I am debating cutting a Rem 700 PSS .308 down to 18" to better accomodate a suppressor and to make it more compact for hunting in general. The rifle shoots like a house on fire (avg 1/4 moa) and I would hate to mess up its inherent accuracy. I was planning on sending it to either GA Precision or American Precision Arms (Jered Joplin is a wizard) so I'm not worried about the quality of the work. But has anyone had any experience loosing accuracy by cutting and recrowning???
Barrel cutback and accuracy loss??
- Thread starter brmfan
- Start date
Bill DeShivs
New member
Barrel length has nothing to do with accuracy. Crowning is very important.
Brian Pfleuger
Moderator Emeritus
Moved to Rifle Forum for a little more action...
I agree with Bill. Barrel length in and of itself is irrelevant to accuracy.
I agree with Bill. Barrel length in and of itself is irrelevant to accuracy.
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
1/4 MOA? Me, I'd buy another rifle before messing around with near-perfection. 
Barrel length doesn't necessarily have much to do with accuracy.
However, changing the barrel length changes the harmonics, which does affect accuracy. Putting a good crown on the barrel is very important, and putting a suppressor on the end also has effects barrel harmonics.
Since it shoots so well as is, it's probably not worth the risk.
However, changing the barrel length changes the harmonics, which does affect accuracy. Putting a good crown on the barrel is very important, and putting a suppressor on the end also has effects barrel harmonics.
Since it shoots so well as is, it's probably not worth the risk.
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
While I've only had one rifle that grouped down toward 1/4 MOA, I have never had a problem with 3/4 MOA from a 19" .243 or a 26" '06. I'd have to say that it's not the barrel length which matters so much as it is the bedding of the stock and tailored handloads.
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
A good read about barrel length vs. tight groups:
http://www.angelfire.com/ma3/max357/houston.html
"The discoveries made there, some reported in Precision Shooting by T.J. Jackson, were sometimes controversial, but always fascinating. Circulating around at that time were mutterings that the warehouse conditions were flawed and the shooting there invalid. From what I knew about the warehouse, I wondered how anyone could fault it. After all, some of the shooters were firing numerous consecutive groups measuring “in the zeros”. Flawed conditions, indeed!
For those of us who are strangers to groups “in the zeros”, we’re talking about 5 shots at 100 yards that are, at first glance, indistinguishable from a single shot. The bullets sizzling through the same hole merely worry away the tortured edge of the target paper in varying degrees until the hole is enlarged less than .100" over bullet diameter. Often much less."
http://www.angelfire.com/ma3/max357/houston.html
"The discoveries made there, some reported in Precision Shooting by T.J. Jackson, were sometimes controversial, but always fascinating. Circulating around at that time were mutterings that the warehouse conditions were flawed and the shooting there invalid. From what I knew about the warehouse, I wondered how anyone could fault it. After all, some of the shooters were firing numerous consecutive groups measuring “in the zeros”. Flawed conditions, indeed!
For those of us who are strangers to groups “in the zeros”, we’re talking about 5 shots at 100 yards that are, at first glance, indistinguishable from a single shot. The bullets sizzling through the same hole merely worry away the tortured edge of the target paper in varying degrees until the hole is enlarged less than .100" over bullet diameter. Often much less."