300 Win Barrel Length Recomendations

[chukarchaser]

I am going to build a 300 win on a pre 64 action and am looking for barrel length and contour input.   I was leaning towards 26" with a medium contour.   

Any input on the trade offs between length and contour would be appreciated. 

I want accurate yet still fast handling when in the field.

[dreadi]

Suppressed?


BLACK HAMMER ARMS
07/02 NFA Dealer

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[Caseknife]

26" medium contour doesn't sound fast handling to me, chop it down to 22" and it would handle better.

[jrebel]

What are you wanting to do with this rifle?   

24” with a break for a finished barrel of 26 inches.  26” with break puts you at 28” finished.   I wouldn’t go less than 24 in that cartridge but I like to maximize velocities.   

What twist??   I would be looking at a 1:8 or 1:9.  Contour would be dictated by rifle use and weight as well.  Medium or standard hunter contour maybe with some fluting. 

[Sneaky]

shorter barrels can be even more accurate than longer ones as they are by nature more rigid. That being said, you do lose out on some velocity. 22-26" are probably the best choice in that cartridge. It all depends on what you want to mainly do with the rifle. I have a CA ridgeline FFT 300wm and with the 22" barrel it feels just right to me. Adding a 7" suppressor it starts to feel pretty long and would be unmanageable if it were a 24-26" barrel to start with.

As others have stated, go with a faster twist if you can so you can be sure to stablize modern high BC projectiles.

[chukarchaser]

The rifle will be a primary hunting gun. I am past the point of extreme mountain hunting but I still put my miles in.  I will not put a suppressor on it and do not want to go over 26 inches I plan to shoot 180 or 190 grain bullets. Something along the line of the nosler accubond long range.

Thank you guys for responding. I appreciate it.

[Taco280AI]

24" #3 (for most barrel makers)

[jrebel]

The rifle will be a primary hunting gun. I am past the point of extreme mountain hunting but I still put my miles in.  I will not put a suppressor on it and do not want to go over 26 inches I plan to shoot 180 or 190 grain bullets. Something along the line of the nosler accubond long range.

Thank you guys for responding. I appreciate it.

Put a 1:8 twist barrel and shoot the 168 grain HHT Hammer hunter at 3500 fps.  Maybe faster….what a killer load that would make.

[JWBINX]

Just stick with the 26" for .300 Win mag.
If you consider 22", just buy a 30-06.

[zwickeyman]

24" #3 (for most barrel makers)

    And its a good compromise between the 22" and 26" barrel. My 300WM has a 26" barrel and the length has never bothered me but I dont rifle hunt westside brush

[b23]

The rifle will be a primary hunting gun. I am past the point of extreme mountain hunting but I still put my miles in.  I will not put a suppressor on it and do not want to go over 26 inches I plan to shoot 180 or 190 grain bullets. Something along the line of the nosler accubond long range.

Thank you guys for responding. I appreciate it.

Put a 1:8 twist barrel and shoot the 168 grain HHT Hammer hunter at 3500 fps.  Maybe faster….what a killer load that would make.

3500 may be a little optimistic, by a couple hundred fps, in a 300 Winnie even with a 26in tube.  Curious, why would you use an 8tw when Hammer themselves says those 168 HHT's are fully stable with an 11tw??

I'm not a big fan of skinny barrels so a Bartlein #3 or 3B is about as small as I go and something 22-24 in length, especially if you put a brake on it, is a good length.

[Magnum_Willys]

For hunting a 24” with brake in a Bartlein 2B or Benchmark #3 makes a nice carry rifle.   If you are shooting over 500 yards bump to 26” 

[jrebel]

The rifle will be a primary hunting gun. I am past the point of extreme mountain hunting but I still put my miles in.  I will not put a suppressor on it and do not want to go over 26 inches I plan to shoot 180 or 190 grain bullets. Something along the line of the nosler accubond long range.

Thank you guys for responding. I appreciate it.

Put a 1:8 twist barrel and shoot the 168 grain HHT Hammer hunter at 3500 fps.  Maybe faster….what a killer load that would make.

3500 may be a little optimistic, by a couple hundred fps, in a 300 Winnie even with a 26in tube.  Curious, why would you use an 8tw when Hammer themselves says those 168 HHT's are fully stable with an 11tw??

I'm not a big fan of skinny barrels so a Bartlein #3 or 3B is about as small as I go and something 22-24 in length, especially if you put a brake on it, is a good length.

Two reasons for the 1:8 (and these are just my opinions), especially for the hammers. 

1.  You can't over spin the hammers and the faster twist generally gives you a higher stability factor.  Hammers thrive with a 1.5 or higher stability factor. 
2.  With the 1:8 you can easily go to the 180gr + heavy mono's without a worry, giving you options. 

Yeah, 3500 may be optimistic with the 168, but likely doable.  People are pushing the 154 at 3500-3600 out of 26" barrels, so my bet it it can be done.  I am getting 3100 fps out of a 300 wsm with a 24" barrel and the 300 wm will typically outrun the wsm by 10+% in my experience.  I would say you could comfortably get 3400 and change out of the pill.  Take a look at the reloading data on their website and you can see what a few are getting. 

[Karl Blanchard]

Barrel length just all depends on how far you want to shoot. Pick. Bullet, figure out what min impact velocity you need for reliable upset then go from there. A 180 at 2900fps will get you out to about 700 yards depending on environmentals. Easily achievable with a 22" barrel.

[Gentrys]

Are you putting a suppressor on it?  My 26" 300WM is stupid-long supressed.

[Karl Blanchard]

Are you putting a suppressor on it?  My 26" 300WM is stupid-long supressed.

he stated no suppressor.

[chukarchaser]

Thanks for all the responses.  I am going to go with a 24" standard weight ,  Does nayone have thoughts on Douglas Premium barrels?

[b23]

Thanks for all the responses.  I am going to go with a 24" standard weight ,  Does anyone have thoughts on Douglas Premium barrels?

My dad had an old guy in the Dalles Oregon that built him numerous rifles from the mid 60's to the early 80's and Douglas Premium barrels was pretty much all that smith used on his builds and they all seemed to shoot very well.  I believe their barrels cost a little less than many of the other barrels out there like Bartlien, Krieger, Hart, etc. so they could save you some money over some of the others.  Douglas barrels aren't very popular out here in the western US but they're used considerably more in the eastern part of the country.

It's my own personal thing but I always have an issue with any barrel maker that sells different "grades" of barrels.  Shilen has different grades too and I have a Shilen on my 6.5-284 that shoots great but even though I've never been burned by it I'm just not a big fan of barrel companies that sell different barrel grades.

There's a barrel company here in Spokane that many aren't even aware of that makes a really good cut rifling barrel at a very competitive price you may want to take a look at by the name of ACE Barrels.  I was at their shop a few months ago and they seemed like nice folks.  I have one of their 6.5 barrels I'll be using for a 6.5PRC build.  You can buy from them direct or go through one of their dealers.  Unknown Munitions and Red Hawk Rifles usually have a pretty good inventory of ACE barrels on hand.

https://www.acebarrels.com/

https://www.unknownmunitions.com/product/ace-barrels/

https://redhawkrifles.com/barrels/#/filter:brand:AceBarrels$2520Co

[chukarchaser]

Thank you b23