they offered it with a mannlicher stock. one of the blood tracker had it in 300 win mag in our hunting association and it was a gem to carry but the noise ... even the 375 ruger with 20 inches barrel is or was really noisy.
Short barrels on Magnum calibers
- Thread starter tommy88
- Start date
they offered it with a mannlicher stock. one of the blood tracker had it in 300 win mag in our hunting association and it was a gem to carry but the noise ... even the 375 ruger with 20 inches barrel is or was really noisy.
- Location
- Steel Town
The only short barrel "magnum" I have is a Henry all steel lever gun in 45-70 with an 18.4 inch barrel. All the "magnum" punch and associated noise that I can handle. I have never needed more than 30-06/8x57 in my life--which can be hot-loaded anyways.
Lots of good comments and feed back here. I was looking for the same thing as the OP and I found my holy grail rifle, A Ruger RCM in 300rcm. Found a McMillan stock for it and it now wears a leupold 2.5-8x36 scope instead of the Burris pictured. Only thing I may do at some point is get it cerakoted. The short mags do lend themselves better to short barrels.
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Unhunh. Btw noise is not as bad with the extreme short barrels. I run a 14inch 300wm and contrary to the fuddiness of this thread, the recoil is 762x39-308 at worst (like when firing 220grs), otherwise its more 762x39.
The noise is more whoop than crack, and no where near as bad as out of a 24inch
Personally I think 14 INCH 300 WIN MAG is a little much but whatever floats your boat. I own a .338 win mag custom with a 21 inch barrel and handles nicely without excessive muzzle blast or flash in low light. Never ran it over a chronograph but prevailing wisdom seems to be that the velocity tradeoff versus portability at that length is reasonable. Going really short will only result in a great deal of propellant being burned outside the barrel. Not an ideal situation to me.
Ardent
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Fuddiness is a term I embrace full heartedly. I guided a few short barrels in BC mountain hunts (and many braked rifles for that matter), and I can say with certainty they are downright concussive to be beside and indiscernible from each other. As the guy beside the shooter glassing I couldn’t tell a difference between a short barrel on a bore .30 and under and a brake, either shake up the snot in your sinuses. .338s get a pass as case capacity wise to bore, they aren’t really a mag but just a well balanced cartridge. Usually I don’t hear or feel the shot hunting as guide or shooter, but I certainly do notice the short barrels and brakes even in the moment and I don’t remember them fondly.
Really depends if you’re an avid hunter, or an avid gun nut. You can be right down the middle too. I’m drifting from the former to the latter, and will now entertain setups that would be silly if the prime concern was effectively taking game out here with minimum fuss, simply because they’re interesting and I like toying around with different setups. That is to say the guns can be heavier, more complicated, louder, sillier, and more fun. I’ve hunted with some goofy setups over the years, and encourage diversity in approaches. Would be an awfully boring world if we all shot what makes the most sense, an off the rack 22-26” 7 1/2lb 7mm or .30 cal. Oddly enough, the guys I guided that were on a calendar of hunts and a mission so to speak despite having the means for whatever they wanted, typically hunted quite basic setups like that. It was all about the hunting not the guns.
Here, it’s about the guns, it’s why we gather here. So might as well get weird, niche and fun with em.
Really depends if you’re an avid hunter, or an avid gun nut. You can be right down the middle too. I’m drifting from the former to the latter, and will now entertain setups that would be silly if the prime concern was effectively taking game out here with minimum fuss, simply because they’re interesting and I like toying around with different setups. That is to say the guns can be heavier, more complicated, louder, sillier, and more fun. I’ve hunted with some goofy setups over the years, and encourage diversity in approaches. Would be an awfully boring world if we all shot what makes the most sense, an off the rack 22-26” 7 1/2lb 7mm or .30 cal. Oddly enough, the guys I guided that were on a calendar of hunts and a mission so to speak despite having the means for whatever they wanted, typically hunted quite basic setups like that. It was all about the hunting not the guns.
Here, it’s about the guns, it’s why we gather here. So might as well get weird, niche and fun with em.
I mean, I don't have much in a short barreled rifle except for an 18" 6.5 Creedmoor (Sig Cross). Pretty much everything else I have is 20+ inches. There's a difference between short barrel and "shorter than usual" for the cartridge. I'm a fan of long action magnum chamberings with medium-to-heavy for caliber bullets. But in the name of an all-around hunting cartridge, I'd have a hard time looking past a .300 WSM or something. That'll take all the moose and elk I can hunt, plus it'll do fine on whitetail deer and black bears as well. The key here is to get a proper "short action" rifle with a shorter than normal barrel. A 22" .300 WSM will still blow well past a stout .30-06. In a short action rifle with a lightweight stock it'll pert'near max out my recoil-o-meter while hitting like a truck, shooting pretty flat, and taking just about anything I point it at.
Funny I own a dozen rifles close to that, but not that specifically. Guess I'll buy another?
Funny I own a dozen rifles close to that, but not that specifically. Guess I'll buy another?
For an all around rifle pick a short mag cartridge with a quality bullet, keep the barrel around 20-22” and use a mid zoom range scope. Specific details on the rifle and which cartridge is personal preference. I love my 338 short mag shooting a 210 Barnes ttsx in a semi custom Remington 700 and a Leupold 4.5-14 scope. It’s 8 3/4 pounds, 22” barrel and no brake. Capable of extended ranges and still handy to pack.
Probably the best I ever have seen was the Remington 350 mag (very hard to find now) my buddy recently scored one in vg shape for $1700 near Calgary last year. On the more modern end I got the new 45-70 Ruger/Marlin lever last summer, specifically to hunt anything from deer to elephant LOL! and I am happy to report it is a most excellent choice albeit expensive ammo. It is small, light, fast, scoped, it is on par with anything you can hunt and is extremely well made.
Lots of good comments and feed back here. I was looking for the same thing as the OP and I found my holy grail rifle, A Ruger RCM in 300rcm. Found a McMillan stock for it and it now wears a leupold 2.5-8x36 scope instead of the Burris pictured. Only thing I may do at some point is get it cerakoted. The short mags do lend themselves better to short barrels.
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I was quite impressed with the RCM cartridges after a buddy bought a Hawkeye in 375RCM. I love the feel and handling of the short rifle and the recoil and blast is not unpleasant. Surprisingly it was easier to handle than my much heavier 375H&H. After handling and firing the RCM, I did some digging into the 300RCM and am surprised it does not have a bigger following.
My preference for a short barrel would bring me back to a 308 with a 15 inch barrel; something I am currently building. But, if I were building a magnum, I am drawn to the 350 RemMag, with an 18 inch medium contour barrel, on a Rem Seven receiver.
What's not to like about the 300RCM? After all, the super-successful 6.5PRC is simply a necked down version of it, checking all the boxes for an efficient, modern cartridge. I predict the RCM's might enjoy a small resurgence in the future.
I'm also building a 16" barreled 308 to take advantage of cheaper brass supply. My long-barreled rifles are dwindling in favour of more compact and handy rifles. One reason is that they travel better with me on a motorcycle but they also pack so nicely in the bush. Flush cups on the left side make carrying them with a backpack sling a joy.
I just free floated the barrel, lapped the rings and added a new scope on my Ruger Compact 300RCM today:
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