i'll soon be ordering a 6.5 x 284 for deer hunting purposes. its going to go on a tc encore, so no matter what, it will be a short gun.

will there be any appreciable difference in velocity btw a 24" and 26" barrell?

Yep! From what I've read on the 6.5/284 a lot of guys go up to 27 or 28 inch barrels. I'd love to have a rifle chambered for this cartridge. S'posed to really rock with 142 gr. Sierra MKs. I would stick with the 26 over the 24, if it were up to me.

IMHO the extra length will do far more to create a gun of poor balance and unnecessary weight than it will ever do for a few extra feet per second that don't amount to anything in the real world anyway. Some shooters totally lose sight of the realities in pursuit of that extra fps velocity or few extra fp of energy when neither really make a flip in the final analysis. But it's your nickle.

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A well placed bullet is worth 1,000 ft/lbs of energy.

[This message has been edited by Pecos45 (edited 05-03-2002).]

tcencore260,

for your 6.5/284 a good choice is a 24" barrel, the difference of velocity isn't with with a 26" barrel. But the big advantage of a 24" barrel is light to carry.

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BER007
Keep the faith in any circumstances
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BBER007@HOTMAIL.COM

Consider also muzzle blast and flash, muzzle flip, balance and looks. I'd be tempted to go long and shorten if necessary.

I agree with has been said with respect to many people losing sight of reality in the pursuit of a few extra fps. And, if this were a bolt action, I'd agree to stick with the 24" barrel but, since this is a TC I'd say get the longer barrel and as 1894 said you can always shorten if you don't like the way it handles.

-Mike

MV delta should be around 75 to 100fps, depending of course on the load. Black Hills now has factory 140grain Amax available. Balance will depend on the contour. The Encores balance very well with both 24 and 26 inch med varmint contours ~.750 to .800" at the muzzle. If you use the factory synthetic butt stock the rifle will be a little muzzle heavy. If it were me I'd go for the 26". Good Luck.

The general rule of thumb is 50fps per inch (approx). I have found this to be pretty close having chronoed the same loads in different barrel lengths. You can and will find variations.

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there's a fine line between hobby and mental illnes

The difference between 24" and 26" barrels is much more significant with magnum-capacity cases than it is with 30/'06-capacity (or smaller) cases. The .284-based wildcats are of the '06-size. In a hunting rifle, I'd opt for the 24". Winchester used 22" barrels for the .284, and it was OK.