I have shot the 300 RUM with 24, 26 and 30" barrels. Also the 30-378 with 26, 28 and 30" barrels. The 30" barrel was the better ballistic performer by a wide margin for both cartridges. In the 300 RUM the difference between the 24 and 26" barrels with 190 and 220 and 240 gr MKs was 125 - 175 fps. The difference in muzzle blast and recoil was very noticeable to the shooter and the bystanders (rifles shot side by side with same load). The 30" barrel produced 250 - 325 fps more velocity than the 24" barrel. The same manufacure and type of barrels were used on each rifle. That's why I stated to get the longer 26" barrel and preferably a 28 - 30" barrel.

BTW; Remington having 3 different load levels for the 300 RUM should tell you something. If I wanted a 30-06 I'd probably use one (actually I have 7 of them, 5 with 24" barrels). Anyone with a 300 RUM is also going to have a crew served scope on it. Now is that really a rifle you are going to take into thick brush after a white tail? Or is it a specialty long range rifle for open country? If you answer the question correctly then you'll get the longer barrel and do justice to the cartridge.

Larry Gibson

Larry, that sure hasnt been my findings with 165 and 180 gr bullets.
I would have to look at my notes, but If I remember correctly the velocity difference between 24" and 26" barrel with 165 AB's was 75fps. As for noise, any gun torching off a 100grs of powder is loud and 2" of barrel doesnt amount to a hill of beans. But for arguments sake lets say you did lose 125fps as you suggested. You still have a gun that has more stomp than a 300 weatherby and with a shorter tube. This isnt a bad place to be.
For a hunting rig a 28"+ barrel just isnt practical IMO>
A 24" tube balances nice, doesnt give up much performance and is a little more compact.

BTW Larry Its nice to have someone reply thats actually BTDT instead of just speculating. I appreciate someone like that.

quote:

Originally posted by Doc:

quote:

Originally posted by Ben Walker:

quote:

Originally posted by Doc:

quote:

Originally posted by Ben Walker:
Has anyone thats posted on this thread naysaying actually shot/owned a 24" 300 RUM?

No, bc I think it is pointless. If I wanted a 24" bbl on a 300 it would be a WSM or the WM. I prefer the extra 4" of bore. When I had that Shilen installed, I asked about different bbl lengths. They told me not to go with shorter than 26" and highly recommended 28".

With all due respect the original poster didnt ask for oppinion, but fact. You have no experience with the question at hand, so why respond?
And a 300 rum with a 24" barrel will get 32-3250fps with a 180 gr bullet. Mine does this with both handloads below max and with Remmy factroy ammo. This is about 250fps faster than my 300 win mags with factory ammo. This is a far cry from a 30-06 as one of the peanut gallery commented.

Ok, fine. Here's fact: he'd be paying money to a gunsmith to shorten a good barrel, recrown it, just to lose velocity. And the benefit is???? ...a tad lighter rifle. Here's more fact: he could save his money, and get used to having 2 more inches to carry around. Or, he could pay the money to shorten his barrel by 2" so it will be to his satisfaction like his other rifles.

Also, I replied to the thread because I felt like it.

Finally, I didn't see where the OP wrote: "I only want responses from people who actually own or shoot a 300 RUM with a 24" barrel."

Is that better?

The original poster stated he didnt like 26" tubes and asked what would happen if he shortened the tube he had. Pretty simple.
Wouldnt it make sense since you actually dont know what will happen to just not comment?

quote:

Originally posted by Ben Walker:
The original poster stated he didnt like 26" tubes and asked what would happen if he shortened the tube he had. Pretty simple.
Wouldnt it make sense since you actually dont know what will happen to just not comment?

So what you are saying is that the facts that I posted are incorrect. If he shortens the bbl he will not lose velocity, he will not have to pay someone to do it....I agree, this is simple, so I struggle to see what your problem is.

Tell me, did you cut your barrel down from 26" to 24? If so, great. If not, then you don't know what would happen either, right? You're speculating too right? Because since you are insistent on laying down the criteria from the OP, then you MUST have shortened your bbl from 26 to 24 also, otherwise, you are not qualified to answer his question either. Your only knowledge would be from start to finish with a 24" barrel, which does not meet OP criteria either.

