Cutting down savage varmint barrel

Hi folks, I have few quick questions. I am in process of building a Savage .223 range gun off of a Stevens 200 action. I have been looking for a varmint barrel for quite some time now and recently found a good deal on a brand new Savage 12FV takeoff barrel, which is 26" long and of course is a varmint contour (I believe ~.805" muzzle diameter).. However, I am looking for something more in the range of 22-24". My question is this, if I bought this barrel and sent it to a competent gunsmith (I'm thinking adcofirearms.com) to have them cut it down, re-crown, and possibly even thread, would I lose any accuracy? I know the velocity may drop a bit, but I'm not worried about that. The other thing is, how would it effect the taper/ muzzle diameter? Can anyone give me an approximate idea of what the muzzle diameter would be after I cut it down from 26" to say 22"? I still want some taper, I don't want it looking like a bull barrel.

Thanks

I had a 243 with that length and taper. I also didn't want such a big heavy barrel for hunting. I took a gunsmithing course and cut and tapered it on a lathe. I put an 11 degree crown on it too. Since I would be using it for hunting I wasn't concerned about super tight groups, but I don't think I lost too much accuracy or speed by cutting it down. I'd go ahead and do it if that's what you want, although for the cost you might just look at selling that one and getting a sporter weight barrel.

It may end up more accurate after shortening it. The short range bench rest shoots use short barrels around 21". Cut it to the length you want and don't worry it will be fine.

Shortening it up will NOT hurt accuracy (unless it's done wrong). I shoot plenty of less than 20" barrels out to 1000 yards. The day I shot this group was to prove a point to someone. It was the only five rounds I shot through it that day. It will do this with ease all day, every day. If I do my part then it is smaller.

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r...r/DSC00794.jpg

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r...r/243TAJPG.jpg

It seems most AR varminters are usually 20" I would think you would be fine at that length. It's not like you are trying to burn a magnum charge of slow powder. A little diffferent animal but I had a .308 sporter cut down to 16" threaded and braked. When this was done it took the thinnest part of the barrel off and left me with a profile I like a lot. The rifle is very accurate. Many of the striker handguns have much shorter barrels than that and still get awesome accuracy. With the .223 I don't forsee any accuracy problems and with that particular cartridge I'm sure velocity loss would be minimal if present at all. With such a small case I would think. Once you get past a carbine legnth barrel you would get to a point of diminishing returns in velocity pretty quickly.

Wouldn't all that work be more money than buying a decent new barrel? I know it would at the local gunsmith.

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Originally Posted by Nandy

Wouldn't all that work be more money than buying a decent new barrel? I know it would at the local gunsmith.

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In theory, yes. To have it cut and re-crowned will cost me $30 at the gunsmith. I would buy a new barrel that was the exact size I wanted, but all custom barrels, whether its ER Shaw, Krieger, etc have a wait time of over 4 months.

Do it. You won't be sorry.

Larry
Tinkerer

If it's going to be a walking/hunting gun, I'd consider sending it off to have it fluted. That will not hurt accuracy either, but will lighten it up a bit, and keep the majority of the stiffness. It would still be a lot stiffer than a sporter barrel.

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Originally Posted by handirifle

If it's going to be a walking/hunting gun, I'd consider sending it off to have it fluted. That will not hurt accuracy either, but will lighten it up a bit, and keep the majority of the stiffness. It would still be a lot stiffer than a sporter barrel.

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No hunting. It will be a range gun sitting in a McMillan A4 stock so I'm not worried about the weight, but getting rid of unnecessary barrel length is what im hoping to accomplish.

what is unnecessary about the length? You said it is not the weight. Shoot it see how it dose. You can cut it later, but you can't glue it back on. I have had a couple bad barrels that cutting improved. Crown was good so it might have been bad rifling at the end or It just changed vibrations in the tube. Also had a Swead 96 that went from a true 1"@100 with open sight to 4" with scope! I cut it behind the iron sight when I sportered it.

Heck, if it's a target rifle, the longer barrel might be better, more velocity for longer range shot.

I have cut barrels off with a hacksaw and cleaned them up with a Brownell's crowning tool. Never had one shoot worse and several shot better. You have to buy a caliber specific pilot but they aren't that expensive. A lathe is preferred but when you don't have one.....

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Originally Posted by Jeg181420

Hi folks, I have few quick questions. I am in process of building a Savage .223 range gun off of a Stevens 200 action. I have been looking for a varmint barrel for quite some time now and recently found a good deal on a brand new Savage 12FV takeoff barrel, which is 26" long and of course is a varmint contour (I believe ~.805" muzzle diameter).. However, I am looking for something more in the range of 22-24". My question is this, if I bought this barrel and sent it to a competent gunsmith (I'm thinking adcofirearms.com) to have them cut it down, re-crown, and possibly even thread, would I lose any accuracy? I know the velocity may drop a bit, but I'm not worried about that. The other thing is, how would it effect the taper/ muzzle diameter? Can anyone give me an approximate idea of what the muzzle diameter would be after I cut it down from 26" to say 22"? I still want some taper, I don't want it looking like a bull barrel.

Thanks

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Take the barrel diameter @ the nut and at the muzzle. Subtract the muzzle dia. from the diameter at the nut and divide by the barrel length. This should give the taper per inch of existing barrel. Ex. 1"@ nut end .805 muzzle, so 1-.805= .195, then divide by 26(length)=.0075"/in. Then 22 x .0075=.165. Then 1-.165=.835@ muzzle @ 22" if Im thinking straight tonight.

not sure about muzzle diameter, but I have an E.R. Shaw .243 varmint barrel that I had cut from 26" to 22" and recrowned. I had a recessed target crown cut in it. I shot it alot before I had it cut, and it shoots at least as good and probably better after the cutoff.

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Originally Posted by skypilot

Take the barrel diameter @ the nut and at the muzzle. Subtract the muzzle dia. from the diameter at the nut and divide by the barrel length. This should give the taper per inch of existing barrel. Ex. 1"@ nut end .805 muzzle, so 1-.805= .195, then divide by 26(length)=.0075"/in. Then 22 x .0075=.165. Then 1-.165=.835@ muzzle @ 22" if Im thinking straight tonight.

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Your think'n is pretty darn close. A factory 26" varmint contour whacked off to 22" measures .850" at the muzzle, or at least the 204 I chopped off a while back does. I just took a second and measured it.

Bill

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Originally Posted by BillPa

Your think'n is pretty darn close. A factory 26" varmint contour whacked off to 22" measures .850" at the muzzle, or at least the 204 I chopped off a while back does. I just took a second and measured it.

Bill

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Thats exactly what I was looking for. Thanks guys