shortening a barrel

[JR__]

Double clicked. oops

[Guest 308Panther]

308Panther, what was the first bit of advice given by the old hunter?

 

1)Check you rifle...(loaded? Are you sure?? Safety on? Are you sure?)

 

2) If your lookin at horns your not lookin where you are supposed too.... Focus on where ya want your shot to go.

 

And I am not sure if this last one is advice,threat or a warning....but it was his cabin.

 

3) The guy who eats Chili and Beans...Hunts alone,Sleeps outside.

 

308Panther

[Guest Smeagle]

Been following the thread and feel that it might be useful to understand what the thing actually does. Someone might find this useful.

 

A barrel is basically a pipe with a grove cut into it, JR can give you so much more on the technicalities than I can. But what is important to the shooter is profile/weight, length and twist. The twist basically stabilizes the projectile at a given weight, now as the round is fired pressure is exerted on the barrel, this is not consistent, basically it pulses at about 3000 times per second dependant upon calibre etc. As the projectile travels along the rifling it begins to spin, this is rotational spin which stabilises the projectile through the air, the faster the spin the longer it will stabilize and the more velocity is retained.

 

Now in long range shooting we need velocity for a couple of reasons, firstly to maintain energy throughout travel and secondly to get the projectile to its destination before environmental factors can effect it, or basically the longer that it is in the air the more the three devils of wind, temp and air pressure can effect it. Also with varmint hunting there is a reduction in 'jumping the gun' or the quarry moving out of the way. Now the faster we drive it the faster we have to spin it, makes sense, this is to prevent YAW or the back end arse wagging its way down range which reduce accuracy and creates drag. The way to increase rotational spin is to increase the length of the barrel as the projectile connects with more rifling for longer.

 

The longer the barrel the more whip like it is and then comes into play these pulses we were talking about, the shorter and fatter the more ridged. This whip like effect is the harmonics of the barrel and the idea is to balance the hand-load at the optimum point of the arch of travel, the longer and more slender the barrel is the more pronounced this effect is, so therefore the more consistent the hand-loads need to be. Therefore for ease of loading and handling the actual rifle there has been a move toward shorter fatter barrels. Then we come to the stock that you was looking at, this is designed to move the connection point upwards or down to increase rigidity in the barrel and to reduce the flex, in effect changing the harmonics. So instead of balancing the load to the barrel you balance the barrel to the load. This creates inherent problems, firstly on a competition rifle its not usually a problem, but in the field they are to delicate to operate effectively as the slightest knock changes your zero also if your ammunition is not consistent you end up playing around with it trying to get it right and you will never do it. They are self defeating.

 

As for cutting the rifle down, for the ranges that you are talking about it shouldn't be a problem, just don't take a hacksaw to it as it will need crowning etc, forget the stock for hunting.