My buddy shoots a 270 win Ackley with 26 inch barrels and gets both excellent accuracy and velocities. IIRC, it is over 3200 fps with 130 grain bullets. He told me he thinks the 26 inch barrel is required to obtain benefit of the ackley powder capacity.

I am a fan of 26 inch tubes and most of my guns have them, yes even by brush guns...depending on the caliber I get from 100 to as much as 200 FPS over a the 22 inch tubes as a rule, not written in stone however...

For my part the extra velocity is of little value any way you cut it..but the pointability and off hand shooting qualitites of a long tube, especially with iron sights are of utmost importance to me..The old Mt. Men knew a "thang" or two! those long guns just hang right for me..

If I want a carbine, I'll use a 30-30 Win. or Sav 99F in 308.. for hunting horseback, or just for the hell of it...

I have a Sendero, by Remington in .270. 26" heavy barrel in a varmint style target stock. It shoots a bit flatter than a 24" tube to the tune of 100fps faster. You can burn all that slow powder behind a 150 grain bullet. Use a magnum primer. I have a fixed AO 8 power scope. Put the whole rig on a bipod, and start shooting into the next time zone.
JCN

Ray,

What weight and profile do you prefer on your long tubes? I also prefer a longer barrel but so many of the long barrels I see these days are heavy target barrels. Many so called "gunsmiths" insist that you need a heavy barrel in order for a rifle to shoot good. Would a 26" #2 or #3 profile be a problem child as far as accuracy goes?

130 grain Interbond @ 3240 ft/sec's.
140 Accubond @ 3040 ft/sec's.
Factory 140 Failsafe's @ 2840.
Factory 130 Federal BT's 3050.

Ruger 1B @ 26 inches

Guys,
Just a matter of interest but has anyone played with a 26" barrelled 270 Winchester? I was wondering what kind of velocities are possible from the longer tube, as I've read on many occasion that there are benefits to a 24" tube over a 22". But what about a 26" barrel??
Cheers...
Con

If someone likes a 26" barreled hunting rifle then go ahead. I read that Ray likes them and he must know by now.



I don't like barrels that long on big game rifles and I have them from a Swift, 264 and 300HH not counting even longer ones on target rifles.



The gain or loss in velocity has always been a fuzzy fact but what with better chrono's today and the net we have new information. In the past many figured on 50 fps per inch with high intensity rifles in the 22" and up lengths. Today I am going by the test that gunsmith Sisk published and that found that the velocity change is more in the 20 fps range! I am using 25 to fudge on that side.



As to a 26" 270 Win's ballistics it does not seem to be a real advantage unless you think it is. The .270 bore is not really a target bore and there are precious few match bullets. Not that matches are not won every day with hunting bullets.



To me the beauty of the 30-06 is that it performs so well in the classic M70 Featherweight with a 22" barrel. The 270 Win. is almost as good for big game.