I was thinking about getting a Savage model 10FP-LE1. That is the tactical model with the 20" barrel. I wanted to know if any of you had chrono'd rounds out of a 20" barrel and compared the velocity with the 24" barrel. I know that the .308 Winchester doesn't burn a ton of powder, and that means it doesn't NEED a mile long barrel to get up to speed, but I have no experience with a 20" barrel. Any advice is appreciated.

you might lose 50-75'/sec going from a 24" to a 20" barrel.

I do no that the 14 inch Encore with a 14 inch barrel can produce 2700 FPS. I get about the same velocity with the same load in my 22 inch Browning A Bolt. I can however get about 150 FPS more from slower burning loads in the 22 inch barrel.

So you guys don't think that I will lose that much power? I will only be taking shots 100 yards and in with this rifle, but I don't like the idea of losing too much oomph.

I forgot. I had a 600 Remington and I believe they just had an 18 1/2 inch barrel. I had no problem with that gun even out to 250 yards or so. It was a 308 as well. Somewhere Here I have chronograph info on that rifle. I will see if I can find it. If I can the loads would be listed as well.

I found the old book. I have two sets of readings for it. One load is the Nosler solid base. Five shots. Hi shot was 2805, Lo shot was 2754. Extreme spread 51 FPS This was a 150 grain bullet.

The second load was the Nosler Ballistic tip. Five shots Hi shot 2900 fps, Lo shot 2855. Extreme spread 45 fps. 150 grain bullet.

Both loads were with IMR 4064. 47.0 grains WW LR Standard Primer. WW Brass. These loads were safe in that rifle but should be approached with caution in another rifle. I can't recall the barrel length of the 600 Rem but it was short. Either 18 1/2 or 20 inch. Maybe someone with a better memory than me can tell you for sure. These loads are from an old Hornady Manual. I would quess that the new manuals are a bit more conservative.

model 600 has the 18.5 barrel on the .308 same as the older model 7.i dont think velosity loss is that much. i was told on the .308 it burns all its powder in 18 inces.
why did you sell the 600?

That is good news for me. I wanted to put together a bench rest style rifle for hunting from a blind, and I thought that the 20" barrel would handle really nicely in the confines of the blind. I also wanted a really accurate rifle, which I think that this will be, because a lot of my shots come in some pretty dense woods, where sometimes you only have ahole the size of a pack of cigarettes to shoot through. I am also looking for a good low power scope, but something with a fairly large objective lens. If anyone knows of a scope that fits this description, please let me know. I have seen several 4x40mm scopes, but I can never seem to find a 2.5x40mm rifle, which I think would be better. Alright, enough about my ramblings. Back to work.

Well I quess I sold it just because I was in my try everything phase. To try a new gun, I usually had to do some trading. It was a fine rifle but worth to much for me to keep. In the years before the Mosel Seven came out the 600 Rem's brought top dollar from people wanting to build ultra light rifles. I have never been without a 308 or two since I started buying guns. Its a great caliber and a big time over achiever. There isn't much in North America that can't be taken with the 308.

It always sucks when you have to sell a nice rifle to get money to purchase an unproven rifle. Fortunately for me, I don't have to do that anymore, but I remember what it was like and it sucks!