Expectations when shortening Remington .308 PSS barrel to 18.5??

[Xshot]

Picked up a LH barreled action from a fellow member here on SH. Barrel had a Surefire break on it, but since I have a SAS Arbiter TI the seller agreed to remove it. The 21.5" barrel needs to be shortened (re-threaded and crowned) to approximately 18.5" to remove the stepped machining required for a Surefire MB install.

This will be my first 1:12 twist .308 and significantly shorter than my other 1:10 twist .308 rifles. So, this puts me in unknown territory. The current configuration is reported to shoot 1/2 MOA with specific load data provided me. My general question is whether it's worth the time, load testing, and additional cost to cut this barrel down? Rifle won't be use in competition, just for my pleasure and learning while punching paper. My maximum distance would be 800 yards. Moreover, I highly desire it to maintain the 1/2 MOA out to 5 - 600 yards using 168 -178 grain SMK's and A-Max hand loads.

Lastly, I planned to get into .308 subsonics this summer. Any chance of getting a 170 - 180 grain RN bullet to perform out to 200 -250 yards reliably?

Any and all thoughts/comments will be appreciated.

 

[Xshot]

I forgot to mention that I have a 26" Criterion barrel in a 1:10 twist setup for a barrel nut (Remage) install. I've been wanting to try out a switch barrel setup for quite awhile. Another reason for wanting to keep the original PSS barrel - shorty length - if I can make it work for me.

 

[HOGTOOTH5R]

Honestly I believe for a .308 You won't notice much difference if "any" at all between 20" vs 18" Barrel especially if your intended use is only 500-600 yards. But what you will notice is the 18" gun is slightly easier to maneuver and point to shoot. I think you'll be set and shouldn't worry too much about it.

Just my 2cent

HOG.

 

[pinkhair]

yea, .308 doesn't suffer too much velocity loss when you chop the barrel, only thing you might notice is more muzzle blast

 

[pinkhair]

but if you're running the sf break that's kind of a non-issue anyways

 

[Xshot]

yea, .308 doesn't suffer too much velocity loss when you chop the barrel, only thing you might notice is more muzzle blast

I will be using a suppressor, so I'm not to concerned.

 

[Xshot]

As I stated earlier, this is my first 1:12 twist .308 rifle. A primary concern is stabilizing 168 -178 grain SMK and A-Max bullets after shortening barrel to 18.5 inches. As I write this, I'm thinking the 155 grain A-Max should be added to the desired list.

 

[kyshootnman]

I'm thinking you'll see good results with the 155 smk palma's.