Max Barrel Length

I've got a question that I have found a little info on, but not exact.

I've decided to try my hand at building a rifle using a pre-fit barrel. I have an older, pre accutrigger, Savage 111 in 30.06 with the rear flat top receiver.

I was planning on putting a 30" barrel on it, but then I started to wonder if that is not too much weight hanging off the end since I would want to free float the barrel. I started looking for info on that, and ran across someone saying that some barrel makers do in fact say that lengths over 26" are too heavy for the receiver?

I cannot find very much more info other than that, so I thought you all could help me out. I am wanting to go with a 308, and something in the neighborhood of Varmint or MTU contour.

Thanks

Just my .02, but there is not a lot of meat between the front and rear action screws. It’s almost as if the only reason it exist is to maintain the spacing between the rear baffle and the breach face. I currently have a 26” SS Varmit contour on an old flat back and it seems to be holding up just fine (pillar & glass bedded) but I can’t tell you if 30 inches is too much of a load on the action. Man that was a long sentence!
Why a 30” barrel?

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Originally Posted by olddav

Just my .02, but there is not a lot of meat between the front and rear action screws. It’s almost as if the only reason it exist is to maintain the spacing between the rear baffle and the breach face. I currently have a 26” SS Varmit contour on an old flat back and it seems to be holding up just fine (pillar & glass bedded) but I can’t tell you if 30 inches is too much of a load on the action. Man that was a long sentence!
Why a 30” barrel?

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Thanks. I do think that I am going to go the Varmint route unless someone convinces me that an MTU contour would be better.

As far as 30", I am wanting to be able to compete in some F-T/R matches and when I started researching 90% of people shooting in the matches with 308 have 30" or more barrels. But, I am not dead set on it. I think I probably will just go the 26" route like I had originally thought. Good to hear its holding up fine on yours.

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Originally Posted by olddav

Just my .02, but there is not a lot of meat between the front and rear action screws. It’s almost as if the only reason it exist is to maintain the spacing between the rear baffle and the breach face. I currently have a 26” SS Varmit contour on an old flat back and it seems to be holding up just fine (pillar & glass bedded) but I can’t tell you if 30 inches is too much of a load on the action. Man that was a long sentence!
Why a 30” barrel?

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Thanks. I do think that I am going to go the Varmint route unless someone convinces me that an MTU contour would be better.

As far as 30", I am wanting to be able to compete in some F-T/R matches and when I started researching 90% of people shooting in the matches with 308 have 30" or more barrels. But, I am not dead set on it. I think I probably will just go the 26" route like I had originally thought. Good to hear its holding up fine on yours.

I had a 30" 243 varmint contour, a 28" large shank 243 wssm bull, and now have a 28" bull 6.5 WSM and a 28" bull 7mm-300 WM. None of my receivers have ever bent or bowed. You will be fine. The velocity gains can be impressive with the extra length.

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Originally Posted by snowgetter1

I had a 30" 243 varmint contour, a 28" large shank 243 wssm bull, and now have a 28" bull 6.5 WSM and a 28" bull 7mm-300 WM. None of my receivers have ever bent or bowed. You will be fine. The velocity gains can be impressive with the extra length.

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That would depend on the type powder used.
With todays powder selections, barrel length plays a far less roll than it did in past years as far as velocity is concerned.
A 7x300 Win Mag for example wasent worth the effort to build 30 years ago because of the lack of suitable powder.
Not enough of a velocity gain over a 7 Rem mag or a 7mm Wby to make it worth while back then. The larger cases like the 7x300 Wby and the necked down 8mm mag, "7 STW", were popular with 30" barrels for long range hunting. But those have also benefited by todays powder selections. I have two 7x300 Wbys, one having a 27" barrel and one having a 30". Using the same load of 7828 powder and the same 162 gr bullet, there is no difference in the velocity between the two guns. Years back I needed 90 gr of H 870 with the 30" barrel to get 3200 with the 162 gr bullet. Today I can get 3400 with that bullet in a 27" barrel using 7828. Velocity is really the only reason for the longer barrels. Certainly a 308 has no need for a barrel over about 24" to obtain max velocity, and would probably do well with even less.

Have a 26" barrel on my .22-250. Much prefer shorter for carry/big game rifles. Wouldn't want anything longer even for range work, but that is a personal preference.

I've got a 28" heavy varmint 6BR on my flat back long action and have quite a few very accurate rounds downrange with it. It's sitting in a bedded Boyd's Tacticool/Pro-Varmint and balances very well. My Savage FTR (223) is of course a 30" barrel, and it is a bit front heavy but not so much it causes shootability issues.

Plenty of people run barrels over 26" on Savage actions. I've never heard of legitimate issues, only rumors. If you are shooting F class you are going to want the 30" barrel. I know a couple of guys that are running 32" barrels for the extra velocity, but not in 308. Keep in mind that a heavy contour over 26" is not going to be very fun to carry around in the field, but for a gun you only carry from the car to the shooting line it will be fine. If your main goal is a paper puncher with the aspirations of getting into F class, I would highly recommend a 30" barrel. Every bit of velocity counts when it comes to beating the wind shooting at 1000 or even 600 yards.

If you are worried about the junction being compromised, shoulder it and bed 2 inches in front of the lug

I have a 28 inch 1 inch diameter barrel on my 111. I have not had any issues. It's in 6.5x55

i cannot recommend bedding in front of the reciever.
in my 30br i got vertical stringing
took out the bbl bedding and all was good.
i have a rem700 with a 30 plus " 600/1000 yd br rifle.

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Originally Posted by Robinhood

If you are worried about the junction being compromised, shoulder it and bed 2 inches in front of the lug

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Its very common to bed a few inches in front of the recoil lug on long barreled guns.
Im not at all familiar with F class, and the reason 30" barrels are used for it.
But it certainly isn't for velocity reasons with 308s.
An alternative bedding solution is a barrel block of say 6 to 8 inches in length attached to the barrel just forward of the action.
No recoil lug is required, as the block serves that purpose.
The block itself is bedded and attached, but the action and the remaining part of the barrel is free floating.
Weight requirements are probably a reason they are not more widely used.
But fact is a rifles accuracy potential starts at the lugs, everything behind can only cause it to be diminished.

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Originally Posted by yobuck

Im not at all familiar with F class, and the reason 30" barrels are used for it.
But it certainly isn't for velocity reasons with 308s.

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This is a pretty interesting discussion directly relating to FTR and barrel lengths...
forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/some-thoughts-on-barrel-length-for-f-tr.3895164/