# cutting 243 Barrel from 22 to 20 inches ?



## bcraig (Jan 11, 2012)

Thinking about cutting a Remington 7600 243 Barrel back from 22 inches to 20 inches. Wonder how much Velocity loss would there would be with the Barnes Factory loaded 80 Grain TTSX ? and About how much Weight would be lost?

Craig


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## killitgrillit (Jan 11, 2012)

Nothing you or whatever your shooting at would notice the difference


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## chuckdog (Jan 12, 2012)

I don't think it will make any noticeable difference in the weight?

It will make it handier to handle in tight areas. Shortening the barrel will effect the smaller bore .243 velocity a bit more than it's larger kin .308.

You won't likely lose more 100fps with most ammo.


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## boneboy96 (Jan 12, 2012)

But you will lose 2 inches!


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## miles58 (Jan 12, 2012)

boneboy96 said:


> But you will lose 2 inches!



He'll likely lose more'n 2 inches do I catch him cutting on that barrel.  I sold him the gun.  It's a nice, light, quick 243 that's very accurate.

Craig!  Pay attention!  It works pretty bleeping good as it is why would you want to risk making it a PITA rifle?

Dave


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## bcraig (Jan 13, 2012)

miles58 said:


> He'll likely lose more'n 2 inches do I catch him cutting on that barrel.  I sold him the gun.  It's a nice, light, quick 243 that's very accurate.
> 
> Craig!  Pay attention!  It works pretty bleeping good as it is why would you want to risk making it a PITA rifle?
> 
> Dave


My bad Dave .what was I thinking?
Will you forgive me?

Craig


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## miles58 (Jan 13, 2012)

First rule of good tinkering:  Either have way more money than you need or don't tinker with the parts that're working right.

Sometimes it's easy to fall into a trap of thinking something like you are.  Hmmm... 20 inches would be handyier in the thick stuff.  If you don't stop to think about how a nice quick shotgun for in the thick stuff usually has a 26 inch barrel, that first thought seems so much better.

I will say that if you just gotta tinker, for just under $250 I replaced a bad barrel on a rifle very similar to what you have.  It took two months time start to finish.  Supposedly if you're lucky it can be done in a month.  I got a good barrel, very accurate.  Be advised though that you could as well get one that shoots 3 inch groups and Remington will tell you they don't guarantee any better accuracy.

Dave


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## rayjay (Jan 13, 2012)

Take a tape measure and hold your thumb at the the 2" hash mark and then try and convince yourself that removing that length of bbl is going to make a dramatic improvement. 

 4" or 6" ? Heck yeah, much less likely to get snagged in brush. Then of course the performance loss is substantial and the muzzle blast becomes even more of a hearing killer.


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## Buzz (Jan 13, 2012)

I have a 20" barreled youth rifle in .243 Winchester.   It gets about 2730 fps with 100g Factory ammo spec'd loads.   Same load in my 24" barreled CDL goes 2940 fps.     My 80g TTSX handloads do 3230 in my 20" barrel and 3440 in the 24" tube.     

I'd venture to say you'd lose about 100 fps.     However, what rayjay mentioned is muzzle blast.     My 20" barreled .243 has a surprising amount of muzzle blast.   To the point I find it unpleasant.  The 24" tube has far less.    I'd leave it alone.

I might be going against the grain here but I'm just not into real short barrels.   I often hear people talk about getting longer barrels hung up or snagged in the woods.  Several of my rifles have 24" barrels and one has a 26" tube and I can't really say I hang it up any worse than I do my my shorter barreled rifles.   If it's that thick it's just not that fun to deal with 20" or 24".


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## bcraig (Jan 13, 2012)

My mind was just wandering I suppose . Thanks Guys for bringing me back to reality !

Craig


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## LRanger007 (Jan 14, 2012)

Many accurate rifles  have been destroyed by cutting barrels by persons that do not understand how to properly re-crown them.  The crown of a barrel is perhaps the most important part when it comes to accuracy.  If the bullet dosen't leave the barrel straight, accuracy is gone.


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## the r.o.c. (Jan 31, 2012)

x2 what 007 is saying.  if the barrel is not crowned it will more than likely start splitting.  its just me, but why would you cut 2" off?


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