Let it go, I didn't post anything inaccurate and you know it.

quote:

Its nice to have someone reply thats actually BTDT instead of just speculating. I appreciate someone like that.

Having BTDT has nothing to do with ones ability to understand the laws of physics or even calculate the consequences mathamatically.

As a matter of fact having actually done it once can lead to seriously errored results.

I actually cut a barrel from 26" to 19" once and gained velocity....does this mean it's going to happen like this all the time?

Thinking that someone else opinion is wrong because it doesn't agree with yours is

Thinking your having BTDT makes you an expert is also

quote:

Originally posted by Ben Walker:
BTW Larry Its nice to have someone reply thats actually BTDT instead of just speculating. I appreciate someone like that.

Whatever. Do you think all barrels perform the same? You can take several 300 RUM rifles with different bbls of the same length, factory, custom, whatever configuration you want and get different velocities.

Out of the many 270s I've shot with 20 to 26" barrels, I've seen as much as 180 fps with 2 extra inches of bbl. with the same loads. I've not personally experienced a velocity gain with shortening a bbl.

quote:

Originally posted by Doc:

quote:

Originally posted by Ben Walker:
The original poster stated he didnt like 26" tubes and asked what would happen if he shortened the tube he had. Pretty simple.
Wouldnt it make sense since you actually dont know what will happen to just not comment?

So what you are saying is that the facts that I posted are incorrect. If he shortens the bbl he will not lose velocity, he will not have to pay someone to do it....I agree, this is simple, so I struggle to see what your problem is.

Tell me, did you cut your barrel down from 26" to 24? If so, great. If not, then you don't know what would happen either, right? You're speculating too right? Because since you are insistent on laying down the criteria from the OP, then you MUST have shortened your bbl from 26 to 24 also, otherwise, you are not qualified to answer his question either. Your only knowledge would be from start to finish with a 24" barrel, which does not meet OP criteria either.

Let it go, I didn't post anything inaccurate and you know it.

I did indeed shorten the a 300 rum barrel from 26 to 24" and I did indeed shot it both before and after.
And I have had other 24" 300 rum barrels.
There fore I am qualified to comment on this.

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:

quote:

Its nice to have someone reply thats actually BTDT instead of just speculating. I appreciate someone like that.

Having BTDT has nothing to do with ones ability to understand the laws of physics or even calculate the consequences mathamatically.

As a matter of fact having actually done it once can lead to seriously errored results.

I actually cut a barrel from 26" to 19" once and gained velocity....does this mean it's going to happen like this all the time?

Thinking that someone else opinion is wrong because it doesn't agree with yours is

Thinking your having BTDT makes you an expert is also

Sure it can, but as it pertains to this thread it might be a good idea to have actual experience with something before making some of the claims made in this thread.
To reiterate, the original poster stated he didnt care for 24" barrels and was wondering how much velocity would be lost by cutting off 2". He didnt ask for anyones oppinion on wether he should do it, but simply wanted to know how much effect 2" would have. I have actually done this and have had several 24" 300 rum barrels under my belt so I commented. Other than Larry Gibson I am unsure and why anyone else in this thread commented.

quote:

Originally posted by Ben Walker:
I did indeed shorten the a 300 rum barrel from 26 to 24" and I did indeed shot it both before and after. And I have had other 24" 300 rum barrels. There fore I am qualified to comment on this.

You mean "therefore."

Like I posted, if you have, then great. All hail Ben Walker, for he is the only one qualified to reply to this entire thread other than Larry!

I'm grateful that such a qualified person took the time to respond so many times on this thread. Before he shared his knowledge I was in blissful ignorance and simply thought that a shortened barrel 300 RUM would lose velocity, have increased muzzle blast, and wouldn't take advantage of the truckload of powder being burnt. My experience with other cartridges surely wouldn't apply to the 300 RUM. I now realize that Remington was merely wasting steel when it made the barrel 26". Heck, maybe I'll get a 22" 300 RUM and I'll have a real whiz-bang of a rifle.

quote:

Originally posted by Ben Walker:
To reiterate, the original poster stated he didnt care for 24" barrels

No, he stated he didn't care for 26" barrel.

quote:

and was wondering how much velocity would be lost by cutting off 2".

