I recently had Hill Country Rifles start working on a custom built 7mm. Rem. Mag. for me, and I was a little suprised to find that the majority of their custom rifles are built with a 24" barrel....standard AND magnum.
I guess from a SHOOTERS perspective, something like a 26" barrel would be better simply for getting max velocity when running through a chrono.
I can also see from a HUNTERS perspective, that a 24" barrel gives "adequate" velocity and offers better rifle balance and easier handling in cramped spaces.
I currently have them splitting the difference with a 25" barrel.....but I'm REALLY thinking about going to a 24".
I personally can't tell the difference hunting with a 24" 25" or 26" rifle...
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A golf course is a willful and deliberate misuse of a perfectly good rifle range.
depends on the purpose of the gun, for a normal rifle 22-24" is fine but for my long range rigs I want long pipes, just for the velocity advantage and they are easier to shoot off a bipod.
RR
I'm not sure we're going back to 24" just more hunters like the idea of 24" over 26", I think both will remain available to hunters in the future. The guy who wants every last fps will want the 26" the guy who wants a handier lighter rifle and willing to give up 100fps or less will take a 24"
I'm sure we all wish we could shoot a 300 RUM in a 6 lbs rifle and have 1/2moa accuracy, and have it kick like a .243, for $400, but nothing is free with rifles, have to give up something to get something.
I think by the time you figure out everything about rifles you die an old man, and your wisdom will probably be lost on youth.
You won't tell any difference with just 1"...shoulda stuck with the longer tube...
__________________
I love Christmas lights. They remind me of the people who voted for Obama. They all hang together; half of them don't work, and the ones that do, aren't that bright.
For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do
not understand, no explanation is possible.
A golf course is a willful and deliberate misuse of a perfectly good rifle range.
If I was having a RUM bult, that barrel would be AT LEAST 26".....maybe 27' or 28".....but if I built a .300 Ultra, it wouldn't be for lugging around thick woods.
I know I'm going to like my rifle when it gets finished, but if I had it to do all over again, I probably would have built a .280 Rem. with a 24" barrel and an EDGE McMillan stock to shave off another 8oz. off the weight.
It looks like the total weight of the 7mm. Rem. Mag. Hill Country Rifles is building me will hover around 7 1/4 pounds un-scoped...maybe a tad under. I'm also not going to be shooting excessively long ranges. A recent trip to a 300 yard rifle range shooting at 6" steel plates from "hunting positions" was a VERY humbling experience....practice, practice, practice...lol.
I figure my 7 mag will be much handier carrying through the woods and manuvering in a box stand....and a 160gr. Nosler Accubond should still cause real issues for whatever it's aimed at even if it only came out of a 24" barrel.
Are we going back to shorter barrels in magnums?
