Cutting down 6mmBR barrel

[golfer2b2000]

I have a varmint rifle that I feel is a bit heavy towards the muzzle. The rifle has shown excellent accuracy at 150 yards. That is about the farthest I am able to shoot at my range. The barrel is a 1-10 twist in a 6mmBR. I am thinking about cutting the barrel down to reduce weight for carrying. The barrel is 25 inches long and am thinking about taking it down to 18 to 20 inches.
I am sure that my farthest shot at a groundhog will be no greater than 300 yards.
Is this a wise thing to do?
What are the pros, and cons of doing this.
Thank you

 

[Doug Beach]

Pros: cutting 5” off will make a huge difference in the rifle’s balance. It will feel like a completely different gun.
Cons: you’ll lose somewhere between 100-150 fps with the same load, it will be noticeably louder to the shooter, and unless you do it yourself, it will cost money.

 

[rockhound78]

I would lean towards having the barrel fluted

 

[tj66]

I have a 20" bull 6br 8 twist that runs 75 v max @ 3200 very accurately. Same load in another 26" light varmint 8 twist runs 3275, with same accuracy. So it might not cost you as much speed as you think. The shorter barrel balances much better.

 

[golfer2b2000]

This rifle will be used only for disposing of woodchucks. I don't think speed will be much of a factor for me. I was once using a 6PPC for chucks and it worked great. The lighter 66 grain HP bullets worked very well. Again, my shots were under 150 yards. I will probably be using the same bullet on this rifle.
Probably going to cut it off myself. Get a crowning tool from Brownells and do it that way.
I think I would rather take the barrel off and do it on a lathe, but I don't know just how to remove a barrel from an action. This is a Remington action. Is all I need is to purchase an action wrench, and a barrel vise?

 

[Big Mc]

I have a varmint rifle that I feel is a bit heavy towards the muzzle. The rifle has shown excellent accuracy at 150 yards. That is about the farthest I am able to shoot at my range. The barrel is a 1-10 twist in a 6mmBR. I am thinking about cutting the barrel down to reduce weight for carrying. The barrel is 25 inches long and am thinking about taking it down to 18 to 20 inches.
I am sure that my farthest shot at a groundhog will be no greater than 300 yards.
Is this a wise thing to do?
What are the pros, and cons of doing this.
Thank you

The crown could be a problem,if you do it yourself.. Just my two cents Tommy Mc

 

[Dusty Stevens]

This rifle will be used only for disposing of woodchucks. I don't think speed will be much of a factor for me. I was once using a 6PPC for chucks and it worked great. The lighter 66 grain HP bullets worked very well. Again, my shots were under 150 yards. I will probably be using the same bullet on this rifle.
Probably going to cut it off myself. Get a crowning tool from Brownells and do it that way.
I think I would rather take the barrel off and do it on a lathe, but I don't know just how to remove a barrel from an action. This is a Remington action. Is all I need is to purchase an action wrench, and a barrel vise?

Youll need a recoil lug alignment fixture

 

[butchlambert]

If I had to do it I would cut off the breech end and rechamber.

 

[Topstrap]

Had a shooting buddy that wasn't afraid to shorten a barrel on anything. One was a new 10" Freedom Arms 357 revolver. Didn't like the way it balanced, got his hacksaw out and whacked it off, filed the end smooth and used a hand recrowning tool to get rid of burrs. Shot great and he was happy. Did it with a few guns.

Topstrap

 

[K22]

If I had a rifle that had "excellent" accuracy, I wouldn't even consider modifying it.

If I wanted a lightweight stalking rifle for varmint or predator hunting for a max range of 300 yards, I would opt for a Tikka T3X in 223 Rem. or 22 250. These have 22" barrels and still can produce adequate velocity but are easy to carry in the field.

I'm an avid groundhog hunter and have been doing it for 50 years or so. I use both, heavy varmint and light weight stalkers. Both have their purposes for me, and I always take both of a groundhog safari.

