Thread: Why shorten?

A redundant question obviously. Or a comment posed as a question. Take your pick. Not aimed at anyone either.

The thing that has been bugging me forever it seems is what amounts to, in my unhumble opinion, a fetish, a fad, an obsession with "chopping" the barrel on a perfectly good firearm. Someone offers a classic BSA, a BRNO, or Winchester, a beautiful Sako, a Vixen, a Tikka 3xLite, a Savage 99, a CZ 537 Ebony Edition...and as I pounce in anticipation I read "barrel chopped to...". Sod me sideways. A rifle destroyed. And they're still asking top dollar for it. Like somehow chopping 2, 6, even 8 bloody inches off the poor thing somehow makes it worth more. Those are inches some of us would be pleased have, but I digress.

I understand folk wanting less weight. I understand fast pointing in bush. That's what a carbine is designed for, right? If you're in the bush any carbine length centre fire rifle on the market will do the biz, right? 30-30, 7.62x39, lever actions in 44-40, 45-70 45 colt, hell, even 357mag will do the job. And if you must chop something down for 50 metre fast shots in heavy cover why not a filthy old 303B battle axe? As to less weight, that's what gymns and barbells are for, correct? When men were...well...all that good stuff.

But no. We take a 22 to 24in barrel, open field, medium to long range rifle and destroy everything decent and good about it then try and pass the bloody thing on as somehow "improved". Why?

(Ducking 'n Diving)

I just follow the sheep

personally i find it handier....easy to do omce a firearm has been molested. in my case accuracy was suffering, chopped n suppressed as a short term solution. solution now would be to rebarrel . still rebarrel to its current configuration..its really handy..

Old classics I would never chop or molest. But that’s a personal choice, others may differ.
But if you’re talking general all purpose hunting rifles then “why not”.
Start off by deciding your max intended range, choose your calibre, pill & powder and work out what muzzle velocity you need to take game at your chosen max range. For most 7mm & 30 cal calibers you don’t need more than 18in, some would say 16in, you might want some “reserve” velocity so might go 20in. So why drag extra weight & bbl length thru the scrub?

Lol. Clearly a dig. Or perhaps you have not read anything in the past 10 years. Or maybe just looking for bites. Or maybe it turns out I am not man enough - uh oh.

I cut them all down to keep all the grumpy old buggers grumpy

Why? Because I like short barrels.

I just like to take mine to the shortener, before fitting a lengthener, regardless of whether the lengthener is in the form of a silencer or a loudener.

A rifle is a tool. And I get more utility out of It getting chopped.
Yes plenty of silly people want top dollar for chopped clasdic rifles.
I have no problem chopping a classic rifle that's a shooter not a collectable. Plenty of originals that have the barrel shot to shit too.

But hey sporterising a milsurp is t a fad right.? Nope plenty of people got cheap rifles. Chopped them down and got lots of utility out of them.

A medium to long range rifle cut to to 16 18 inches in a medium sized case is now dual purpose. Does everything that carbine mentioned does but better. And still shoots to 400-600m with arguably negligible impact on performance.

Just like every generation ofncars. Everyone hot rodded them up back in the day when they were cheap and cheerful. Now the originals are often worth way more than one with 4x the power and build cost.
Gonna be a sad day when dirty BA falcons and altezzers are $20k+

Just wait till a T3 becomes a classic rifle and how dare someone chop it instead of leaving it original.

Originally Posted by Jhon

Those are inches some of us would be pleased have, but I digress

Haha.. yes, let's not digress into evolutionary biology and genetics

Best is to recrown and get it sparkling again even if it means chopping the willy a teeny bit.

Most people have suppressors. Suppressors weigh more than just a barrel. The longer the barrel the more you’ll feel that weight. Also walking around with an additional 4 inches on your 22 or 24 inch barrel isn’t that easy in bush

I think as long as suppressors are a fad (which I don’t think they are), short barrels will be a fad.

I understand shortening barrels of efficient cartridges, especially with the added length of suppressors.
however, I don't see the point of cutting down a cartridge designed for a long barrel, and adding extra powder just to get the same velocity of a smaller cartridge in the same calibre (e.g 280AI or 7mm RM ending up at 7-08 speed).

Originally Posted by Basenjiboy

I understand shortening barrels of efficient cartridges, especially with the added length of suppressors.
however, I don't see the point of cutting down a cartridge designed for a long barrel, and adding extra powder just to get the same velocity of a smaller cartridge in the same calibre (e.g 280AI or 7mm RM ending up at 7-08 speed).

Well that's why I have a 16" 7-08 Bushpig for the scrub and a 26" 280AI for the long stuff. Once or twice, I was forced to drag the Ackley into thick stuff and was instantly reminded why I should have had the Pig handy.

Short compact rifles is my fetish, love the look,weight and ballance i will never own anything longer than 20"