barrel length in nosler reloading data

[KV]

Hi Nosler

It is really great with reloading data available at the website. But how is it with barrel length, 24" with standard rounds and 26" with magnum?

Could be interesting to know! - Thanks - Klaus

 

[Scott Spencer]

Excellent question!! Especially now with the prevalence of 22" barrels on rifles and the increasing number of 20" barrels. I'd love to see statistical updates using shorter barrels in Nosler 7!

 

[JD338]

KV,

If you subtract 40-50 fps/inch of barrel difference, I think you would be pretty close to real world results.

JD338

 

[3006savage]

I read an article approx 4 years ago from a gun magazine and they took a 26" barreled 7mm-08 and shot 10 rounds and averaged the velocities. They cut off one inch, recrowned and shot 10 more and averaged the velocities. They repeated the process until the barrel was 16 or 18 inches I cannot remember which.

To make a long story short it worked out to just 17 fps per inch with the greatest losses as the barrel got shorter. I was considering rebarreling my 06 with a 2" longer barrel but after reading the article I decided it was not worth it.

 

[Ol` Joe]

I don`t really think there is enough difference in a lot of cases to worry about. Then to the actual barrel can make a big difference too. I`ve 2 rifles chambered for the 260 Rem, a Kimber M84 22" bbl and a M700 24" bbl the Kimber with a 2" shorter barrel gives better velocities then the 2" longer Remington using the same reloads. I also had a 20" M7 in 7-08 a few years ago that shot within 40-50 fps of my M700 with a 24" tube. These are not apple to apple comparisons but show how much the effect the barrel has on the velocity. I would think maybe 20-30 fps/inch to be a good rule of thumb all else equal, and that could be on the high side for some cartridges. The books velocities are a good ranking to get you started and a crono is the only way to know what you are getting anyway, and IMO second guessing the book isn`t worth the effort.

 

[30-338]

One thing I've alway enjoyed about Nolser Manual from # 1 to present is the use of custom barrels. In standard calibers barrel length depending on caliber 20" to 26" mags are 24" to 26" in Manual #6.

I'm like everyone here read this and that about barrel length and loss per inch and the one time I cut a Lilja barrel my loss was so great per inch I rebarrel the rifle.

I think JD338 is alot closer on loss for a custom barrel and I won't ask how he came up with those numbers.

 

[nomosendero]

Both JD & 3006Sav is right for a given set of cartridges.


There is no 1"cookie cutter" answer to this. A 7mm-08 or more so a 308 & even more so a 358 does very well with a 20" & the loss in vel from a 26" to 20" is not bad at all, however a 257Wea, 264, etc is not that way at all. But for any round you are interested in, it is not hard to figure out if you go to MANY sourses & weed out the crap!

 

[Big Squeeze]

I read an article approx 4 years ago from a gun magazine and they took a 26" barreled 7mm-08 and shot 10 rounds and averaged the velocities. They cut off one inch, recrowned and shot 10 more and averaged the velocities. They repeated the process until the barrel was 16 or 18 inches I cannot remember which.

To make a long story short it worked out to just 17 fps per inch with the greatest losses as the barrel got shorter. I was considering rebarreling my 06 with a 2" longer barrel but after reading the article I decided it was not worth it.

.....................Similar barrel cut-downs were done by a smith (I forgot his name), where he cut the same barrels down in 1" increments in numerous chamberings including the 300 Win, 338 Win and several others and chrony`d the same loadings for each chambering after each 1" cutdown. Could be the same article??? 7/08 was included too.

For example; from the same barrel, the same loadings from 22" of barrel length, lost only 95 fps vs the same barrel at 27" from a 300 Win Mag. That`s only a 19 fps (per inch) diffference.

My own chrony results in comparing my 16.5" shorty tubed 300 WSM carbine vs two other 24" barreled 300 WSMs, gave nearly the same results using the same identical loadings. A 16.4 to a 19.5 fps for every inch of shorter tube length. Percentage wise, a total difference in velocity loss of 4.2% to 4.5%.

As I remember, all the cartridges listed and experimented with, were at or below the 25 fps per inch mark.

If there are no barrels to cut down, then one can only compare velocities to other rifles.

 

[KV]

One thing I've alway enjoyed about Nolser Manual from # 1 to present is the use of custom barrels. In standard calibers barrel length depending on caliber 20" to 26" mags are 24" to 26" in Manual #6.

I'm like everyone here read this and that about barrel length and loss per inch and the one time I cut a Lilja barrel my loss was so great per inch I rebarrel the rifle.

I think JD338 is alot closer on loss for a custom barrel and I won't ask how he came up with those numbers.

Okay, thanks, so I need to get the manual in order to find out which barrel length is used for a given caliber? I am particularly curious about 7mm rem and 300 win mag btw.

Klaus

 

[DrMike]

KV,

Both sets of data are generated using 24 inch barrels.