The one I use depends on the farm and fields where I hunt and what I feel like doing on that day as far as sitting or stalking. Some fields do not lend themselves to stalking because they are too open and setting up for long shots is the most effective hunting method. In these cases, the heavy varmint for me is ideal. Whereas other fields lend themselves to stalking and short shot opportunities i.e., under 200 yards so a lightweight stalker works very well for me. Also, if I have to hike to a remote field, these days I take my lightweight stalker.

My primary light weight stalkers are Rem Model 7's with 20" Douglas No. 2 contour match barrels. If I had it to do over, I would have had 22" barrels installed instead of 20" because the loss in velocity was not worth this short of a barrel. A 22" No. 2 contour would not have added any significant weight.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

An ill handling rifle is pretty useless to me. You'll never miss the fps at those ranges. Make it suit you!

 

[LHSmith]

Do you know how hard it is to cut a barrel straight (perpendicular) with a hacksaw? Look up the term "bullet yaw". If it was me I'd be looking up the nearest smith, especially since it is a shooter. 21" is shortest I would go.

 

[golfer2b2000]

Had a shooting buddy that wasn't afraid to shorten a barrel on anything. One was a new 10" Freedom Arms 357 revolver. Didn't like the way it balanced, got his hacksaw out and whacked it off, filed the end smooth and used a hand recrowning tool to get rid of burrs. Shot great and he was happy. Did it with a few guns.

Topstrap

This is pretty much my intentions!!

 

[golfer2b2000]

Do you know how hard it is to cut a barrel straight (perpendicular) with a hacksaw? Look up the term "bullet yaw". If it was me I'd be looking up the nearest smith, especially since it is a shooter. 21" is shortest I would go.

Yes, I do know. Nearly impossible. Worst that can happen is that I have to get it rebarreled, and I doubt that will happen. It's not my main gun, and worth a try if I decide to go that route.

 

[Eagle Six]

Many years ago I had a Remington Police in 308. It was reliable 3/4 MOA with Fed SMK 168 and close to 1/2 MOA with my loads. I put a 26" Bergara 1:10 308 nut barrel (before Remage was a real thing). That was my 1K yard instructor gun. I picked up a used H-S Precision sporter stock. Cut the Remington factory barrel down to 21 3/4" which balance nice for me. During hunting season I would twist off the Bergara and twist on the Remington, snap it into the sport stock, quick rezero and was off to the races.

Yep whack it off with a hardware hacksaw and Brownell's hand crowning tool, actually improved the accuracy a bit. When the season was over, I would twist off the Remington, twist on the Bergara snap it into the H-S Precision Police stock, quick rezero and was ready for classes.

Neither the action or barrels were competition grade, but they were both 1/2 MOA which suited my purpose. The barrel balance point I figured was actually 21 1/2", but I wanted to leave enough for a lath crown in the event my hand crowning screwed things up, but it turn out not necessary. I still have that barrel laying around here someplace I bet!

 

[STS]

The barrel doesn't need to be removed from the receiver. A long stem indicator can get it dialed in on the last two inches and crown away. No vise, action wrench or lug alignment tool necessary.

 

[MDT6BRA]

I have a 20" bull 6br 8 twist that runs 75 v max @ 3200 very accurately. Same load in another 26" light varmint 8 twist runs 3275, with same accuracy. So it might not cost you as much speed as you think. The shorter barrel balances much better.

I’m not doubting your velocity but I’m not understanding how there is not more velocity change in 6” of barrel with same twist. Do barrels really vary that much?

 

[Eagle Six]

I looked back to find the difference in velocity when I cut my Remington barrel and no can find, so I don't remember the specifics but I do remember it was considerably less than the old standard of 25 fps per inch. I think there is a sizable difference between velocity loss between various barrels and calibers and loads, but there is nothing scientific about that statement!!!

 

[tj66]

I’m not doubting your velocity but I’m not understanding how there is not more velocity change in 6” of barrel with same twist. Do barrels really vary that much?

It surprised me also. Both barrels are 8 twist Shilens. I'm not pushing them real hard, so maybe that contributes also. Load is 30.8 N135 with 75 V-Max seated .005 in from hard jam.

 

[alf]

I had 7 inches cut off a 6x47 Lapua barrel and lost exactly 200 fps.

I've also cut a couple off with a hacksaw and crowned them with a chamfer tool with zero accuracy issues.