Looking at a few Remington 700's. Primarily will be shot out to 600 yards. Want a compact package. How short would you go? 16",18", 20"? Was considering the AAC-SD or XCR Compact.
Looking at a few Remington 700's. Primarily will be shot out to 600 yards. Want a compact package. How short would you go? 16",18", 20"? Was considering the AAC-SD or XCR Compact.
I'd go with 18" but 16" will do what you need of it.
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My wife ended up with a 16 inch barrel .308 bolt rifle in scout configuration, after cutting off the ported end of her barrel. It was pretty loud, and not appreciably handier than when it was 18. I have several in 18 inches, and that seemed a good compromise between portability and velocity. Barrel taper plays a role, as I often hunt with a lighter taper 22 inch barrel bolt, and find they handles well.
Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
I had a 20" (R&D Precision) and I shot it with a a Ti can (threaded). It was quite a handy rifle, and with 155s Scenars, I didn't really notice the reduced velocity inside of 600Y.
Will you shoot suppressed? Will you load your own?
20" is the lowest I would personally go if I only had one rifle...because you never know how long you will eventually stretch it out to. 20" still gives a 175 enough rear end to get to 1k (marginally, and dependent upon your load), and that bullet transitions to subsonic quite well. If you load your own, then you can get a 20" to perform similar to a 22" with factory ammo, at least in my experience. I ran a 308 for a few years in competition, and went 20" with a Rock 11-ish twist, and was sending 155's Scenars at 2850 with 8208xbr, which gave me plenty of supersonic room to 1k, especially in the summer.
My point is that of the above barrel lengths that you offered, 20" gives you the most flexibility. That said, I'm building an 18" 308, on a KMW Sentinel stock, as a "go to" rifle to always have with me in the vehicle. It'll be stoked with 155 Palma's as fast as is safely and accurately possible.
The Marines thought 18" was fine for a bolt gun: http://stevereicherttraining.com/darpa-xm3
With the newest research on external ballistics, we know that if a 1/8 or faster twist is used, the Mk316 175 SMK fired from a 16" barrel will not have transonic stability issues until well after 1000 yds. As a result, I would vote for a 16.5" barrel with a 1/8 or faster twist as a versatile, handy, and suppressable bolt gun. Of course at this stage, I'd probably just go with a 16" semi-auto with a 1/8 or faster twist and call it a day...
Facts matter...Feelings Can Lie
The 16" AAC-SD i'm considering is 1/10, how do you think that would work given my most likely not ever shooting this rifle past 600 yards ( and mostly in the 300-400 range)? I will eventually handload for it and my suppress it down the road.Originally Posted by DocGKR
1/10 will be fine at that range. However, I will NEVER purchase another custom .308 rifle with less than a 1/8 twist.
Facts matter...Feelings Can Lie
Thanks.
Although I agree with 18" 308s in principle, the XM3s were a huge boondoggle and not at all universally liked by the Scout Snipers.
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