Short barreled rifles ?

[abiggdan]

I have been noticing more and more short barreled rifles lately. I know there is people that have been building rifles like this for sometime. My question is why ? What is the reasoning behind a short, fat barrel ? seems to me one would loose velocity and not gain a weight advantage because the diameter is quite large. Is there one or more calibers that benefit from this ? Is there one or more calibers that this would be a step in the wrong direction ? just curious thanks.

 

[necchi]

Ask the military,

 

[Nomad47]

Or the 100/200 yard bench rest competitors.

 

[M14AMU]

Or the 100/200 yard bench rest competitors.

Uhhh....their game....ain't my game!!

 

[bricktop]

Are you referring to really short semi-autos that have around 7.5-11.5" barrels, or the long rifles with heavy barrels around 16-20"?

If referring to the latter... A lot of people like to run suppressors these days, and they add 6-12 inches to the barrel length. Running a shorter barrel keeps the rifle length from getting ridiculous and unwieldy. Also, with all these new high BC bullets, a lot of people are finding that they don't need to run really high velocities to achieve their desired range. Having the heavy barrel still keeps them able to shoot long strings without significant POI changes.

 

[tenring]

I keep my BR barrls at 23". They balance better and its easy to cut off 1" for a rechamber job.

 

[abiggdan]

the bolt actions with, 16-20 inches

 

[bowfisher]

Shorter equal stiffer. Less barrel whip and easier to tune for consistency, IMO. At short range, velocity isn't paramount.

 

[K22]

One of my favorite rifles is the 20" barrel Rem Model 7. I have two in 223 and one in 243. Reason - they are a joy to carry especially in the mountains and in heavy cover. Great stalking rifle.

True, I sacrafice some velocity loss, but I basically view these as short range rifles, i.e. 200 yards and under. I know the capabilities and limitations and use them within these parameters.

 

[308sako]

The older I get the less I like to carry.

At the shorter ranges I do not feel I am giving any accuracy or precision up.

It's all just about fun to shoot.

 

[1holeaddict]

One of my better shooting hunting rifles is a Savage 7mag that has a factory 19" tube with a 2" muzzle break on it. The barrel is similar to the new Savage Bear Hunter. It does give up quite a bit of velocity but she is accurate.

 

[wwbrown]

After spending some time with the Marine's XM-3 that has a barrel under 20" I found it to be a very fast handling rifle and lighter than most bolt guns, before an argument breaks out that was a iot of other issues with the gun. After this experience the barrels on my deer rifles are getting shorter as I realize I do not need to carry or swing a 24" barrel when I hill not be shooting more than 350 yards.