Thread: What length to shorten a 7m08?

Hey mate. This is what I have learnt about barrels and loads thus far (because both are equally important);

I currently use a 7mm08 T3 light barrel.
19inch in length;

Load development;
Winchester 748 powder; 43.5g
140 Nosler Ballistic Tips
Gun works - Spartan suppressor

History;
2770fps - need to re shoot through a crono though, think it's closer to 2800.

Ideally this all depends on your purpose.
The above load/barrel is solid for deer at 500m and will probably push gongs out 700-900m (with my 3.5-10x44 sightron - so easier with bigger scope).

Hits gongs around 660m easy as.

TBH Nosler BTs cost a fair bit for tgt shooting, mostly done the gongs to build confidence in ranging targets. Great hunting round for you guys though (if you re-load).

A little off track there....

Velocity:
Ideally, if you are achieving 800fps at the killing end, you will be fine.
Factory rounds:
Remington core locked 140g shoot at about 2450 fps +/- out of this barrel which would be quite slow if you want to be humane out 500+/-. Closer ranges - all good.
High velocity doesn't = accuracy but it does = impact/killing power. So it's a balance between velocity and accuracy (Barrel vs powder vs round etc) to meet your requirements.

Softness wise:
If you chuck on a muzzle brake at any length, you will notice a massive drop in recoil for your boy. Suppressor will go a long way to help as well, and may actually help with velocity in a shorter barrel.

Remember; The shorter the barrel, the louder the bang due to the gunpowder burning out the end and (generally) the less accurate it is.

Unsure on the twist in your barrel, but an armourer should be able to give you a minimum length of cut pending on the lands, grooves and twist in that make of barrel.

In summary;
I know there is some random info here, but I hope you can pull some relative points from it.

Personally I would go 18-20inch (pending on your barrels twist), factory 140g Remington core locked rounds and muzzle brake it if your shooting goats, because they really don't care about noise and it will give you a nice short/comfortable but midrange/accurate hunting barrel. Get a good mid range scope and a Harris bipod of sorts. He will be dropping animals at ranges out to 300-400 with a velocity of about 2400 at the barrel.

My $1s worth lol.