How short can a 270 barrel be?

woodybr549

Does anyone have an idea how short a 270 barrel can be and remain accurate? I want to have mine cut down.

roysclockgun

First off, the shorter the barrel the less you will be able to take advantage of optimum muzzle velocity, which translates into flatter trajectory, which means that you will have to worry less about bullet drop over a longer range.
I would not want a rifle in .270Win shorter then 22". With a 22" barrel you can still expect to make nearly every shot presented in hunting situations that you would using a longer barrel, but you must expect to lose out on those long shots that a 26" barrel can provide when loaded to its' highest, accuracy and MV.
A 20" barrel used with .270Win is something that would work, but I would load reduced loads to use in a barrel that short. Full power loads for .270Win will create a tremendous muzzle blast in a 20" barrel. 18" for .270Win.? I don't know. I am sure that same has been done, but then to what end? Maybe for a big boom hand gun with reduced loads, just to shoot for fun.

MIKE WISKEY

accuracy has nothing to do with barrel lenght (velocity, muzzel blast, sight radius do). you could have a 16" barreled .270 and shoot one hole groups, but I wouldn't want to shoot it. T/C has many short barrels for the contender pistol in rifle calibers that are very accurate. As a general rule you will lose about 50 fps vel. for every inch of barrel you cut off.

woodybr549

I shoot a Ruger bolt action with a 22" Barrel. I know that Ruger builds 270's with 20" and the International has an 18" barrel. I was considering going shorter on mine to make it more handy. I would not consider anything shorter than 18" if that. I figured if they built an 18" rifle in 270 then it must shoot accurately. I know that I would lose some velocity. Thankyou for your responses.

nononsense

woody,

Mike has the right answer to short barrels. Having a short barrel will be more of a problem only if you're using iron sights. I think what's worse though is the muzzle blast from this cartridge and others that are similar. The .270 has a small bore cross section with a fairly large case capacity behind it. This is usually a situation that calls for a longer barrel in order to accommodate the burning of the charge inside the barrel where is can do some good. The longer barrel also puts the discharge blast further from your face and ears and since so many insist on hunting without ear protection, the longer barrel is a big plus.

Bear in mind that shortening your barrel will change the center of gravity and you'll notice a shift in the balance of the rifle. Along with the change in balance there will be a change in the harmonics of the barrel or how the barrel responds to your current loads and any future loads that you have to work up. In essence there will be a change in POI and group size based on how the barrel vibrates. There is no guarantee that the hole in the barrel will be in the middle of the barrel at the point you want to cut it off, therefore the crown will be assymetrical which can be responsible for a lack of accuracy based on how the gases leave the muzzle around and behind the bullet.

I am not against short barrels, quite the contrary when a rifle has been developed with the purpose of having a short barrel such as the military short carbines, for which I have a definite soft spot. The stutzen style is one of my all time favorites.

Last:

"I figured if they built an 18" rifle in 270 then it must shoot accurately."

Please don't take offense but don't ever presume that just because a manufacturer does something (shorten a barrel) that it will result in accuracy or a better firearm. In most situations their decisions are based on saving money not on improving the accuracy. Case in point is the entire Mini-14 program which at its best is inconsistant and at its worst is incredibly inaccurate and a real waste of money.