No, he never mentioned velocity once in his post.

quote:

He didnt ask for anyones oppinion on wether he should do it, but simply wanted to know how much effect 2" would have.

"opinion," "whether"

quote:

I have actually done this and have had several 24" 300 rum barrels under my belt so I commented. Other than Larry Gibson I am unsure and why anyone else in this thread commented.

Wow, this is a truly remarkable statement that infers that you are some sort of expert because you have BTDT, and no one else should reply because they didn't cut off 2" of metal ON A 300 RUM. Ultimately, you are saying that someone has to actually do something and experience it to be qualified to comment on it. What a pompous ass.

I'll be sure to tell my friends that since they didn't actually write the medical journal articles they read, then they cannot possibly understand them....you know because you actually have to be the doc DOING the double blind clinical trial to have any KNOWLEDGE about it.

All hail God-King Ben.

Original post:

quote:

I just got a Remington XCR II in 300 RUM with a 26 inch barrel and was wondering what would happen if I have a gunsmith cut 2 inches off of the barel? all of my other rifles have 24 inch or 22 inch barells.just dont like the extra 2 inches

By the way, to you other intelligent and experienced members who have done plenty of barrel length testing in OTHER calibers, such as myself with the 270, I hope you all understand that this makes no difference at all because the 300RUM is a "special" caliber and you actually have to play with it in order to know anything as it pertains to this thread.

Carry on...

quote:

Originally posted by Tom S:
I just got a Remington XCR II in 300 RUM with a 26 inch barrel and was wondering what would happen if I have a gunsmith cut 2 inches off of the barel? all of my other rifles have 24 inch or 22 inch barells.just dont like the extra 2 inches

For the record....here's the original thread post

Yep, see above. I reposted it too.

quote:

Originally posted by Ben Walker:
...I am unsure and why anyone else in this thread commented.

I posted because I've shot a bunch of them. Don't really give a rip if you like it or not.

As to the Velocity loss, as Doc and Vapo have said, it is pure speculation about what one barrel will do when changing the length, or what the Velocity is of a certain length to begin with. So, a "guess" in this situation is as good as any minor experience you might have.

The best way I've found to "guesstimate" Velocity on ANY barrel is to look at a few Manuals, select the SAFE MAX Velocities with the same Powder, Average those Velocities and then reduce that amount by 150-200fps. Then if you really desire to know what will happen when cutting off a barrel, you can also estimate it by Reducing the previous "guessed at" Velocity by 1% for each inch of barrel reduction.

And of course a person can always use a pretty much worthless chronograph and cut the barrel off an inch at a time to what ever length they desire. Then put a new barrel on, on which the Velocity will be different, and do it all over as many times as they desire. Which gets back to the original question.

Once you have your "own Board", you can then control who posts and who doesn't. Until then, I'll continue to post on whatever threads I desire to post on and if you do not like it - tough.

I don't think I have seen more response to a simple question on this forum before. The .300 RUM is a great cartridge. As the response shows, it has a wide range of uses. I prefer the 24" barrel for balance and carry in a hunting rifle. The .300 RUM will perform great in that configuration. In a long range gun, 26" isn't enough, you should be around 30". I think intended use should dictate the barrel lenght. It can be a great all round rifle.

Just to stir the pot a little, I'm going to build a .338 Edge with a 24" barrel just to see how it will perform. The same reason I built a .338 Fed. with a 1-9 twist. By the way that worked great........Tom

quote:

Originally posted by Tapper2:
Just to stir the pot a little, I'm going to build a .338 Edge with a 24" barrel just to see how it will perform.

