308: preferred barrel length?

[TxAg]

What do you prefer for strictly hunting? Was thinking about picking up another Ruger and dropppng it into a Boyds. They make an 18" and 22" barrel.

[DaveC]

Is the 18" threaded, if so that could allow for a muzzle device or suppressor later.

I like short barrels, especially for hunting from a box.
One of my favorite go to guns is a Savage striker pistol in .308 with a 13.5" barrel, it's killed plenty.
My go to gun this year in ET has been my 16" AR-10 in .308.

[cmh2007]

Being a long range guy I like 24-26, mine right now finished at 25.75 because that is where the tightest part of the muzzle was. But for all round work can't beat a 20 inch. You will loose about 50-100 fps off what the box usually says but that is honestly negligible, and at that length with a suppressor it's still practical. Mine with a suppressor comes out to 35 inches barrel and attachments.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

[tanto]

For maximum performance, I'd go 22". Can squeeze a few more fps out of the longer barrel helping out on longer shots. Using the IIRC the rule of thumb of 25 ft/sec per inch of barrel, you'd be giving up approximately 100 ft/sec from 22" to 18". If it is a brush/woods gun, 18" will do you just fine and save a little on weight/length as well. In terms of effectiveness on deer, I promise you they won't notice the difference. Whichever you decide, find a load that your rifle likes and stick to it. Good luck!

[trophy8]

22" will still give a complete powder burn in most every load. And going longer than 22 in a 308 doesn't benefit you much. 18" won't get the same. My vote is 18" if you must go with that old slow outdated round

[GrapeApe]

I'm running a 26 right now punching out to 1200 but I'm cutting it down and threading it at 22 or 20 as soon as I can justify the shop time since paying jobs are taking priority.

I got over the "shoot as far as I can" game.

Most of my animal shots are between 300 and 600 so I'm not losing enough fps/energy to worry about.

[TxAg]

Thanks

[Dejashoot]

It depends on your definition of hunting. I have some Remington 700 AACs with 16" barrel and they do great for anything inside 250 yards. Haven't tried further but I'd bet good out to 400. I'm running mainly SiCo suppressors.

[txfireguy2003]

Mine is a 20" and it's manageable ands preformance is great. Tack on a large can and it's still freaking long and a pain inside a blind. I should have gone 16" but I'm happy with her the way she is right now.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

[Mike D]

I have a 20" R700 5R and it runs 175 Bergers at 2809fps.

20" is plenty for most practical hunting applications and still handy in the blind.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[txfireguy2003]

I have a 20" R700 5R and it runs 175 Bergers at 2809fps.

20" is plenty for most practical hunting applications and still handy in the blind.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Wow, impressive velocity from that weight bullets. I'm running 2750 with 168's and getting slight pressure indicators.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

[MIHunter]

.

[sendit]

A 16" barreled 308 Win will kill a Texas whitetail or hog just as dead as a 26" barreled 308 Win at any reasonable range. Buy either of the two Ruger's and chop the barrel back to 16" long. You will have a nice short quick handling rifle after doing so, the difference in lost velocity is moot.

[JW]

Personally I wouldn't go below 20". But I'm not exactly a super short barrel fan either.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[4dog]

18.5...easy peasy brush gun size...hogs love it !