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
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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.