To each his own. I have no problem if someone wants a 24" bbl on a rifle to make it more handy. I just think it is pointless when the caliber can do quite a bit better. Just curious though, why go with a 24 right off the bat? You could play by starting out with a longer bbl, say, 27" and shorten it if not happy.

quote:

originally posted by Ben Walker: For a hunting rig a 28"+ barrel just isnt practical IMO

So, here you are offering your opinion, and yet, no one asked you for it. I can't wait to hear why it's ok for you to give your opinion on a thread when no one asked for it, yet that standard isn't ok for everyone else. My 28" Shilen 300 RUM has been across some amazing country on my shoulder as well as a couple of friends, in many states and a lot of game has been taken with it. Worked out for us just fine.

Ultimately, you have posted that your RUM gets roughly 3250 with a 180 bullet and you can shoot your 300 Win to 3150. And you also said something about "torching 100 grains of powder."

So you get a whopping 100fps for what, 20 more grains of powder in the RUM v. the WM? That is genius

quote:

Originally posted by Doc:

quote:

originally posted by Ben Walker: For a hunting rig a 28"+ barrel just isnt practical IMO

so, here you are offering your opinion, and yet, no one asked you for it.

Stick it too him Doc

Ben, I have a question for you. Are you a gunsmith?

[/QUOTE]



So you get a whopping 100fps for what, 20 more grains of powder in the RUM v. the WM? That is genius[/QUOTE]
A 300 win mag, in my experience is running pretty hot at 3150fps and factory loads mostly run under 3000 with 180's.
Comparing factory ammo to factory ammo its more like 250fps, which is about the difference between a 30-06 and a 300 win mag with factory ammo.
Slice it any way you want, but a 24" barrel 300 ultra is a bit more powerful than a 300 Weatherby without having to deal with a Weatherby. And this isn't a bad place to be.
BTW I will be sure I spell check everything from now on. I didn't realize this BB is English Comp 101....

You didn't answer my question. Are you a gunsmith? Because I'm assuming you are not as a past post of yours mentioned you getting your 300 RUM built. So, to that, will you please explain why the hell you replied to this thread:

Where the original poster clearly wrote the following:

quote:

Gunsmiths - why is there usually a 26" barrel on factory .300 win mag rifles where as a 22" or 24" is on nearly all other bolt action rifles?
Thanks.

The OP writes very clearly that he wants GUNSMITHS to reply, right? But you chime in anyway, so WTF are you doing on that thread which you are clearly not "qualified" to be on?

And I find it interesting you say this today:

quote:

A 300 win mag, in my experience is running pretty hot at 3150fps

And this in October 2006:

quote:

Originally posted by Ben Walker:
Given that a handloaded 300 Winny(with a 24" tube no less) can be easily and safely loaded to 3150

You are a pompous ass hypocrite. And I pointed out your 'msspleddeld' words because you come across as an arrogant ass at that. You've got balls inferring other members shouldn't be posting somewhere.

Your the Pompous ass and one with a very fragile ego...

quote:

Originally posted by Ben Walker:
Your the Pompous ass and one with a very fragile ego...

You forgot to spellcheck...It's "you're..."

I don't make comments on who should and should not make posts. You did. And from reading your past posts, I'm finding very little velocity differences in the 300 Win, Weatherby, and RUM within 2" of barrel, yet you would rather "torch 100 grains" for 150-250 more fps.

You still didn't answer my question, you hypocrite. Explain to me why you can chime in on a gunsmith thread where the OP specifically is asking for GUNSMITHS? In other words, he wasn't asking for YOUR opinion or experience, but you sure as hell felt comfortable responding, even though YOU AIN'T QUALIFIED.

What's the matter? Don't like being called out?

I'm far from pompous, and I'm very humble, unlike you. You just got your feathers ruffled because you can't take the shit you shovel out. So, whose the one with the fragile ego, sir?

I'm waiting for your explanation.

quote:

Originally posted by Doc:

To each his own. I have no problem if someone wants a 24" bbl on a rifle to make it more handy. I just think it is pointless when the caliber can do quite a bit better. Just curious though, why go with a 24 right off the bat? You could play by starting out with a longer bbl, say, 27" and shorten it if not happy.

