Rem 700 5R 308 with 20" barrel

JR45

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Minuteman
Mar 18, 2014
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New to rifle shooting..............Rem 700 5R with 20" barrel vs 24" vs 26" out to 1,000 yrds.

Is there a big advantage with a longer barrel?

Thanks,
John
 
Just more speed. Not more accurate until transonic transitions then the more speed will provide more accuracy. If that makes sense. The 20", depending on load and elevation, should provide to 1000-1200yds with no trouble.
 
I cant say for the 5r's but my two 20's (tactical and aac) are 90-100fps slower than my 26" varmint (all Remington's) when the exact same load is fired in each using 155, 168 and 175 grain bullets and varget powder.

While apples to oranges, my 223 5r has a 24” long barrel vs my 223 tactical that is 20 inches. The 5r is a good 150-200fps faster but... the chamber is also significantly different as the tactical has a long throat and the 5r is very near .100” shorter.
 
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First off, what type of shooting is it likely to be? Second, how often will you realistically shoot 1000 yd with the rifle? There are certainly some [load] options that you can use to simply "get there" with a 20" barrel, or even shorter. Depending on what you're doing and how often, it may not even matter that some of the options will be transonic or subsonic by the time they arrive. But if it's something you'll be doing often AND you're going to have to deal with much wind, the extra velocity you can get from the longer barrel can be an advantage. The relative value of having a longer barrel needs to be weighed against the resulting weight and maneuverability of the rifle, as well as how often you will actually use it at ranges greater than 500-600 yd.
 
If you wish to shoot in NRA LR , both any/any and match divisions, a longer barrel will provide finer iron sight adjustment increments. Higher velocity at less pressure is also assumed, which serves to counter wind.
 
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With the 100 FPS number in mind, a lot of factory 308 ammo (Federal GMM especially) the velocity is not at the top any way. That would tend to get you transsonic before you hit 1000 yards. My only testing showed me the 168 FGMM ammo lost stability by the 1000 yard target and the results were miserable. An extra 4 mils got the "wobblers" on target but all key holed.