for long distance shooting is it better to have a long barrel or a shorter barreled rifle.?

Question

i have a remington 700 sps varmint 308 caliber with a 26 inch barrel. i'm not sure if its considered a bull barrel, i'm new to all this. i was thinking of cutting it down to around 22 inches and putting a muzzle break on it any idea's

Answer 1

Actually, the information you guys are giving about barrel length is not that accurate. Ironic huh?

The physics behind shooting a bullet have many variables. Yes, long barrel length gives higher velocities, which affects external ballistics only. The faster the bullet can reach its' target, the less wind can impact it. Also, the horizontal force (shooting the bullet downrange) is magnified against the vertical force (gravity), so you shoot flatter.

But what truely causes accuracy in a rifle, assuming the remaining internal ballistics remain constant, is the harmonics of the barrel. The barrel will vibrate almost like a guitar string. What you want for accuracy is for the barrel to emulate a simple harmonic motion. What this means is that the muzzle will be in the same exact place every time when the bullet exits and since a guitar string is attached, it will, but the muzzle of a rifle can go anywhere. This is why loads with different amount of powder in them are not accurate (minus the vertical stringing). The barrel is exerted under different amounts of stress. Try flicking a string with different force and you will understand what I mean.

The above guitar emulation of the barrel with simple harmonics means that the barrel acts like a "standing wave" and the amount of work done is zero, which is a GOOD thing.

To increase your accuracy at long ranges, have a stiff metal (ie stainless), or a thicker barrel. Also, do you understand lock time? There is also what I call barrel time. That is the time it takes for a round to exit the barrel. The longer amount of time a round is in the barrel, the more likely you will change the direction of exit from the original direction. Just like with a firing pin's lock time.

Now, for advantages of longer barrels..... the increased velocity. Not only as I said before about the horizontal component of force, you also have to recognize different air pressure barriers. The most important is the 1st sound barrier. If a bullet is exiting at that speed, or tries to stablize within that realm, you will have serious accuracy issues.

A good example is the 17 Mach 2 (obviously exiting the muzzle at mach 2). It's velocity exiting the muzzle never allows the bullet to "grab" good air which reduces accuracy (remember you will only shoot this round out to 100m "effectively"). Take this idea and apply it to powerful center fires. A 7.62 by 51mm becomes "uneffective" at a range of about 800 meters. This is because it's velocity enters the sound barrier, unstablizing the round, not because of a lack of energy. You can increase this range by increasing muzzle velocity or you can ruin accuracy by increasing a velocity into this barrier, so choose wisely.

Do a search on the net and you will find many test that show longer barrels may not be the best depending on your caliber and your rifle. Many times shorter barrels work better in shorter action calibers like the .308, while longer barrels help the Magnums. Many are going to be upset about this post, but I hope you can look past the "Myths" and really understand what is going to make you rifle accurate !

Good Luck & Happy Shooting !!!!!!

Answer 2

Another important factor has to do with the ratio of length to thickness. A shorter fatter barrel can be more accurate than a longer skinnier barrel because the long skinny barrel is less rigid and more prone to vibration and movement than a stout, rigid, fat, short barrel.

You do loose some velocity with a shorter barrel, but there comes a point where too much barrel length will also loose velocity do to friction that overcomes the accelerating force.

More velocity will increase rotational spin velocity. 1 in 12" at 1200fps has a slower rotation speed than 1 in 12" at 4000fps. How this affects accuracy? Usually twist is set for a given bullet weight and a range of velocities. The velocities don't change often enough with factory ammo to warrant changes in twist with changes in velocity due to a shortened barrel.

In all with 4" shaved off, and if a good job is done you may see a slight improvement in accuracy especially if there is any damage done to the crown of your muzzle. A good true crown always helps the bullet to leave the barrel in a uniform manner. There may be an optimum length but it would be difficult to find it without a device like the B.O.S.S. (Ballistic Optimizing Shooting System) that allows you to incrementally adjust the length of the barrel to search for the perfect length.

I would skip the muzzle break. They tend to make rifles louder and a .308 should not have so much recoil that you NEED one.

For the money, unless you do have a damaged crown or muzzle, I would spend the money on a trigger job if not already done. That alone will allow you to manipulate the trigger without disturbing the sights. It is so much easier wth a good trigger.

Learn to handload. By custom creating the round you fire you will ring more accuracy out of a rifle than you can imagine!

