Short answer is NO. Once a barrel is "manufactured" (chambered?) it can only be cut back to the legal limit. To shorten an existing barrel below that is not manufacturing, it is cutting/modifying. I would say that a gunsmith could manufacture a 14" barrel from an unchambered 24" barrel blank, but that is just an opinion. You are truly playing in the grey area of semantics, and I don't know of any gunsmiths that are willing to risk thousands of dollars in court costs, or even jail time, to try and fit into your budget. Basically, it you want a 14" barrel, pony up the money to do it properly, instead of trying to skirt the law.
Any Short Barrelled Bolt Rifles i.e. 12-14''??
- Thread starter dubious
- Start date
Short answer is NO. Once a barrel is "manufactured" (chambered?) it can only be cut back to the legal limit. To shorten an existing barrel below that is not manufacturing, it is cutting/modifying. I would say that a gunsmith could manufacture a 14" barrel from an unchambered 24" barrel blank, but that is just an opinion. You are truly playing in the grey area of semantics, and I don't know of any gunsmiths that are willing to risk thousands of dollars in court costs, or even jail time, to try and fit into your budget. Basically, it you want a 14" barrel, pony up the money to do it properly, instead of trying to skirt the law.
walleyed99
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- I'm not telling, Sask
I'm liking these, thinking one with a 1x4 in 308 would be a nice bush banging gun for moose hunting in Sask. Loaded with 200 grain SP, would be perfect. Inexpensive, and if it gets banged up a bit, your not heartbroken. Plus still capable in a 2-300 yard cut block shot.
That is exactly what I want. I already have two Savage rifles with MDT LSS chassis and the tools to swap barrels. I could build my own for a lot cheaper.
Agreed... It's just hard to justify and extra $500+ to go form 18" to 14"...
The 783 is nice but 8+ lbs with 16" barrel... I see the Mossberg Patriot Predator is on sale at Cabelas, 6 1/2 lbs, 22" barrel but I could bring it down to 18.5" (or 18" still not sure on this), and for under $500 it meets most of my needs, and I can get it in 6.5 CM
You could call a few gun makers, and see if they have any leftover blank bits. I have had a 14 inch 300blk built, and then rechambered to 300wm. If there is enough meat you could rechamber a 300blk to alot of 30 cal rounds pretty cheaply. Think mine was around 200$s. cheaper than buying a new barrel. And 300wm makes 308 look as lame as it is....
SO, thought I would circle back on this thread. Picked up a Mossberg Patriot in 6.5 Creedmood, cut the barrel to around 18 3/8", filed it flat, re crowned it and blued it, looks good. Then went down a rabbit hole and bought some MDT furniture for it, more than I wanted to spend, but it's pretty bad ass 
. Will be my tactical 6.5 plinker, varmint rifle up 500 yards and deer/elk up to 200. Also can throw in my backpack for camping/hiking...
Thought I would share, cheers!
(yes the scope is backwards in these pictures, I was still setting things up lol - I wanted the ring levers on the other side...)
. Will be my tactical 6.5 plinker, varmint rifle up 500 yards and deer/elk up to 200. Also can throw in my backpack for camping/hiking...Thought I would share, cheers!
(yes the scope is backwards in these pictures, I was still setting things up lol - I wanted the ring levers on the other side...)
I prefer short carbine rifles for hunting... Not 12 - 14" but 16 - 18" in bolt action rifles and 20" in falling blocks. I can easily shoot to 300 yards with these rifles, but 90% of hunting shots are within 100 yards in Eastern hunting.
- Location
- East ontario
I'm in the same boat. I'm a big fan of short, light.... and cheap. After all my research I have settled on a ruger american ranch in 7.62x39. Itll kill everything up to bear and deer. I'm considering buying an equivalent in 308 or 6.5 for moose. It's more than you (or I) want to spend, but turns out it's the cheapest practical option. It's a 16.5inch barrel and under 6 lbs. Anything cheaper, and you have to compromise somewhere.
- Location
- Southern Vancouver Island
Here's a 10.5" barrel Spectre rifle put together by a fellow gunnut. Depending on components you can make this pretty light. You can also chamber it in a number of options that fit in the AR platform, like .223, 450 SOCOM or 6.5 Grendel. Or a bunch of other options.
Brutus
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
For hunting I prefer rifles with hammers over most bolt actions. Fer target & plinking, anything goes.
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Nice. However I always feel the big manufacturers miss the boat not producing something with a 14 inch barrel. In any traditional pistol caliber or 30-30 especially. Then you get the same juice as Thompson-Contender handloads.
