Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting 20" or 24" barrel on 7mm08 ??

Not sure where to post this question so you may see it in a couple different forums.

Just wondering what your experiences are about barrel length on a 7mm08. I've got 708's with 20 and 24" barrels. So my question is...So for hunting purposes, is it worth the extra length to put a 24" barrel when building a new 708??

not to me.....

Agreed. I'll take a little velocity loss to keep it short and handy

I have a 20" Mossberg 100ATR that my son and I won at a church trap shoot. It's nice, light and handy. The 20" barrel works great while hunting from a blind.
With 6.5 StaBall, I've got some extremely good velocities while staying within book loads. Took a nice whitetail buck with it last fall.

AZmark: I do NOT mind longer barrels in any way shape or form - in fact I prefer them - for reasons I won't take up your thread for now.
My 7m/m08 (Remington 700 Mountain Rifle) has the 22" barrel barrel and if "I" were building a custom 7m/m08 I would definitely choose the 24" barrel length.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Yep 22, 23 or 24 would be my preferences depending on the rest of the build

Hunting out of a blind in the woods I like short handy rifles with 20" barrels but hunting out of a box stand on a field length isn't a factor.
I would like a 24" on my 7-08 for sure.

Same.

This is Long Range Hunting..free velocity I like. 24 for me.

You have both..what do you like?

My preference is for 22". Others mileage may vary..

This 7mm-08 is short and handy, 20"

I think you're talking minor velocity differences when you discuss one or two inches of barrel length. Stating the obvious, when you start comparing a 24 inch barrel to an 18 inch barrel then you have to start making decisions on how much velocity difference you're willing to accept or attain. This thread is already a classic example of different strokes for different folks. To me, 22 inches is about the sweet spot for a 7mm-08. As this is the Long Range Hunting sub-forum, if I were building for that stated purpose, I would think the 24 inch barrel would be my preference if that were my allocated use; however, 22 inches would work for me in that scenario.

Just posted on this subject recently. Of all the common hunting rifle cartridges I’ve chronographed over the past 40+ years, the 7mm-08 generally shows the least velocity loss with shorter bbls.
Personally I prefer 22” bbls because seems to me to be the sweet spot for less perceived muzzle blast vs lighter weight and portability.

To me 20" is the perfect length for a 308. I assume 7-08 will be very similar. As far as velocity is concerned you have to go to 26" or more to see any meaningful gains. In fact, my 20" Tikka CTR 308 shoots the same ammo FASTER by a small margin than either of my 308's with 22" barrels. I find 20" easy to carry through brush, but it isn't short enough for noise to be a problem. Maybe in another cartridge.

I wouldn't go any shorter, and 22" doesn't bother me either. I wouldn't pay to have a 22" barrel cut shorter. I might if it were 24". But if building I'd want something shorter that 24" with a little meat in the barrel. Split the difference and go 21"

Yup...22” inch is a nice place to be for a 7-08...IMO




🦫

22.5" works pretty good

I like 22”. I could suffer a 22.5”. But no longer than that for a 7-08.

Nice goat! Oregon?

Silvies

Very nice rifle Beaver.

Mine is just a plain jane Tikka:

It works great. I have a 6.5 superlite and a 308win, but I always grab the 7 for some reason..??

I have 7mm-08's with 22" and 24" barrels not much difference to me.