norma with a 26" barrel. It's crazy accurate and a pleasure to shoot with a suppressor, but hunting with a 26" barrel and an 8-inch suppressor isn't much fun when you start hiking up and down terrain in Wyoming.

I damaged my inner ear while diving years ago, so I'm pretty firm about protecting the hearing that I have left.

From the data that I have gathered so far, I think that I can get 2950 fps out of a 215 berger with a 22" barrel. That's 1950 fps at 800 yards.

With a light build and a Thunderbeast 5 Ultra suppressor it should be like hunting with a "normal" 27" rifle, except that it will have light recoil, greatly reduced noise, and all the knock down power that I would ever need.