Barrel length??

J

Jerrschmitt

Guest
Spent the morning with my local Gunsmith designing my new long range (1000 yd) Prairie Dog rifle. It will be a 6BR 8Twist on a trued 700 action that I already own. I thought a 28 inch or so barrel would be about right but he says to go with a 24 inch. His idea is that it will be easier on the bedding with the shorter barrel due to the shorter lever length and the slight loss in velocity won't matter. Any thoughts?
 
Balanced Gun

Jerr
I believe in a balanced gun when all is said and done. I check my guns balance by balancing it on the knuckle of my trigger finger. The closer the balance to the trigger guard the better. Your smith is right 24" barrel is plenty. Sounds like a great gun for a great cartridge. Which scope have you selected.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR
 
The action is currently a 6BR .265 neck, 20 inch 14twist and wears a Leupold 6.5X20 scope and Jewell trigger. The stock is a 40X Rem. I just want to reach out to that far hillside.:)

09doghunt067.jpg
 
Barrel Length

A few years back, I had the opportunity to do an extesive test for 6mmbr.com on barrel length with the 6BR a 1-8 twist configuration. We were furnished with a special 32" blank, so we could cut it back 1/2 inch at a time to determime what barrel length was "enough", using the current crop of 105-108 grn bullets.

Velocity showed no significant drop untill we hit 28 inches. Then it started the predictable drop ratio per 1 inch removed that is pretty standard. To get the exact numbers, you can go do a search on 6mmbr.com. I think the article is still on file.

2950-3000 fps is a real good number to shoot for with a typical 105 VLD bullet. This will be very difficult to achieve with a 24" barrel without getting into pressure issues.

As for the balance issues, the extra two inches will add about 8 ounces out on the nose. Since this is not a competition Rifle, and is not constrained by weight, you can add weight at the rear to balance things out if you so choose. Stephen is right, in rifles where you are limited to a certain weight, you sometimes have to compromise barrel weight in order to keep the balance right.

As for you Gunsmith thinking a 28 inch tube is too much for a 700, there is no evidence to back that up. I would see no problem at all in hanging a 28 inch tube in HV contour off of a properly bedded 700. Why give up 2 inches of potential velocity, (this is a long rang live varmint rig, those hills look pretty far off), to rectify a problem that does not exist.

My memory might fail me on this, but I think back in the early 2000's, a 1000 yard shooter won a Nationals with straight 1 1/4 inch 30 inch barrel hanging off of a Rem 721.

I like your 40x stock. Using pillars and a proper bedding job, those big chunks of Walnut make a fine platform for a good shooting Rifle.........jackie
 
Far Hills

Jerr
Have you driven to the far hills. I would say 1200 yd. I like your scope choice I have same. I am working with my Cruisers as we speak. As of now I have 3 stocks and 2 actions to switch around. Two of my stocks are Lee Six weighted. Both are pillar bedded for my Davidson Sleeved Rem 600 Pindell balanced and blueprinted Jewell trigger Burns stainless cone bolt. I have 4 barrels all 1.35 the longest being 25". Calibers are 22 PPC(2), 6BRS and 6 PPC. The other stock is a McMillan old style magnum pillar bedded for my Wichita 1375 with 2 barrels 1.35 both 6 PPC. My 1.35 barrels and actions go on both of my Rail guns during the season. This being off season for me I look forward to shooting my tubby barrels in a bag gun format.

Scopes for me can be almost anything as I have several 36x scopes without homes. The Wichita has my Lyman 25/36x. My Rem 600 has my Leupold 36x.

How far did you say those hills were.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR
 
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You can always shorten it if you don't like how it handles/shoots.

It's hard to make a barrel longer though.

The way I see it.
 
6mmbr barrel length

I have a 28" barrel on my 6mmbr. Its a Rem 700 glued in a MAK tubegun. I don't have any problems.
 
Do you think a 6BR is the best choice for reaching those far hills (1000 yards)?? I'd choose something that burns a bit more powder.
 
First I want to thank everyone for the great replies. I say great not just because they agree with me but because I have a lot ot respect for the opinions of the members of this forum.

Unseen in the photo above is a dirt road and along the edge of that road are a thousand or so Prairie Dog holes. Google Earth marks the center of them at 915 yards. The hills behind are just about 1200 yards as Stephen said. On our last trip we were shooting from 835 to 915 yards. The really hard part is judging the range. Well, that and judging the wind. And of course the mirage gets pretty wicked. Now that I think about it, it's impossible.

As a youngster, I shot ground squirrels in the San Gabriel canyon and out around Hemet / Perris area of California. Back then (Mid 1950) a 200 yard shot was something to brag about and a Mauser action with a Douglas 22-250bull barrel and Canjar trigger was the ultimate in Custom rifles. Boy how the equipment has changed.



Mikeshot2.jpg
 
6mm BR versus 6 X 47 lapua

I spend 2 weeks a year long range PD shooting. I migrated all of my 6MM BR's to 6x47 lapua's for the velocity difference. Way easier to make the desired velocity with the 6x47. It's basically a long BR. I really had to step on the BR hard to get the desired velocity and was never comfortable with the pressures.

BTW - 105 bergers and 105 amax's are not good prairie dog bullets. Jackets are too thick. Not humane at distance. Pencil holes them and they require follow up shots to kill.

I now use the 80 gr BT Sierra or 85 flatbase gr Sierra bullets that are varmint specific. I use a 8 twist with them and they shoot well and tear up the PD's. Imr 4350 or reloader 19. I will try some reloader 17 this year and see if I call get better velocity withoput losing accuracy.

My 2 cents, after been there, done that.
 
6mm BR versus 6 X 47 lapua

I spend 2 weeks a year long range PD shooting. I migrated all of my 6MM BR's to 6x47 lapua's for the velocity difference. Way easier to make the desired velocity with the 6x47. It's basically a long BR. I really had to step on the BR hard to get the desired velocity and was never comfortable with the pressures.

BTW - 105 bergers and 105 amax's are not good prairie dog bullets. Jackets are too thick. Not humane at distance. Pencil holes them and they require follow up shots to kill.

I now use the 80 gr BT Sierra or 85 flatbase gr Sierra bullets that are varmint specific. I use a 8 twist with them and they shoot well and tear up the PD's. Imr 4350 or reloader 19. I will try some reloader 17 this year and see if I call get better velocity withoput losing accuracy.

If you use a .272 neck you won't have to turn the brass (with either case)

My 2 cents, after been there, done that.
 
What I did for my last Rem 700 LR rifle in 240 NMC was to spec the Kreiger blank with an additional two inches of full diameter on the breach end going into a medium Palma contour ending at 28" when done. I would have gone 30" if used only for prone, but this was also used for XTC position shooting. The extra two inches of breach will allow me to chop the chamber off completely and get a pretty good throat again after 2500 rounds or so. We'll see. I'll loose a little velocity for the 1000yd line at 26 inches, but there will be plenty of steam left for the 600 yds line and the occasional far off varmint. The extra weight on the breach did not affect the overall balance of the rifle, but I already had some lead in the back.
 
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