325wsm barrel length

[03mossy]

I wasn't sure were to post this so mods if I'm wrong go ahead and move it.

I have a new take-off 24" SS 325 wsm barrel siting on my porch waiting for me when I get home!!! The purpose of this rifle is a thick woods lightweight fast handling hammer! The obsolute longest shot on our land is 300 yards and that's just from 2 stands. So giving the range I am not concerned about loosing a few fps. I want to cut it down to 20" to make it "handier". Good idea or bad idea? or should I go 22"?

[35Whelenshooter]

I would stay with 22". For my self I like 24"
Just my .02

[the Ranger]

hows about 18"? seems handier yet.

[shoalwater]

Go short and burn a little faster powder than normal. Should work fine for what you want.

[scope eye]

Hey mossy what bullets do you think you will be using,

Dean

[RP12]

Won't muzzle blast be unbearable at 20" ?

[03mossy]

Hey mossy what bullets do you think you will be using,

Dean

Either Barnes TSX of some flavor (160,180,200) or Nosler Accubonds in 200 grains

[03mossy]

Won't muzzle blast be unbearable at 20" ?

No idea thats one of my concerns and why I'm asking for advice from the fine folks here.

[scope eye]

What it basically comes down to in round numbers, is the 160s 20" the 180s 22" and 200s 24"

Dean

[03mossy]

What it basically comes down to in round numbers, is the 160s 20" the 180s 22" and 200s 24"

Dean

OK, for my personal knowledge why would this be?

[scope eye]

The heavier the bullet the slower the powder that you will likely use, and need more barrel length to burn it, and be able to get a decent velocity, and even if you did use the same powder for all three, but just less of it with the different weight bullets, you will still come up short velocity wise, you can get away with a shorter barrel, with lets say a 308 which burns 45gr of powder, but your 325WSM holds 75gr of powder what will end up happening is, you will end up killing they animal, and then cauterize the wound at the same time with the flash from the muzzle blast.LOL

Dean

[davemuzz]

Scope Eye.....are you sure about that "cauterization" statement? Or maybe with a little BBQ sauce, it could be "BOOB, FLOP, GET OUT YOUR FORK."

Just asking.....

Dave

[scope eye]

In that case I will have mine medium well Thank You.LOL

Dean

[jonbearman]

I wouldnt cut one inch off that barrel unless you want a flamethrower.I serious,leave it be.My friend has 3 wsm's and none are shorter than 26 inches and that is short enough.

[teebirdhyzer]

All of the last 5 or 6 rifles I have built, the first thing I have done is take off the barrel, strait to my smith for a chop to 20" and recrown. The longest shot I would ever take is also around 300yds or so, although I have shot them all out to 400 on steel and they all do superbly well. Granted, none are short mags so the muzzle flash may be bit extreme in your case....but you aren't going to be shooting for joy making groups all day! this is your rifle the way you want it designed by you to kill game. I say cut that thing off and don't look back...jmo

[tammons]

Thick woods lightweight fast handling = 18-20"

I have a 338-284 with a 19" barrel and while its not a WSM it works well.
One thing I will say though is with 225 gr bullets, my first loads, when I first chopped from 24" to 19" was that it turned it into a jumpy little Ba$tard. Did not notice the muzzle blast so much but the muzzle rise was significant.

Still I hunt hogs and got a couple on the run with it the other day. Ripped off 3 shots PDQ. Thats mostly why I cut it down and its mucho better in the thick woods bush whacking and we ride a lot so great on the hump of a truck.

If you are punching numbers or trying to shoot out to long yards then leave it long otherwise chop it. Besides you can always pickup a longer barrel if you need the range.

My goto bullet would probably be a 160 gr TTSX with a BC of .4.

In a 20" barrel over RL17 you should still be pushing 3200FPS and I dont know why you would need more than that for most anything.

200 zero
1.2" max ht
2.2" low at 250
5.5" low at 300

3600 FPE at the muzzle
850 FPE at 800 yards
Supersonic to 1000

I think that exceeds all your needs - LOL.

Now you have me wanting one.

[Jamie]

I had a Striker in 300 WSM with a 16" barrel and never noticed the muzzle flash. Neal Cooper (358 Hammer) has a slew of .338 WSMs in short barrels and they worked well enough for his wife to take a buffalo. I am currently waiting on a 18" 7 WSM barrel from McGowen. I wouldn't worry about faster or slower powders, just use the one that gives you the best accuracy.

[JASmith]

Best advice I can think of comes from knowing that most hunting bullets these days perform best at impact velocities of 2,000 ft/sec or above.

This suggests that you do your interior and exterior ballistics exercise to find the shortest barrel that will get the heaviest bullet out to 300 yards at or slightly above 2,000 ft/sec.

The biggest challenge will be the barrel length versus velocity trade. This velocity calculator will help with the muzzle velocity: Velocity Estimator (http://shootersnotes.com/calculator/velocity-estimator/).

Looking forward to seeing how it turns out!

[tammons]

For 300 yards IMO it doesnt really matter.

A 200 gr TSX will be flying just over 2000 FPS at 300 yards out of a 20" barrel and thats a hard hitting bullet.

I will say there have been times when I wish I would have left my 338-284 barrel a couple of inches longer, but thats only when looking at numbers.

4" will cost you about 120 FPS with heavier slower loads and about 150 FPS in a hotter load like the 160 TTSX.

Hornady also make a 125 gr bullet if you feel the need for speed. That should be good for about 3500 FPS out of a 20" bbl.

[03mossy]

Great points on both sides. Thanks guys. Right now I am still leaning towards chopping it to 20". My other deer rifle is a long action Weatherby with a 26" barrel and its just way to long out of a blind. So I want this gun to be the exact opposite. That ones a show piece as far as looks, this is going to be a "hunting" gun.