Shorten barrel?

[JoeE]

Just saw this thread after doing a search.

Jackelope, I just took my Encore to Mike Pollazo in Covington and for $70 he cut and recrowned my 30-06 barrel from 28" down to 23". I'll be headed to the range later this week to see how much(hopefully) it improved accuracy. I really like the feel and balance of the rifle now with the shorter barrel.

[Biggerhammer]

Do it!! It won't hurt a thing.

[jackelope]

I thought I'd update this today. Bmcox86 is picking up his Tikka today and dropping off my 24" .280 Rem Encore barrel with Mike Palazzo. I'm going to talk to him and see what he recommends, but I'm thinking I'm going to have him cut it down to 20" and recrown. I was thinking about 18" plus a Vais brake but I'm afraid that brake, that close to my head, will be totally unpleasant to shoot. Anybody have any thoughts on this?

I just talked to Mr. Palazzo and he recommended leaving the barrel alone. He's forgotten about 11 times more than I will ever know about rifles so I'm going with that and am going to leave it alone.

Thanks for all the input.

[coachcw]

Josh just sweetin the trigger up and enjoy it . your plenty strong enough to pack it around .

[jackelope]

Josh just sweetin the trigger up and enjoy it . your plenty strong enough to pack it around .

Already done, Coach.

[mountainman]

Yorkie?

[yorketransport]

Once you've played around with a short barreled Encore rifle you'd wonder why you didn't do it years earlier. They are extremely handy while tromping through the brush. But leaving your barrel alone give you an excuse to buy another barrel and have it chopped down.

For the record, a Vias brake that close to your face is pretty unpleasant. Just a word of advice, when somebody bets you $10 to shoot a short barreled, muzzle braked gun with your mouth open, don't fall for it!

Andrew

[jackelope]

Mr. Palazzo's reasons for leaving it alone was 1-loss of muzzle velocity and 2-muzzle jump.  Maybe he was thinking of these reasons specific to the .280 Rem. He did ask me repeatedly if it was a .280 barrel I was wanting to do it to. I know he's cut down Encore barrels before for a couple guys on huntwa so he must not be totally against it.

[Bob33]

I like Mike but you need to remember that accuracy is supreme with him. Portability and weight don't register on his scale. I think you could take a few inches off and not lose much, but your accuracy could get better or worse.

[jackelope]

I think I've decided to find another barrel to dink around with. I'd still like to do it but I think I want to try it with more of a "spare" barrel.

[Biggerhammer]

When somebody bets you $10 to shoot a short barreled, muzzle braked gun with your mouth open, don't fall for it!

Andrew

Hahaha! Awesome...

[mountainman]

Found most of the XP's i have had over the years to be just as, if notmore accurate thena longer barreled rifle!

[Special T]

Talked to a buddy that has shortened a couple of barrels. it makes the louder, but more accurate in the "short" range because they are more stiff and barrel harmonics are less important.  I say shorten the barrel if its 300y yards or less but if you want a long rage gun you need barrel length AND proper harmonics to get the best out of velocity AND grouping. 

[kbrowne14]

According to some of the worlds best Precision long range shooting instructors.  They have come to the conclusion that a 20 inch barrel for a .30 cal of pretty much any kind is great.  The barrel harmonics are much better, less barrel whip.  If you can adjust your scope, a hundred fps doesn't matter.  The school of thought is changing, and people that have been in the business for a long time tend to have a little trouble forgetting what they have known to be right for 20 years.  If I could do these tests myself, I would, but I can't because I'm not a millionaire.

Now I heard all this through the internet from a French Model.  It has to be true.