Best 'short barrel' cartridge?

Well i don't mind an 18 inch barrel, that's for sure.

I wonder if a lighter bullet or a heavier bullet would tend to retain MORE of it's 'full lenght' speed?

For example - say you have a 140 grain and a 160 grain 7mm load in a 22 inch barrel, Which one would lose MORE speed/energy going shorter, or would they be the same?
 
i've been using a Ruger Frontier with a 16.5" barrel in .300WSM. with 180 grain bullets I get around the same as 30:06 velocities in a longer barrel so its about a 200-250 fps velocity drop compared to a 26 " barrel (about 8% loss) and no it doesn't boot you as long as you hold it snug to your shoulder pocket & apply downward pressure on the foreend as you fire. It's one of the best moose bush rifles out there IMHO.
 
Foxer said:
I wonder if a lighter bullet or a heavier bullet would tend to retain MORE of it's 'full lenght' speed?

For example - say you have a 140 grain and a 160 grain 7mm load in a 22 inch barrel, Which one would lose MORE speed/energy going shorter, or would they be the same?
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Foxer, just look up a ballistics tabe for your cartridge options.

They heavy and light bullets are gogin to do the same thing, they wil jsut be started out slower than if they had a linger barrel.

(Percentages don't change because of ashort barrel)
 
The Hornady manual lists some data for rifle cartridges in pistols. One example is the 7mm-08. They used a 24" barrel for the rifle loads and a 15" for the pistol loads. The 15" barrel gave up 400fps over the 24", across the board, regardless of bullet weight ( just like Gatehouse mentioned above).
 
Foxer said:
Well i don't mind an 18 inch barrel, that's for sure.

I wonder if a lighter bullet or a heavier bullet would tend to retain MORE of it's 'full lenght' speed?

For example - say you have a 140 grain and a 160 grain 7mm load in a 22 inch barrel, Which one would lose MORE speed/energy going shorter, or would they be the same?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure of the 7mm but I would think the same would hold true to them as well as the .308. I found a heavier bullet doesn't suffer as badly (velocity wise) as the barrels get shorter. going over some old notes for a 18 inch .308 I had,showed that the 150's clocked close to the 165's (2550&2500fps)
Might have to rethink my 150gr favouratism in a .308, it's been a while.;)
 
For a good read on velocity vs barrel length read John Barsness article on this subject in the October issue of Handloader.In his experiments Barsness builds on the work on Phil Sharpe undertook in 1949. ( He actually had the original copies of all of Sharpe's field notes)
 
Pick which ever cartridge you like, but shooting the heaviest bullet available for that cartridge will produce the best results compared to what you would get from the long barrel. The heaviest bullet has the lowest velocity and the smallest powder charge, therefore it looses less velocity when the barrel length is reduced.
 
I agree that the 358 with a short tube would be good - for the handloader.

I'm not afraid of short barrels in 350RemMags and 35 Whelens. I get good performance from all my 35cal carbines. I've been carrying my M7600/35 Whelen factory pump carbine (18 1/2" tube) into treestands the last few weeks bear hunting occasionally. I love it.

However if I didn't "roll my own" I'd be certainly less enthused about carbines generally.

Also, I make well over 2200fps with a 170 SpeerFN in my 30-30LTS (16" tube) with ReL15. Shot a racoon in the woods last year without my ears on and didn't notice any especially severe muzzle blast to hurt my ears.

Also - this may be a bit uncharacteristic - for some reason my 18 1/2" barrel M600/350RM shot my first test 250 grain loading (and only one to date since it was workin for me) slightly faster than it's 20" barrel stable mate M660 in the same calibre - compare them here - http://35cal.com/loading.html#600

I like carbines!!!
 
What about something built off of a ruger #1, keep the barrel lenght and still have something compact.
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I've been thinking about that - a ruger or maybe a contender. I don't know if i'm ready for 'just one shot' hunting yet :) never know when there's a bear around. But i'm giving it some thought.
 
Foxer said:
I've been thinking about that - a ruger or maybe a contender. I don't know if i'm ready for 'just one shot' hunting yet :) never know when there's a bear around. But i'm giving it some thought.
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If you want a handy, short, light Ruger No.1, get a 1-A Sporter model. I'd recommend you look at the old standby .30-06, or if you can find one, a 7x57. I love mine - it carries short like a Win94 carbine, but balances better.
 
One question about short barrels and short actions:

Do you guys think that the heavier bullets of the .308 would promote better combustion in the short barrel so that the velocity loss would be somewhat less?
 
Hey BBB

Boomer has answered this one rather succinctly on the previous page. I share his opinion on this. To restate his post,

Pick which ever cartridge you like, but shooting the heaviest bullet available for that cartridge will produce the best results compared to what you would get from the long barrel. The heaviest bullet has the lowest velocity and the smallest powder charge, therefore it looses less velocity when the barrel length is reduced.
Click to expand...
 
In my books the minimum for a good all round hunting rifle is one that is capable of firing a bullet with .275 ish sectional density or higher at a vleocity exeeding 2000fps at 300 yards.

If the cartige is capable of this out of the short bbl there is not much to worry about.
 
Foxer said:
Well i don't mind an 18 inch barrel, that's for sure.

I wonder if a lighter bullet or a heavier bullet would tend to retain MORE of it's 'full lenght' speed?

For example - say you have a 140 grain and a 160 grain 7mm load in a 22 inch barrel, Which one would lose MORE speed/energy going shorter, or would they be the same?
Click to expand...
Check your reloading manuals for pistol data on cartridges for the contender, and compare with the same cartridge with rifle data.
That should give you a good idea what kind of losses to expect with barrel length changes for different cartridges.
Note also, that for the most part, the same powders that work well at rifle lengths, work at pistol length.
 
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