Talk me out of a 20 inch 300 Winchester magnum… or not.

[Calvin45]

300 Winchester Magnum: How Does Barrel Length Change Velocity- A 16″ 300 Win Mag?

Introduced by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1963, the 300 Winchester Magnum (300 Win Mag) is based on the 375 H&H case shortened to fit a standard length action and necked down to 30…

rifleshooter.com

Pretty good reference for your performance loss per inch. Unfortunately they didn't start at 26 inches like most 300wm would most likely have. What's the most amazing thing in this test is how good it shot with a hacksaw crown.
Shep

Yes without a doubt that was the biggest surprise with this experiment. So often we get obsessed with every little detail being perfect and then you read about this rifles hacksaw barrel still shooting well....that and the fact that one of my rifles does it's best work with Speer btsps whose generous lead tips are very visibly bent or at least not concentric at all haha

 

[25WSM]

Yrs ago I read an article that experimented with bent lead tips and at 100 yards showed virtually no difference. But I know that can't hold true at longer ranges because it has to effect the bc of the bullet enough to induce verticle.
Shep

 

[Calvin45]

Yrs ago I read an article that experimented with bent lead tips and at 100 yards showed virtually no difference. But I know that can't hold true at longer ranges because it has to effect the bc of the bullet enough to induce verticle.
Shep

Yeah I figured. This particular rifle isn't for especially long range, it's an old savage 99 and a dear family heirloom...and that innacurate lever action with its inferior rear locking bolt and its non free floating barrel in that accuracy killing 2 piece stock with that pencil thin barrel topped with its dirt cheap weaver 4x scope shooting my lousy mixed headstamp handloads with those awful bent tip cheap Speer bullets keeps the groups right around an honest inch at 100 and consistently pops milk jugs at 400. Haven't tried further. I absolutely believe concentricity has to be important at truly long range but out as far as 400 it hits consistently.

 

[garretthill17]

Next gun I build will have the shortest barrel I can put on it. For the purpose of being used in a deer blind or mountain gun.

 

[NDF]

Haven't read all posts, but what's everyone's luck with hunting with shells bought the morning of out to 1000 yds? I reload and seldom get it right the first time at that distance ...

 

[Slick8]

If I understand your question I believe your asking about cold bore shots to 1k.

I've never shot to 1k but routinely shoot to 600. Most of the time I'm happy to ring the 6 inch gong at 600.

Recently I've done some cold bore shooting on paper to 600 yards. The first target with a single hole was a series of shots to verify vertical dope from 600 down to 200. I didn't see the need for a 3 shot group when I know the rifle groups well. I was only interested in the dial and kill it shot.

Both of these were cold bore shot weeks apart along with ammo being loaded at different times.

Op, sorry to derail, hope to see some velocity numbers and groups soon.

 

[Rifleman97]

If you want a short barreled magnum, go with WSM. You'll get more speed out of that than the win mag, since the win mag takes longer to burn the powder. That's why it's common to see 22 and 24" WSM barrels, and 300 win mag is most common on 26" barrels. The WSM works better with faster burning powders anyways, so if I had to guess you'd get at least 75 FPS better on the WSM than on a 20" win mag. I'm just speculating there, but there's a reason there's almost no 20" win mags.

30-06 is also an option and would probably not even be too far behind in velocity from the win mag at such a short barrel length. But if you insist on magnum, 30WSM all the way.

edit:Youre asking a lot there for "must have long barrel life, cheap ammo, power for 1000 yards, widely available, work with a 20 inch barrel for both hunting and 1000 yard shooting, etc"
We need to all learn that nothing will ever be perfect and you'll always sacrifice on something. If you're wanting to go out to 1000 and do all of those things you're either going to have to sacrifice barrel life, ammo cost, or start to reload yourself. Factory win mag ammo is designed for 20 inch barrels and you're just wasting powder and not getting the most out of it. I stick by my 30WSM recommendation, but the ammo is a tad more expensive than you're asking. But nothing is perfect, choose a sacrifice.

 

[NDF]

Yes not only cold bore but store bought ammo under $35 a box as OP suggested, possibly bought the day of the hunt, tall order at 1K, judging by your pics and comments your no stranger to distance and have done your homework at both benches, just curious if there was a cheap ammo available out there with the results of accuracy at long distance that i was unaware of, haven't purchased ammo in a lot of years

 

[Slick8]

I quickly lose faith in store bought ammo past 300 yards.

I'm sure some will do it in some rifles but if feel those are the outliers. The ES alone in "most" factory ammo makes it dubious at best.

Honestly this thread is so old I had forgotten about the factory ammo and 1k. I agree with rifleman97, everything is a compromise and there's just too much going on here. Sbort barreled, factory ammo to 1k cold bore is a tall order.

I believe a good handload in a 300wsm or similar would be the best choice.

 

[ButtersDad]

I hear you guys on a 300wsm, but the ammo availability just isn't there for me. With the quality of factory ammo today I'm extremely confident I'll have no problem finding a factory load I can push to 1000yds for target use and 800yds for hunting purposes with good consistency. On a side note I did find a buddy who reloads, so in the future I'll definitely try to take advantage of faster burning powders and try to see what a 20' barrel can really do. So far I've got the following factory ammo to test: Hornady TAP 178gr ELDM, Berger 185gr Classic hunter, FGMM 190gr SMK, and Hornady 200gr ELDX. I'm very anxious to see muzzle velocities and group sizes. The rifle will ship out next week and hopefully I can get to the range right after thanks giving.

 

[110len]

I shoot a 22" barrel with a TBAC Ultra 7" and 215gr berger or 220gr SHPBT handloads going at 2840fps and 2745fps respectively. It's a great handling rifle, accurate and lots of fun out to a 1000. I think 22" is perfect all around.

 

[yorke-1]

I hear you guys on a 300wsm, but the ammo availability just isn't there for me. With the quality of factory ammo today I'm extremely confident I'll have no problem finding a factory load I can push to 1000yds for target use and 800yds for hunting purposes with good consistency. On a side note I did find a buddy who reloads, so in the future I'll definitely try to take advantage of faster burning powders and try to see what a 20' barrel can really do. So far I've got the following factory ammo to test: Hornady TAP 178gr ELDM, Berger 185gr Classic hunter, FGMM 190gr SMK, and Hornady 200gr ELDX. I'm very anxious to see muzzle velocities and group sizes. The rifle will ship out next week and hopefully I can get to the range right after thanks giving.

Don't worry about using a faster burning powder in the short barrel. Whichever powder gives the highest velocity in a long barrel will still give the highest velocity in the short barrel.

 

[highdrum]

Unknown munitions recently built a 300rum on a bat vampire action(4" mag box), 20" carbon six 9tw. They have found accuracy @ 3100fps with 98gr N570 using Berger 215H. They were still picking up speed as they were stepping up powder at the end so that shows it was getting good burn % on the charge load. I see no issues with running a short barrel as long as your velocity expectations aren't super high. I have started going to shorter barrels myself for supressor use and mobility in tighter conditions, makes the weapon more versatile for mountain packing or plains shooting.

 

[ButtersDad]

She's done! On her way to me now....