If you have a perfectly good Marlin 336 in .30-30 and you run a .30-30 AI reamer into the chamber properly and then cut the barrel to 16.5" do you end up with the same velocity you had at 20" with a regular .30-30?? I'm basing this question on the average of 50 fps/inch of barrel and an average gain of 200 fps with the Ackley round....seems like a wash to me.

If you rechamber to .307 Win, do you really gain anything significant if you still cut the barrel back to 16.5"?

Any experience here?

MUST....RESIST.....BAD....JOKE.

Whew, ok, that passed. I'm just speculating here, but I think the answer (as in most things) is, it depends. There are numerous articles about 308 win. ballistics from 18" barrels(I recall a good one by Bob Milek). I think the loss of 50 fps per inch is a bit high and I believe you can make up some of the difference with the powders we have these days. I have an unported 16.5" 50AK and get same/higher velocities than a friend w/an 18" ported barrel. In my mind bigger/faster is usually better, but if 100-200fps is the diffencence between success and failure then I've already failed. IOW, if it make the rifle handier, do it and don't look back. My 2 cents.

Bob

Bob,

Pretty much my thinking too. It will still do the deed either way if applied properly.

BTW, you ARE supposed to eat animals and wear their skin....anything else you may have heard is just wrong!! It's worked fine since the cave man...why would you want to change....besides, they taste good....I'm having smoked pig belly meat for breakfast!!

I did some chronographing of my 16" Contender carbine at the last range session. The factory Remington 150s averaged 2067 and the 170s 1926. I have yet to compare them to my 20" 94 but will on the next trip as I just installed a new peep sight and it need to be sighted in. I guessing a 40-50 fps per inch so I expect 2220-2260fps from the Winchester. As to would the AI get that back, maybe. I've though about converting the TC but will wait until deer season is over before commiting.

For the record leather (animal skin) is vastly inferior as an outer garment. It is hot in the summer and freezing cold in the winter.

Last year we compaired my 700vs with a 26" barrel against 700pss with a 20" barrel. Shooting 168gr FGM we found about 150 fps average between the two or about 25 fps per inch. In the woods who cares, but at the 800 yard line it is a big deal.
I have a Marlin in 35 Rem that the smith cut to 16". Yes the slug is going slower but it is a joy to carry and swing. Besides, my boy loves the thing.

SB,

I beg to differ...I have a chamaugh sheep skin ranch coat that was made to fit in Iran a lot of years ago that is the warmest thing you could ask for ever. It is heavy compared to modern fibers or down, but it will certainly keep the wind out and the warmth in and is water proof. I did need to replace the buttons last year which I did with antler tips and raw hide and I suspect one of my son could wear it and hand it over to his child if he wants. Only problem I have with the coat is I'm 30 lbs heavier than I was when I had it made...not the coat's fault. In the summer I wear shorts and tee shirts and I suppose leather is too warm in the summer....even in Fairbanks.

I think you just screw up a nice Marlin. Sell it and buy a spikehorn if you want a shorty. I practical terms-- I can tell no difference between my 307 Winchester Big Bore and my 94 30-30. Even with both having a 20" barrel.

Buckeye,

Glad to hear your thoughts on the .307 vs .30-30. I think you are right and if I cut the barrel, about all I will get is more muzzle blast with the .307. The .30-30 is certainly enough gun for deer.

I gave some thoughts to a Spikehorn and it is still a possibility. This rifle is no virgin, she was taken to the prom, used well and dumped on the side of the road....no longer a pretty face. It has had lots of carrying and riding and not much shooting.

It needs blueing and the wood is rough which is why I'm considering rechambering to the AI and cutting the barrel down before I do anything cosmetic. I'm thinking about striping the gun and sand blasting it then doing the bake on Gun Kote from Brownell's. I've used it on a couple ARs and so far it is holding up just fine. Teflon is also a really nice finish and is durable.

Thanks everyone for your input!!

Nope its the motion in the ocean.

Depeding on the cartridge, velocity loss is more like 30 fps/inch down to about 18" for bottleneck rounds, and then they start loosing 50 fps/inch. So, I'd expect a 16" and change 30/30 to be no more than 150 fps slower than a 20" tube. The other thing is, with an ackley chambering, gaining 200 fps is based not on a hugely larger case, but rather on running higher pressures.

I'm sure you can pretty much achieve what you are after. That said, I don't know that all the expense and trouble of the conversion, loosing two rounds in the mag, and increased muzzle blast is worth all the hassle. Me thinks the 16" lever guns are at their best with the pistol rounds, ie 44 mag.

I think I'll keep the 20" barrel and run an AI reamer into the chamber and see how it shakes out.....not that the .30-30 really needs much help, but it can't hurt too much to pump it up a little. Midway order goes out tomorrow, so we'll see.

Thanks for the data points guys!!

Regarding barrel length and velocity; I have a Ruger 77 RSI with the 18.5" barrel. Fussiest damn gun I ever owned. Anyway, the load of choice is 49.0 gr. of W-760 with a Speer 165 gr. Hot-core. Velocity is 2550 FPS from that rifle. From a 22" Winchester Model 70, that same load gives 2610 FPS, a difference of 60 FPS or roughly 17 FPS per inch.
I know that W-760 is not the best powder for a .308, but that rifle will not shoot any kind of decent groups with any other powder that I've tried. In fact, I have three of these rifles, all in .308, and that load is the only one that any of the three will shoot worth a damn. Go figure.
As for me, I like the 30-30 just as it is. My truck gun is a 1978 Model 94 that looks like it won the west all by itself. I shoot a 190 gr. cast bullet in it at 1950 FPS, and it will do anything I ask of it. For the handloader, it the RCBS #30-180-FN over 28.0 gr. of W-748. The rifle now thinks it is a .303 Savage.
Paul B.

Gosh...i feel so inadequate...my truck gun is a .22 K Hornet and it thinks it is a .17 HMR!!