22 cut to 20 inch 30'06 barrel, good/bad?

[JCM]

Is the 35 fps per inch about right on what would be lost having a 22 inch '06 barrel cut to 20 inches and recrowned?  Are there any major concerns I'd need to worry about with this?  Most of my hunting is 100 yards or less, but how much effect would this have on a 200 yard shot?

Any input of thoughts are appreciated.  Thanks,

JCM

[Lawdog]

JCM,

What do you expect to gain by going to a 20" barrel?  I do know what you will get;

1.]  increased muzzle blast

2.]  increased muzzle flash

3.]  up to 100 fps. in velocity loss

It will not handle any better although some will try to tell you it will.  I have been there with this and ended up ruining a good rifle doing so.  Ended up buying a new barrel and all the costs that go along with it.  Lawdog
 

[Graybeard]

It's a little shorter than I like these days but I've owned a couple of 18.5" .30-06s and they worked fine. Can't say any of the deer shot with them lived to complain. If you really feel it adds some thing to the handling for you and you don't mind the little increase in muzzle blast then go for it.

[huntsman]

The 30-06 cartridge is much better suited for rifles with barrels 22+" long, given its case capacity, bullet weights, and pressures. The 30-06 is not really designed to be a 100-yard deer cartridge, although it will easily kill deer within this range with plenty of power to spare, and has been used in this capacity by many for a long time. Its forte, though, is carrying medium-to-large game killing power downrange to 300+ yards. To this end, shortening the barrel of any 30-06 under 22" is in a way defeating the purpose of the cartridge.

Whether to shorten or not is purely a matter of personal choice, but if you ever decide to use the rifle at greater ranges or on larger game, or pass it on to someone else, you will definitely have lowered its value. My own recommendation would be to leave the 30-06 alone and either add or switch to a cartridge/rifle combo better designed for more compact handling and shorter range medium game hunting, if that is your goal. There are a whole handful of cartridges designed to deliver 100 to 150 grain bullets at modest velocities for medium game that would better fit a 20" barreled rifle. Some of the better ones IMO are: 243, 6mm, 250 Savage, 257 Roberts, 260, 6.5x55, 7-30 Waters, 7mm-08, 7x57, 7.62x39, 30-30, 308, and 35 Rem.

[Big Paulie]

Cutting your barrel to 20 inches will definitely affect your ability to make accurate 200 yard shots, not because the rifle will become less accurate, but because:
 

      1.    By reducing the barrel, you are making your rifle butt-heavy.  It will not naturally "point" down on the target anymore.  It will wander all over the place when you are looking through your scope.

       2.  Muzzle blast in the 30-06 will be very significant (some may say severe), and this creates a very good chance that you will develop a flinch, that will make it tough for you to shoot accurately at 200 yards.

     If you feel like you really have to cut your barrel to make the rifle more easy to manuever in tight spaces, then just take it down to 21 inches.

     Best option would be, to trade your rifle in on a Remington Model 7 (or similar good quality bolt carbine) in .308 Winchester, with a 20 inch barrel. Because the .308 cartridge is shorter, it uses less powder (and has about 25% less recoil and  muzzle blast) than the 30-06, but it has about 95% of the energy of the 30-06.   Unless you are in a situation where you feel you must shoot 200 grain bullets, and I can't think of one, then you are not giving up anything by going to the .308 Winchester.  It is a very sweet and accurate round.

Big Paulie

[JCM]

For my use, I don't think I'd be loosing a thing by cutting it down, and I don't think any extra blast would bother me as I shot a 15' '06 Encore for a while and it didn't bother me......but it isn't hurting anything to leave it as it is and I'd hate to get something messed up by a poor job recrowning, etc.  

This also introduces the wonderful idea of picking up another gun.....

"......Best option would be, to trade your rifle in......."  Bite your tongue man, we're going back to the idea of picking up another gun.  Actually this one is pretty special to me, but I don't think it would get jealous.

Thanks guys,

JCM

[smoky]

A model 7 in 308 with a 20" barrel set in one of those laminated wood stocks would be awful SWEET!  Just offering a suggestion.

BTW, I have a custom job done on a  700 short action in a McMillan stock with a hart 20" bbl, so I have an idea of how the gun I suggest will feel and point.  You would like it!!


Smoky