Thread: .284 Barrel Length

Interested to know what people think the optimal barrel length is for a .284 for practical hunting. Using a suppressor. I have a 22inch and 18inch rifles currently and was thinking that after running the ballistics calcs that 20 inch would be the 'goldilocks zone' i.e. nice balance and portability but still plenty of grunt to shoot out to 600 yards. Interested hear people's thoughts? Also would you run a magnum or standard can on the end? I am using DPTs break on the end the end of my standard suppressor which is awesome on the 22 inch rifle but have added an extra baffle due the extra blast noise.

I recently cut mine from 24 to 20 and wish I had done it sooner.

Hamish

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What sort of velocity are you getting Hamish?

Originally Posted by AlpineHunter

What sort of velocity are you getting Hamish?

2620 fps pushing a 168gr Berger

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I run a 20” on my .284 along with a DPT suppressor and find it a practical length and nicely balanced.

It’ll all come down to individual preference but if you find yours is nicely balanced with a 22” barrel and suppressor and your happy with it then leave it as is… if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it comes to mind.

20" is ideal for an all rounder when suppressed. I have both a 17" that i use for bush and a 20". the 20 gets picked up most.

reloader 26 is your friend for velocity. I get 2840 with a 162 eld. you would be looking at around 2700-2750 with 2209.

Currently running a standard DPT with brake and its spot on. I run a DPT magnum on the 17"

Long live the .284

Snap. I’ve also got 22 & 18n bbl 284s. Running RL17 with 162 AMAX or ELDMS that gets me around 2960 and 2830 fps respectively. So more than enough to get to 600 & more. With the 18in bbl at 2830 fps that’s not dropping below 1800fps till 900 - 950 yds. More recently I’ve been running 180 ELDMS with RL26 at 2680 fps in 22in bbl, same thing get to 950yds before dropping under 1800 fps.
The 18in set up was originally 20in and I thought that was the sweet spot, but when I re-barrelled I went 18in. And now I’d say18in. But big open country I take the 22in for the extra velocity

Originally Posted by chainsaw

Snap. I’ve also got 22 & 18n bbl 284s. Running RL17 with 162 AMAX or ELDMS that gets me around 2960 and 2830 fps respectively. So more than enough to get to 600 & more. With the 18in bbl at 2830 fps that’s not dropping below 1800fps till 900 - 950 yds. More recently I’ve been running 180 ELDMS with RL26 at 2680 fps in 22in bbl, same thing get to 950yds before dropping under 1800 fps.
The 18in set up was originally 20in and I thought that was the sweet spot, but when I re-barrelled I went 18in. And now I’d say18in. But big open country I take the 22in for the extra velocity

Nice I guess whats driving this question for me is - can I get 'one rifle' for both bush/closer work and have enough for the tops where I do a lot of my hunting. The 20 inch feels like the right 'compromise'. Saying that I have put lighter 3-9 scope and run 154 SST's on the 18 inch and it's a honey to carry.

I don't think there's really any such thing as optimal. It's down to your use case, what you want to get out of it, and what you can happily tolerate.

Mine's 26"... Well, 25.5" thanks to a snafu by the gunsmith... And for that, I get ballistics that are nipping right on the heels of most people's Rem Mags. 110's @ 3350. 150's @ 3100. 168's @ 2900... 180's @ 2900 too, if using Re26.

Then again, I'm not bush hunting and apparently don't mind carrying longer and heavier rifles than the average.

Originally Posted by Pommy

I don't think there's really any such thing as optimal. It's down to your use case, what you want to get out of it, and what you can happily tolerate.

Mine's 26"... Well, 25.5" thanks to a snafu by the gunsmith... And for that, I get ballistics that are nipping right on the heels of most people's Rem Mags. 110's @ 3350. 150's @ 3100. 168's @ 2900... 180's @ 2900 too, if using Re26.

Then again, I'm not bush hunting and apparently don't mind carrying longer and heavier rifles than the average.

I am just using the good ol 2209 not sure we will see Re26 back in the country any time soon.......

Originally Posted by AlpineHunter

I am just using the good ol 2209 not sure we will see Re26 back in the country any time soon.......

I used RE17 but when I run out superformance is another powder supposedly better than AR2209 for the .284

Another happy 20inch 284win owner. As said above I get similar results with RL26- 162 eldm @2850. Great all rounder.

Rl26 is over rated in some cases unsure about .284 though I shoot the 160tmk at 2600fps out of a 708 it’s enough for 600 yards and much more than enough for my max of 400 yards so I’m sure a short .284 will be spot on depending on your limits

If only going 600 id say 20”. Ive had a 26” 22” and now a 20”. Wish there was some more rl26 around as 2209 a little slow in the 20”
And a standard dpt over magnum is all you need

My drop chart below with 2209 as an FYI

Hamish

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