Barrel Length

I wouldn't cut it. Another thing to consider is if you cut the barrel, the bore may not be in the centre of the barrel at the point where it's cut and it will look like crap. Buy a regular rifle and rebarrel it to a midweight barrel if you want. The Sendero isn't something that you'll want to drag around in the bush anyhow.
 
Ya know what, just decide what barrel length best suits the end use of the rifle and that satisfies your sense of aesthetics. Any concerns about differences in trajectory can be pretty much disregarded, if your drop becomes 9" at 300 rather than 6" (I doubt that it will if we are taking about a 21"-23" finished length) it isn't going to make much difference on a big game animal. I don't think I can see 3" at 300 yards. A pal of mine had a .270 SAKO carbine in .270, 20" barrel, that still clocked 130s at 3200. At one time the logic for best accuracy was to cut the barrel at the tightest point, rather than at a predetermined length.
 
Demonical said:
I was thinking about making the rifle a bit handier to swing, point and carry. The rifle is a long sum##### and weighs +12lbs when loaded, but the weight is not as big a factor as the length.

Shortening the barrel will make it stiffer, might help the accuracy, should decrease muzzle velocity slightly, and will reduce weight just a bit. But the rifle will still weigh a ton...

I suppose it reduces the value some.
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Big question is WILL it make it into a handier rifle? My guess is - Not much!:)
 
I have no concern about cutting it down and velocity loss. I like handy, short barreled rifles, and my rifles have 20"-23" barrels.

It's a heavy-barreled target rifle, and will still weigh 11.5 lbs after you cut it, and that doesn't seem to handy to me...:p
 
It's your rifle, but consider that the forward weight from that long barrel is probably making it stedier to hold when you hold the rifle in your hands to shoot. If you're bench resting, it won't matter.
Grouch
 
I have a heavy 308W target rifle barrel cut back to 20" and installed in hunting stock. The rifle was made up for velocity testing sub sonic ammo made for a canned rifle. I took it deer hunting one year to see how it would feel in the bush. It was handy and I knew it was very accurate. The weight soon faded as an issue.

Cutting a factory barrel has more risks than cutting an expensive match grade barrel. The bore does not always go in a straight line. It can be banna shaped inside. This is sometimes discovered only after it is cut.

As for length. I would not go less than 23" because of the muzzle blast. If you do go shorter, you can try some faster powders to see if one is less noisy. Powder choice can make a huge difference in blast.

I used a full length 26" Walther 308 target barrel to make a 300 Win Mag hunting rifle. It always gave me the feeling that I could really reach out and touch a moose. Never happened, but I was ready for the challenge.

If you have more than one rifle, why not leave it as your long range rifle?
 
Well truth is, I've got a M700 Mountain Rifle in .270Win and I'm in the process of buying a M1895 Winchester lever in .270Win. Plus I'm always on the lookout for another .270Win. A nice used M700 BDL, or whatever other 'falls' to me.

So far, I think I've heard more solid arguments that support leaving the old girl as-is.

Like cutting 2-4" off that barrel, the rifle will still be a tank... :)

I hate long frickin' barrels!!
 
grouch said:
It's your rifle, but consider that the forward weight from that long barrel is probably making it stedier to hold when you hold the rifle in your hands to shoot. If you're bench resting, it won't matter.
Grouch
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You can't be serious. Chopping that barrel to 20" will not shift balance rearward let alone 22 or 24.

Chop the thing. I hate 26" barrels and you'll have a better crown in the end to boot.
 
snoopycda said:
why not open her up to 270wby and take advantage of the long barrel?
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Thats a good option, I would lean towards rechambering as well, you already have a mountain rifle thats better to hike with. The sendero was designed for extreme range, the 270 wby would really reach out, and could use a 26" barrell. Thats just my opinion, good luck with your decision.
 
Toomanyguns said:
Yeah, like a shoulder pad. I despise shooting any and all things chambered in Weatherby.
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Yes, there is always the recoil factor. If your sensitive to recoil then I wouldnt do it. To me the recoil in a 12lb gun would be no more than an 30-06 in a medium weight rifle, but thats me, everyones different. Cheers Peter
 
Velocity differences are going to be small enough to be purely conversational
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between 21 inches and 26 they are going to be signifigant.
FOr what it is worth you can't add inches. Check out what it costs to buy a turned and chambered 26 inch heavy barrel. You 'll find lots of shorter barrel 270s for sale for less then it would cost to replace the existing barrel.

I cut back a 28 incher once wont make that mistake again. Handy counts for more in the living room then it does in the bush.
 
BigUglyMan said:
Yeah, what did Warren Page know anyway?
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Who!..............just kidding.
Warren had his time lets move on.
You can very easily get better accuracy by increasing a barrels length, look at the barrel tuners like the BOSS system, they can effectively tune a barrel's harmonics and increase accuracy and you may very well increase a barrels length by the time your done!
JMHO
bigbull
 
bigbull said:
Who!..............just kidding.
Warren had his time lets move on.
You can very easily get better accuracy by increasing a barrels length, look at the barrel tuners like the BOSS system, they can effectively tune a barrel's harmonics and increase accuracy and you may very well increase a barrels length by the time your done!
JMHO
bigbull
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The BOSS does not increase the barrel length. What it does is tune the harmionics of the barrel to a given load, rather than the shooter tuning the load to the rifle. While solid in it's theory, I believe that the shooting public has rejected the whole idea. I think that the shooting public wants to handload, and it they can't handload and duplicate the advertised results they will reject the innovation.

As for Warren't time, I agree, a lot of what he wrote about is obsolete, but lots of his theory is still valid. You can say what you will, but if you have two barrels weighing the same, same construction, of similar quality and differing only in barrel length, the shorter barrel will be stiffer, and thus it will be more accurate. That's just the way it is.
 
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