30-06 barrel length

[bobcat93]

I stumbled across some chatter on cutting down a 30-06 barrel.
No one seem to agree on much as i did more searching, it only revealed more questions.
What is the shortest you can have a 30-06 barrel and still have all the powder burn?
Can ya go 18-20" on barrel lenth?
And if you were going to cut down a 30-06 barrel that short, wouldnt it make more sense to switch to 308win ?
Seems to me the 308win would stomp on a 18 or 20" 30-06 barrel with efficiency ..i could also see that short barrel being a flamethrower probably set the lawn on fire every time you shoot it right!..hahaha..bunch of burning powder particles rolling out of the barrel hahaha...thats what i envision in my head anyway..
I found the concept worth talking about.
Thanks

 

[Rat44]

I cut my Remington ADL to 16 1/2 " as a machine shop school project.
Back in the 80's short barreled carbines were all the rage.
Big mistake as to cartridge choice ,should have went with the 308 or 7/08.
But I got the gun on sale and had a lot of /06 ammo.
And you are right , it is a flame thrower with factory ammo.
Took a long time to work up a load for it that shot good.
But it is a joy to carry in the woods.
By the way, IMR 3031 is the powder that worked out the best in MY gun.
When I bought the rifle at K Mart they also were closing out the Remington Accelerator ammo.
The first shot at the range they called cease fire, they thought my gun blew up.
Was told there was a 3 foot flame.
Gave it to my kids to shoot up in their rifles.
I would not go below 20" if I had to do it over .

 

[Doug Beach]

Not really an answer to the question, but having played with other lengths, I think a 22” -06 is the bees knees. Long enough to get good velocity. Short enough to handle easily in the woods, and in/out of vehicles.

 

[TC260]

Can ya go 18-20" on barrel lenth?
And if you were going to cut down a 30-06 barrel that short, wouldnt it make more sense to switch to 308win ?
Seems to me the 308win would stomp on a 18 or 20" 30-06 barrel with efficiency

You're overthinking it. Specialty pistol shooters shoot this kind of stuff all the time and don't think twice about it. TC made tons of 15" 30-06 barrels for the Encore and they're fine. Cut it to whatever legal length you want and go shoot it.

In the same length short barrel, the 30-06 is still going to outpace the 308.

 

[Capt. Oblivious]

If I look at my load in GRT for my 30.06 with a 180gr Bonded bullet going at 2850fps @58588psi out of my 24.5" 30.06 and I drop the barrel length to 20" it shows that the speed for that exact load would drop to 2709fps and the pressure would drop to 58616psi.

That's with VV N550 for what its worth
I know guys running 20" 06s and they are very happy, I think its a nice length on a hunting rile

 

[dthomas]

You can cut it down to whatever length you want just load it using a powder on the faster side for the bullet you are using.

 

[DGP4]

20" would be the best short barrel length for an ought six. I just use a faster powder like H335 with 150 grainers.

 

[Tommie]

PO Ackley did a test on this. Finally determined a .308 has nearly full burn at 22” while a 30-06 needed 24”

For what it’s worth.

 

[ISS]

And then those still burning granules of powder set some dry leaves in front of you on fire, and you get the Forest Service bill for putting out the fire...

24"

 

[dk17hmr]

I had a 16.75" that would do 2750 with a 165gr. Very impressive fireball.

 

[AckleymanII]

I had a 7400 carbine in '06. LOUD with concussion is what I remember!

 

[Infrequent Shooter]

Heyyyyyy, isn't there a legal requirement for barrel length on rifle? google machine just told me 16 inch from bolt face.

 

[big5ifty]

The length of the barrel

What is the shortest you can have a 30-06 barrel and still have all the powder burn?

There is no one number.

100% burn rate depends on a few factors. The powder. The bullet weight. The case fill. The primer.

Faster powders need a shorter barrel for 100% burn.

The tradeoff is velocity. The shorter you go, the less velocity you will have, not by virtue of the barrel length, but by the amount of powder that can burn [ gas produced ] before the bullet leaves the barrel.

Slower powders generate more gas per unit mass than faster powders, but are useless in short barrels.

 

[dk17hmr]

Heyyyyyy, isn't there a legal requirement for barrel length on rifle? google machine just told me 16 inch from bolt face.

Yes unless it's a registered short barrel rifle or pistol

 

[AckleymanII]

Bobcat, new/slightly used Remington take-offs are common and inexpensive.

 

[Syncrowave]

I like 23-24" in an 06 and don't find it at all unwieldy in the woods. Don't really know what bbl length you need for full burn, but I suspect it varies a LOT, depending on powder, charge, primer, bullet, etc.

I generally like to get all the velocity I can get in a rifle, particularly something like an 06 or 270.

If I'm mucking around in thick brush where you can't see 75 yds, I'll use a shotgun, with a "short" 26" barrel, LOL.

 

[bobcat93]

PO Ackley did a test on this. Finally determined a .308 has nearly full burn at 22” while a 30-06 needed 24”

For what it’s worth.

That is a long the lines of what i was thinking.

 

[TC260]

Slower powders generate more gas per unit mass than faster powders, but are useless in short barrels.

I've shot a lot of "rifle" cartridges in pistol length barrels, 10"-15" mostly, and my experience is that the powders that tend to perform best in longer barrels for a given cartridge also tend to perform best in short barrels. That's just been my experience though with the cartridges I've used. Which short barrel configurations have you used where you found slower powders didn't work?

 

[CA48]

Here’s some handloads for my 16” 30/06

Rem brass
215 berger
2550 with rl17 or rl26
2420 with h4350

RWS brass
185 juggs
2630 with h4350

Rem brass
125 TMKs
3200

 

[precision1]

Nothing you shoot will know the difference.set it up how you prefer.....sit there waiting on a big deer happy with your rifle.

Might think about bullet selection going shorter....weight and cup and core vs all copper

You will not see unburnt powder every where.lol

It won't be like shooting slower pistol powders out of a 9mm or 45.lol

I like 24-26" barrels don't really like so called carbines.i want velocity and the sexy long barrels.lol

My buddy kills many deer every year with a Ruger frontier 300wsm with 16" barrel.....

You'll be fine any length you want