Re: GAP10 Barrel Length Opinions
I ordered my Gap 10 .308 with a 20" barrel. I thought hard about the 18" barrel, but here was my reasoning.
A Gap 10 is a fairly heavy rifle especially with bipod and any decent scope. I went with an S&B 5-25 on mine. I'm guessing fully loaded my rifle will weigh in the neighborhood of 13-lbs. This is not a rifle that you will be swinging around alot, mostly be shooting it off the bipod. So why not go with the longer barrel?
Another reason is a Gap 10 is a precision rifle, if I want a .308 rifle with a short barrel for running and gunning there are much lighter less expensive options.
As far as velocity it will really only come into play past 800 meters, but past that it makes a difference. Lots of guys are shooting their 16" and 18" Gaps to 800 yards and even a 1,000 yards very accurately. Will the extra 80 fps make a difference probably at 1200 meters.
Just depends on what ya plan on doing with your Gap. I bought mine for long range precision. I have a .223 for out to 400 yards and just blowing off rounds. My Gap will cover me from 100 to a 1,000 yards, probably pick up a .338 .375 cheytac or .50BMG for ranges further than that.
Hope that helps, just my .02 cents.