short barrels

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brybenn

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Hey all. While enjoying a glass of scotch with a buddy the topic of the best well balanced big game cartridge for a 16-18" barrelled hunting gun came up

Now me and him have vastly different opinions about recoil. Now it has me thinking. The criteria is it must be capable of handling Ontario big game. Deer wolf black bear moose elk out to 250 yards. Balance recoil with a lighter weight gun and be efficient in a 16-18" barrel. Not a massive flame thrower with high muzzle rise and fast recoil.
I suggested 358 win with 200 gn bullets. He thinks 6.5 Grendel. As you can see we are no where near a compromise so I thought I'd ask here since I'm not sure how well the small 6.5 s handle heavier bullets from such short barrels.
 
With that barrel length, it will be hard to beat a 308 or 308 derived cartridges (7mm-08, 260 Remington). These cartridges have been the most researched and have been deemed most suitable in a short-barrel configuration, from tactical rifle all the way to mountain rifle weights.
 
My Ruger Frontier 358 has a 16.5" barrel and is far more accurate with 200 or 225 gr. loads than I expected it to be.
As for distance it dropped a Deer at 200 yds. easily, well within my comfort zone..
 
I found it more tolerable for muzzle blast than some of my other rifles, for example my Rem. 600 in 6.5 RM has noticeably more.
Actually I'm not a good person to ask because I'm deaf in one ear and cannot hear with the other..
 
the balance of a gun with respect to barrel length is more important than velocity or muzzle blast IMO
I would rather have a gun slightly more muzzle heavy then too muzzle light.
For most guns anything less than 21-22" and they are poorly balanced for my tastes
 
I have gone from and still have 26" barreled hunting rifles but I have been steadily going shorter/smaller/lighter I am now down to 14" barrels on my single shot T/C Contender carbines.

I have three 14" barrels now and hunt big game with all of them.

1) 45 Colt = 150 yards with 300gr bullets

2) 375JDJ = 200 yards with 220gr - 260gr bullets

3) 45-70 actually this is a 12.5" barrel with a muzzle brake = 200 yards with 300gr - 350gr bullets heavier 405gr - 430gr for 100 yard shooting.

These carbines are surprisingly well balanced and extremely accurate guys are always coming up to me at the range asking about them I almost always let them take a shot free hand at the 200 yard gong no one has ever missed it yet and they all walk away amazed how easy it was to hold on target.
 
Kevan said:
My Ruger Frontier 358 has a 16.5" barrel and is far more accurate with 200 or 225 gr. loads than I expected it to be.
As for distance it dropped a Deer at 200 yds. easily, well within my comfort zone..
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Those short barrels tend to be stiff which makes them shoot well. I always liked the look of that Frontier Rifle.
 
I own a remington model 788 in 7mm-08 with an 18 inch barrel and it does extremely well. I don't know about elk at 250 yards. That's a tough call. Anyone thought 350 rem mag? Shoot a 200 grain pretty good out of that.
 
I got a deer this year with a Ruger compact in 308, not sure on the range under 150 yards for sure one shot where I aimed so I was happy, it is not my go to deer rifle, my Brno 270 developed a crack in the stock. I do not find the recoil or muzzle blast too bad and I love the light weight for packing.
 
My 300WSM Ruger Frontier ( 16 1/2 '' ) push a 180 NAB to 2666 f/s with good 1moa precision. She barks loudly but recoil is easily manageable. Fun to carry.
 
I have owned M77 Frontier rifles in .243, .308 and .358 and M77 Compact rifles in .223, .243, 7mm-08 and .308... I have also made MANY SBR rifles on H&R Handi's and M77 platforms in cartridgea ranging from .225 Win up to .458, including many pistol cartridges... when it comes to SBR's I gravitated to the larger bores... and shorter fatter cases... IME you give up less of the starting performance than you do with the small bore, zippy cartridges and the recoil cycle is much more pleasant. I have a fondness for the .35 cals and the X57 & X62 case. The old standard 8X57 JS is a good case in point and it takes to short barrels very well as do .350 RM and .358 Win... and of course the .45/70-90-110... Given the criteria you list, I would say the .358 Win in a bolt action or .35 Whelen in a single platform will be about ideal.
 
nomad 68 said:
Is that a 20"?
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No... 18.5"... I love the M77 International platform also;


IMG_5535%202_zpsw2lq1b6d.jpg
 
nomad 68 said:
How is the recoil and muzzle blast in an 18.5" .30/06? I was going to shorten one to 19" for a handicap carry rifle but heard it .30/06 was nasty at that length.
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Like I said, 200gr pills for thicket hunting the edge of clearcut blocks and I don't find it over the top... Now mind you from work, harleys and shooting without proper hearing protection as a pup, my hearing and preception may be a little muted ;) I have zero issue with it.

Nothing like some of those ultra mags sporting muzzle brakes at the range thats for damn sure... ha!

Dirk
 
Guys are shooting rifles like the GA Precision Gladius with 16" barrel to 1000 yards all day long.

No reason you can't do 300 and beyond easily with 16" barrel. Good bullet choice for expansion/velocity and range you anticipate working in and a fast burning power. This should be no issue what so ever.

My hunting rifles are 18.5".

I'd love a 16" .308 to carry around as well. Damn it, now you got me thinking again.
 
nomad 68 said:
How is the recoil and muzzle blast in an 18.5" .30/06? I was going to shorten one to 19" for a handi carry rifle but heard it .30/06 was nasty at that length.
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I shot an 18" Handi rifle and 18.5" M77 International in .30/06 and could not discern an appreciable difference between them and 22" M77 MKII's... not in noise, recoil or accuracy.
 
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