To cut or not to cut?

ninepointer

I have a nice shooting Rem 760 rifle in .308 with a 22" barrel. I'm thinking of cutting the barrel back to 19" to make it into a carbine.

The gun will be used for eastern whitetails and most shots will be between 20-80 yards, although the occasional 200 yard shot cannot be ruled out (3 years ago I killed a buck at 180 yards across a beaver pond). The gun will be used on stands as well as for dogging on deer drives.

What, if anything might I suffer in terms or accuracy, etc. if I have a smith cut the barrel?

Ninepointer

charliemeyer007

If it shoots good now it might not shorter. Is 3 inches going to make it a lot more handy in the woods? Spend your money for ammo or reloading equipment or another gun. my 2cents

ern98

Overall bullet velosity is the primary loss, approx 25 to 50fps per inch is the usual approxamation for these situations depending on the barrel. Accuracy may improve if the bore has been damaged from years of cleaning from the muzzel and the smith does a good job on cutting the new crown. I have a 19.5" full length stock M98 in 7x57mauser. Because of the loss of velosity issue I shoot 150g or heavier bullets in it because heavier bullets retain whatever energy they have better then light bullets. So if you do cut it look into shooting 30cal 165g or 180g bullets rather then 150g.

He Dog

I would think the obvious solution is to keep it as is and buy a carbine.

DENWA

Cut it off! go to 18" you won't miss the velocity at sub 200 yds and many people find that the new crown cut on the barrel makes for new life in accuracy.

Besides it your gun, you'll love it when its done. Much more handy when holding a beer and shooting out the window!

RCrosby

My 2 cents:
Just one more modification of limited usefulness other than reducing the resale value when the time comes to trade up (or over) to something else. At those ranges you wouldn't notice the loss in velocity, but I'm not sure the 3 inch difference in barrel length would be all that noticable either. That said, all else being equal, it shouldn't hurt accuracy if done properly.

ninepointer

quote:Originally posted by DENWA
Cut it off! go to 18" you won't miss the velocity at sub 200 yds and many people find that the new crown cut on the barrel makes for new life in accuracy.

Besides it your gun, you'll love it when its done. Much more handy when holding a beer and shooting out the window!


18.5 inches is as short as we're allowed to go here in Canada on a Non-Restricted gun[:(]

B17-P51

I had one of those (carbines) years ago and am still crying about it. Cut it off and enjoy. There is no better PA deer gun than a 760 anything, especially a .308.

savage170

I have one in 280 Rem very handy in ground blind.

5mmgunguy

I vote on the do not cut side. It will cost money and it will not help resale value.

sandwarrior

The only thing you are going to lose is velocity of the bullet and value of the gun. You're not going to gain anything by cutting that little bit of the barrel off.