Cutting 26" Remington 700P barrel down to 20" ??

jcfd2201

Playing with fire!
Full Member
Minuteman
Mar 3, 2010
1,034
5
NE Arizona
I was looking at the Remington 700P in .308 because it comes with some features that I like better than the 700SPS and I can pick it up for a decent price. I prefer a 20" barrel over the 26". My thought is to buy the gun and have the barrel cut down (I need it threaded anyways) and have it recessed and re-crowned. I'm not worried about the small decrease in FPS.

Any downsides to doing this that anyone knows of?

 
Re: Cutting 26" Remington 700P barrel down to 20" ??

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jcfd2201</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I was looking at the Remington 700P in .308 because it comes with some features that I like better than the 700SPS and I can pick it up for a decent price. I prefer a 20" barrel over the 26". My thought is to buy the gun and have the barrel cut down (I need it threaded anyways) and have it recessed and re-crowned. I'm not worried about the small decrease in FPS.

Any downsides to doing this that anyone knows of?

</div></div>

No different from being neutered.
 
Re: Cutting 26" Remington 700P barrel down to 20" ??

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jcfd2201</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I was looking at the Remington 700P in .308 because it comes with some features that I like better than the 700SPS and I can pick it up for a decent price. I prefer a 20" barrel over the 26". My thought is to buy the gun and have the barrel cut down (I need it threaded anyways) and have it recessed and re-crowned. I'm not worried about the small decrease in FPS.

Any downsides to doing this that anyone knows of?

</div></div>
What If I traded you my 20" sps tactical barrel for your 26" barrel I would like a longer barrel personally.
 
Re: Cutting 26" Remington 700P barrel down to 20" ??

send it the right person and everything will be fine. Lots of very good gunsmiths on the Hide to discuss it with so go for it.
 
Re: Cutting 26" Remington 700P barrel down to 20" ??

In reality the only differance is a slight drop in velocity. The advantage of the longer barrel comes in if you use iron sights. The longer the sight radius the better. A scope doesn't care how long the barrel is.

Regarding velocity: As a science project my Grand Daughter cut a 308 barrel from 26 to 16 two inches at a time to see what happens. Using Remington Factory ammo, between 26 and 20 she went from 2826 fps to 2677.

Not really that much.
 
Re: Cutting 26" Remington 700P barrel down to 20" ??

Yes in THAT gun with THAT load
wink.gif

Match shooters use long barrels for a reason. In many cases the weight could go some other place and not be "wasted" if it was not needed in barrel length.
 
Re: Cutting 26" Remington 700P barrel down to 20" ??

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: kraigWY</div><div class="ubbcode-body">In reality the only differance is a slight drop in velocity. The advantage of the longer barrel comes in if you use iron sights. The longer the sight radius the better. A scope doesn't care how long the barrel is.

Regarding velocity: As a science project my Grand Daughter cut a 308 barrel from 26 to 16 two inches at a time to see what happens. Using Remington Factory ammo, between 26 and 20 she went from 2826 fps to 2677.

Not really that much. </div></div>

Would that effect a 1000yd shooter much? I have a 24" mil-spec 5r ss barrel Rem. 700 in 308. Thinking about cutting the barrel down to 16" to put a flash hider/suppressor adapter on from Iron Brigade.
 
Re: Cutting 26" Remington 700P barrel down to 20" ??

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Would that effect a 1000yd shooter much?</div></div>

Note really. A bullet comes out of a barrel at X then it will be Y at 1000 yards regardless of how long the barrel is.

Or if the same bullet leaves a 26 and 18 inch barrel at 2550 then it should have the same remaining velocity at 1000.

2677 FPS, 175 Gn SMK will shoot great at 1000 yards. I've shot tons @ 2550 out of M1As and M14s. (Actually then it was the 180 SMKs, that was before the 175s replaced the older 180s)