i've got a short action remington 700 that i'm going to build a 308 out of. gonna go with a stainless steel hand lapped shielen barrel. i'm gonna be shooting a sliencer on it. i will be shooting full power and subsonic rounds. what grain bullet do i need to shoot and what twist barrel do i need to get? how long of a barrel do i need?

12 twist is what I use on my rifles and will handle anything in that caliber up to 200 grain.

If you intend to shoot the heavy (210gr.) bullets subsonic you will need an 8 twist to get any accuracy from the rifle. Otherwise you could shoot up to 180 grain bullets with a 12 twist 220 grain bullets with a 10 twist.

I'm only a parrot, but I've read, heard and seen from my limited experience that the 12 twist will only work best up to 165gr for the .308 cal guns. The 180's shot like crud with a 12 twist in a 300wsm. The 165 were just OK but the 150's shot like a champ.

Read the twist recommendations from the barrel maker. You'll read the same thing.

As for your silencer, length for silencing question... I haven't a clue and cannot offer an opinion of value.

Zeke

The 700 .308 I have is a 10 twist. It shoots everthing all the way up to 220 RNs quite well.

quote:

Originally posted by craigster:
The 700 .308 I have is a 10 twist. It shoots everthing all the way up to 220 RNs quite well.

Mine, too!

MK160

Listen to Malm. My Grandson's deer rifle is an 18 twist 30BR. He shoots 125grain bullets. My 30 cal is a 12 twist and I've had no trouble with 200 grain bullets.
Most barrel makers say 168 grain bullets is the largest that a 12 twist will stabilize and that is BS.
Butch

The most consistent sub half MOA .308 Winchester caliber rifles I send out the door wear Shilen Select Match, 12 twist barrels. And they are typically lobbing 168's - 190 Gr. HPBT MatchKings. I save the 10 twist barrels for the 30-06 and 30 cal Magnums where bullets over 200 grain rule.

The most accurate rifle I have wears a Shilen Select Match barrel, 12" twist, in a heavy sporter contour. I have tried only 165gr bullets so far. I see no need for a 10" twist rate in a 308, unless you want to use 220gr bullets, and I see no need for bullets that heavy in the 308.

Although I do have a Ruger 77MKII with a factory barrel in 10" twist which shoots accurate enough that I'm using 180gr factory loads in it. No need to change out an accurate barrel, but if I ordered a custom barrel it would be 12" twist rate.
KB

I shoot a 30-338 700 with a 1-12 twist Hart barrel. Very accurate up to 180 grain on almost all bullets. 190 and 200 gets a bit shakey with some bullets and real sweet with others. I like my twelve twist barrel.

Choose your barrel length based on how long you are willing to live with. Keep in mind that a silencer will add about 8 inches to the length. The longer the barrel, the less noise you get suppressed or unsuppressed.

I have shot 175 grain hpbt (supersonic) and 220 RN (subsonic) in a suppressed 308 with a 1-10 twist 16" barrel. The 175 are less than 1 moa, the 220 are about 2 moa.

I use 155 and 168 supersonic in a 1-12 twist 308 with a 26 inch barrel with a silencer. I need to go down to a 180 grain RN for subsonic in the 1-12 twist.

Ranb