Doc, I have built three .338 Edge's, all with long barrels, 28" to 30". All shot a less than 3" group at 700 yards. I have the parts with a barrel that is only 25.5" before trimming. If you go back to ( .338 Edge by Tapper2) you will see a 30" .338 Edge I built. I just want to see if it will be more accurate and how much velocity I will actually loose.

Tom

quote:

Originally posted by Doc:

quote:

Originally posted by Ben Walker:
Your the Pompous ass and one with a very fragile ego...

You forgot to spellcheck...It's "you're..."

I don't make comments on who should and should not make posts. You did. And from reading your past posts, I'm finding very little velocity differences in the 300 Win, Weatherby, and RUM within 2" of barrel, yet you would rather "torch 100 grains" for 150-250 more fps.

You still didn't answer my question, you hypocrite. Explain to me why you can chime in on a gunsmith thread where the OP specifically is asking for GUNSMITHS? In other words, he wasn't asking for YOUR opinion or experience, but you sure as hell felt comfortable responding, even though YOU AIN'T QUALIFIED.

What's the matter? Don't like being called out?

I'm far from pompous, and I'm very humble, unlike you. You just got your feathers ruffled because you can't take the shit you shovel out. So, whose the one with the fragile ego, sir?

I'm waiting for your explanation.

Hey Doc, just be thankful you don't have to spend five days sharing a campfire on an elk hunt at 8500 feet with this dude.

Guys like this can ruin a fine hunt.

Mine came with a 26" barrel and thats the way I like it. I took it to africa killed 4 animals,
And I took it to Caniada shot a bear all with my 300 RUM 26" barrel

Trapper, are the edge rifles as good as I hear? They are quite popular as I understand it, using the 300 SMK.

Did you keep all 3 or do you build, use, and then sell them?

Robert, you make a good point. The only outfitters/guides I've ever been with were for black bear. I've been fortunate to share camp with good guys on these hunts. But I don't want anyone to think Mr. Walker has me angry or frustrated. I'm actually tuned in to this thread just shaking my head, stunned, thinking to myself, we have another hypocrite with a superiority complex who thinks he's the "qualification" police, but only if it applies to someone other than him.

quote:

Originally posted by Robert Wilde:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Doc:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Ben Walker:
Hey Doc, just be thankful you don't have to spend five days sharing a campfire on an elk hunt at 8500 feet with this dude..

Especially if the elk are running close to timber line. roger

Ben Walker

The results with the lighter weight bullets could very well be less. However from the test we used the heavier MKs for the ability to really reach out and touch something. There was no need for the lighter weight bullets as they don't have the BCs and down range performance of the heavier bullets with higher BCs. The .308W, 30-06 and .300 WM handle the lighter weight bullets with sufficient affect at the shorter ranges for the purposes of our test.

One can do with there rifles as they chose. Personally I prefer longer barrels and have no problems with them in "thick stuff". I live and hunt in the Pacific NW and have "hunted" in SEA and Central American Jungles so I know that the rain forrests of the PNW are indeed "thick stuff". If I had a 300 RUM hunting rifle it is doubtful it would be my choice for closer range shots anyway. I would not have less than a 26" barrel on it if a factory rifle and less than 28" if a rebarrel. The extra barrel does not contribute that much weight to the rifle. If it does seem burdensome then more PT is in order, not less barrel. To me the 300 RUM is an excellent long range cartridge that is quite suitable for open country where shots will be long. Especially elk at long range. However, the rifle must be shot with accuracy. I'm not talking about inherent accuracy but the ability of the shooter to shoot accurately at long range. If the recoil and muzzle blast are such that the shooter can't shoot the rifle as accurately as possible then that negates the long range capability of the cartridge.

To me, again just a personal opinion, I don't see much need for this cartridge if the shooting is inside 400 yards. Thus I would opt for the longer barrels to have the longer range capability. Again, just my opinion. Others can carry a 24" barreled 300 RUM if they want. I think TomS asked a good question and asked for opinions "about what would happen". I have offered my opinion and he is free to do with it as he pleases.

Larry Gibson