The biggest reason for you to cut that barrel. The extra 4" gets in the way and the gun will be handier...

Answer 3

You could cut it to 22 inches and be fine. The bullet does not spin any less as some have suggested. They just don't know anything about shooting. The issues will be consistancy with powder burn. At 22in you should have a complete burn with all but the slowest powders. The barrel you have is remingtons varmint contour and it is pretty close to a straight taper. Very good accuracy past 600 yards with little deformation and barrel movement. Personally I like a 24in for .308. A break is not really necessary for the .308, even for the heavier rounds. (on a side note, given the sps rate of twist, it could be shooting over 168 grain bullets) However, it does help dissipate the turbulance that the hot gasses make upon exiting the barrel which is a plus if you are reaching out past 800 yards. If you decide to have the barrel cut make sure to take it to a good smith. It will need to be recrowned and have the break installed within a pretty tight tolerance to give you the desired effect. Enjoy a great weapon.

Answer 4

You could get away with a 22" on a .308 varmint/target, but why bother cutting it down? I don't think a .308 has enough recoil to warrant cutting the barrel and installing a muzzle break. The Rem 700 is a fine rifle - you could send it to Remington's custom shop to have it compensated and/or shortened (which would be my suggestion of place to send it).

Now for the other answerers, the longer barrel doesn't give the bullet a greater or tighter spin. If the RoT is 1:12 (1 rotation in 12 inches), the bullet will rotate once in 12 inches whether the barrel is 6, 12, 24, or 36 inches. What a longer barrel does do, is allow for a more complete burn of the powder. This is why magnums (which use slower burning powder) tend to have longer barrels. This helps with accuracy, and tends to stabilize the bullet better, because the pressure curve isn't as snappy when the bullet exits the barrel. The bullet is "pushed" out, instead of "rocketed" at the end of a pretty to look at, but useless flame.

A quality rifle with a 20" barrel, will outshoot a cheap rifle with 26" barrel any day, and vice versa. Now a bull barrel is thick and pretty much the same outside diameter for the entire length. It doesn't heat up as quickly and adds more weight so you hold it more steadily.

If you do decide to customize your rifle, make sure (if you don't have Remington do it) you have a gun smith with good barrel experience do it. You could easily screw up a fine rifle cutting the barrel and putting a break. Once cut, the barrel needs to be recrowned - if that isn't done right, it won't shoot worth a damn.

Answer 5

That is not a good idea. Because full length barrels are a necessity for optimum powder usage. The muzzle break on a 308 isn't going to make that much of a difference. And you stand a chance of messing your gun up.

Answer 6

A bull barrel is very thick about 4X bigger than a regular barrel*.The only advantage it has is it offers greater stability and does not overheat as quickly, and gives you a little better accuracy*.. You won't loose a great deal of accuracy or feet per second by cutting it down*.. I personally would not do it*.. There is little or nothing to be gained by doing so*.. I own one myself and can get consistent 3 shot groups you can cover with a 50 cent piece using hand loads*..Please reconsider your intentions*.. Stay with the 26" inch * Speaking from experience and Expert Marksman that I am*..

Answer 7

I think that would be a poor move. Shorter barrels are handier in the woods and lighter if you're walking a lot, but neither of those applies for your rifle. The extra velocity makes a little difference at long ranges, and there's just no reason to batter your ears (or those of the people around you) with the brake.

Answer 8

longer barrel will give slightly more velocity but no more accuracy than a short barrel.
22" is considered standard for 308 cal. the longer barrels are usually used on over bore capacity magnums that have a very large powder capacity in relation to bore size such as the weatherby mags. that need extra barrel length to burn the extra powder. something else to consider is a shorter barrel will be more rigid than a longer one of the same diameter & less subject to vibration. however your Remington is a fine rifle & I wouldnt cut it back & expect to see any noticeable change in performance

Answer 9

26" is not a "long barrel" by any stretch of the imagination. I have a Mauser 98/29 Persian with a 30" barrel that groups well at one thousand yards; chambered for 8mm Mauser ammo. Short barreled rifles (carbines) are easier to carry but the trade off is loss of long range accuracy.

Answer 10

longer barrel means longer distance between front sights and rear sights meaning more accurate/forgiving, longer barrel equals flatter trajectory better speed, less compensation for distance shooting, less mistake.
this is why sniper rifles have long barrels, usually bull barrels