OK, under the Small Bore thread I had posted a question regarding to which cartridge I should have my new LH SS SA action chambered. Well, with help and guidance from fellow forum members, I decided on the 6.5x284.

Upon sharing this information with my father, he offered me a 22" Shilen barrel chambered to 7mm-08 off his Rem M700 for free! I'm pretty sure the barrel can be rethreaded if necessary.

Now, I plan to use this rifle for deer, antelope, and the occasional black bear. With a 125gr Nosler BT I figure I'm good for deer and antelope out to 300 yards and with a 140gr. Partition, I'm covered for stand hunting black bear.

Does the barrel only being 22" hinder me that much?

Thanks!

Retic
No a 22" bbl will be just fine.
However if I was hunting Black Bear over bait I would use a 160 or 175 grain bullet....Why???? I just like big heavy bullets.

i have a model 7 action customized with a match grade shilen #3 contour 22" barrel. does great. i have it mounted in a thumbhole pepper laminate from that outfit in california. tanyard springs/ reamer rentals. i can't recall the stock division of that company. anyway, im very happy with this rig. shoots 100 gr. hp's, 120 gr sierras and hornadys along with the 120 nosler bt's. the 139 interlocks and sst's do great. the sierra and nosler 140's and 150's are good too. can't really say anything that shoots bad. best rifle i got that shoots light bullets and heavy ones equally.

My 7mm-08 has a 18.5" barrel and I don't feel it's a handicap at all. I can still push 139 gr Hornadies at 2700 fps, and really, for the class of game this cartridge was designed for this works fine. A 22" barrel will give you everything you'll ever need from a 7mm-08. - Dan

My son used a Model 7 with a 18" barrel in 7-08 to make a one shot kill on a Wy mulie at 287 long steps. I understand that Remington is now putting 20 or 22" barrels on their model 7's. You would have a problem trying to convince my son that it is needed.

Post deleted by beemanbeme

Sounds like a 22" pipe should be plenty for what I need it to do.... I guess I'm just enough of a speed freak though to want the 100fps or so that and extra couple inches might afford me....

Thanks for the input!

Snider700'

Do you happen to know the twist rate on that Shilen?

Thanks, Knobmtn

FWIW, I prefer 22" for my 7-08. It seems to balance my rifle nicely.

If I were guessing, I would say there is no more than 50fps (probably less) difference in a 24" barrel and a 22" barrel shooting a 7mm-08. Charlie Sisk (rifle builder) has done several tests where he shot loads out of a 26" barrel, trimmed it to 24" and shot the same loads, trimmed it to 22" and shot the same loads, etc.,.....down to about 18" if I remember right. The velocity difference between a 22" barrel and a 24" barrel was much less than what I (or most people) thought. He did this with several cartridges. Give Charlie a call or go over to 24hourCampfire and search for the results....it will surprise you.

HogWild

reading the above posts...maybe 23" would be optimum????..splitting hairs????

knobmtn: sorry for the long wait on an answer. i'm not sure to be perfectly honest. im a weekender on the shooting and reloading and just tell the smith to makem accurate. i believe its 1-9 twist. i'll ask the smith to be sure.

Snider 700

Thanks

knobmtn