.284 Win barrel length compromise

[kevwil]

I'm considering building a rifle in straight .284 Win. I am thinking of this cartridge mostly for 1000y target shooting, but 284Win would make a good hunting round as well, so I am wondering if one barrel could fulfill both roles. Obviously some compromise is required to make this idea work, because a 32" bull barrel will be too heavy for hunting.

What would be the shortest/lightest barrel that would still get decent speed with the 180 Berger Hybrids? I'm thinking the 180s are better at long range as well as taking down elk, but if this idea is impossible with 180s then would a 162 Amax or 168 VLD make more sense?

** "good" "decent" "better" - I realize this sounds vague, so how about this. I'd like to make consistent hits on a 12" round AR500 target at 1000 yards, yet still be able to move my arms after carrying the rifle on a 10-mile hunt in the woods. I imagine a 10 pound rifle would be OK but 15+ pounds is really not going to work. A suppressor might be involved, if I'm lucky.

 

[Jowens]

I went with 26 inches from the recoil lug.

I'm getting 2750 with 180s and haven't hit pressure yet.

Rifle weighs a fuzz under 9lbs without optics

 

[Phil]

Ever consider a switch barrel rig?????

Long heavy target barrel and a svelt taper hunting barrel.......

Food for thought...

 

[kevwil]

I went with 26 inches from the recoil lug.

I'm getting 2750 with 180s and haven't hit pressure yet.

Rifle weighs a fuzz under 9lbs without optics

That does not sound bad at all! Thanks. Would you mind sharing your load for that velocity?

Ever consider a switch barrel rig?????

Long heavy target barrel and a svelt taper hunting barrel.......

Food for thought...

I'm already down that road, with a single shot target action in my hands. But the idea of the 284 pushing a 180gr VLD at 2800+/-50 fps gave me food for thought in making it a precision hunting rifle rather than being a switch barrel on the target action. I'm aware it's not ideal, I'm just trying to get a feel whether this is a reasonable compromise or (yet another) really bad idea. ;-)

 

[TonyR]

You could try a 28 inch Heavy Varmint taper plus a muzzle brake. H4350 will give you excellent accuracy with the 180 Hybrids at about 2800 fps give or take a few. Slower powders work better with longer barrels but H4350 should be fine with 28 inches or even a bit less. Take the brake off if prohibited by match rules and it will still be manageable.

 

[Raptor]

My son in law and I both shoot 284s in comps and we love them. He however built a 280 for long range hunting with a #4 barrel. Its 26" long and shoots the 168 Bergers into little holes. He put 3 shots into a 3" group at 900yds and has killed deer and antelope at from 700 to 1000yds. He also has killed several elk with it but does not try shooting them at long range. The rifle is light enough to hunt in the mountains with and is still deadly accurate for shooting to 1000yds. You just can't shoot as many rounds through it as with a heavy barrel.

I think either the 284 or the 280 would be fine at 26"s I had my first one built and wanted a 28" but it came out at 27"s because of the barrel blank. I have shot it out to a mile with the 162AMAXs. I have no problems shooting any range I need to shoot at out to a mile. I have 2400+ rounds through it and am now just getting it re barreled. By the way the heavy varmint barrel is a real "Toad" and is way to heavy to lug around. I would not go any heavier than a Remington Varmint if you want to hunt with it and that's plenty heavy enough...

 

[kevwil]

Its 26" long and shoots the 168 Bergers into little holes.
...
I think either the 284 or the 280 would be fine at 26"s I had my first one built and wanted a 28" but it came out at 27"s because of the barrel blank. I have shot it out to a mile with the 162AMAXs.

Have you tried the 180 Hybrid from the 26" barrel? I'd certainly be OK with shooting the 162/168 bullet range, but I'm curious if a 26" barrel can push the 180 Hybrid well enough.