Is a 20" barreled 30-06 that bad?

rifleman762 said:
Lower muzzle velocity equals less recoil.
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Andy said:
Negligible and more than offset by the weight loss with the shorter barrel. Each inch of barrel length increases or decreases MV by about 1%.
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I'll edit it so that it's more clear that we're talking about cutting back a barrel on a 30-06 from 22" or 24" to 20" with the expectation of reduced recoil:

Negligible and more than offset by the weight loss with cutting back the barrel. Each inch of barrel length iin the 30-06 ncreases or decreases MV by about 1% between 20" and 24".​
 
the weight of the rifle will affect felt recoil

30-06 light mountain rifle ... if you shoot 20 rounds and call it a day and go home to nurse your shoulder

vs

30-06 m1 Garand at 9 lb and you shoot 80 rounds and go home and cut the grass and dig a garden up and nurse your shoulder

30-06 light mountain rifle you leave the range with a frown

30-06 m1 Garand you leave the range with a smile on your face
 
I had a single shot NEF or H&R in 30-06. Not sure what actual length, but it was fairly short. It was nasty loud. Passed it on for someone else to enjoy. :)
 
just having some fun said:
the weight of the rifle will affect felt recoil

30-06 light mountain rifle ... if you shoot 20 rounds and call it a day and go home to nurse your shoulder

vs

30-06 m1 Garand at 9 lb and you shoot 80 rounds and go home and cut the grass and dig a garden up and nurse your shoulder

30-06 light mountain rifle you leave the range with a frown

30-06 m1 Garand you leave the range with a smile on your face
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Now tweak those considerations for hunting, especially any kind of interesting hunting in the mountains.
 
kjohn said:
I had a single shot NEF or H&R in 30-06. Not sure what actual length, but it was fairly short. It was nasty loud. Passed it on for someone else to enjoy. :)
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It was probably a standard version @ 38" OAL and 22" barrel... the break action puts the muzzle a couple inches closer to your ears than a bolt action would, but hardly a radical configuration... I have put thousands of rounds through dozens of centerfire Handi rifles, you wearing hearing protection, just like you do with any rifle. When shooting in the field that single shot won't be noticeably different than your 22" bolt rifle.
 
Having never cut a rifle barrel, how much weight are we actually talking about when you lose 4" of barrel in a normal sporter profile, vs. the muzzle energy debate of recoil?
 
RatFink said:
Having never cut a rifle barrel, how much weight are we actually talking about when you lose 4" of barrel in a normal sporter profile, vs. the muzzle energy debate of recoil?
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It will depend on the barrel diameter; but with sporter contours maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of a pound for the 4 inches. You can use a shaft weight calculator to get the weight, just do two calculations. One for the outside diameter and another for the bore diameter and subtract.

A 8 pound 30-06 with 165s and 50 grains of Varget (My 30-06 culling load) the recoil calculates to almost exactly 21 foot pounds. Dropping the weight 1/3 of a pound increases it 1 foot pound if there were no velocity changes. Dropping the velocity 100 fps decreases it a pound which would break even. Mine is down 200 fps for a net loss of 1 foot pound of recoil.
 
Dogleg said:
It will depend on the barrel diameter; but with sporter contours maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of a pound for the 4 inches. You can use a shaft weight calculator to get the weight, just do two calculations. One for the outside diameter and another for the bore diameter and subtract.

A 8 pound 30-06 with 165s and 50 grains of Varget (My 30-06 culling load) the recoil calculates to almost exactly 21 foot pounds. Dropping the weight 1/3 of a pound increases it 1 foot pound if there were no velocity changes. Dropping the velocity 100 fps decreases it a pound which would break even. Mine is down 200 fps for a net loss of 1 foot pound of recoil.
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Thanks, this makes good sense. I was running numbers through my reloading spreadsheet that also calculates recoil and was getting similar results, but didn't have any idea how to alter the weight of the rifle with barrel length changes.
 
With ear plugs they all sound the same.
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Right? I toss a pair of those bad boys in and all I hear is the whirring of power saws and the thumping of rotor blades.

Wait is this not normal?
 
I've got a. 30-06 with an 18.5" barrel and I have no idea what bothers people so much about short barrels. I should also mention that I have about 1000 rounds through it with complete satisfaction. Velocity is even reasonable with 180 grain handloads averaging 2690 fps.
 
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