Barrel length?

For decades, the factories used 26" as the barrel length for which to advertise the muzzle velocities of their ammo. We all know that few rifles come with a 26" barrel, and this confused people. With the advent of so many more handloaders, component manufacturers, and publishers of loading data books, barrel lengths are all over the place--anywhere from 22 to 26 inches.

Now that you know how to build a watch...

The '06, because its case is a bit over-capacity, does better with a longer barrel. The fall-off in velocity per inch of barrel length for a .308 is less than for an '06. Probably 75 ft/sec/inch for the '06, maybe 40 or 50 for the .308.

For open country hunting, I'd venture that 24" to 26" is best for an '06. You can get near-maximum performance from the .308 at around 22" to 24".

Now, lemme say that this is as I understand the relative performance, based on a bunch of reading over the years. I know a bunch more about what works with an '06 than I do with a .308...

If you're gonna hunt deer within 200 yards, it doesn't make a hoot whether it's 19" or 26". Bambi dies. The main difference is the noise. Shorter is definitely louder!

:), Art
 
As a short barreled .308 Win reference, I've one in 18.5" & load a 165 gr BT bullet at a fairly slow 2400 fps.

At just over 2" high at 100 yds, it is dead on at 200.

+/- 2.5" from the crosshairs is, IIRC, to around 250 yards. For all practical purposes, it's a point & click interface.
 
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