Too short? .308 Midrange setup

[Solidbuilt]

I wanted something different, something to fill a niche, but did I go too short?
I cut my heavy profile Ruger American Hunter barrel down to 14.5" and pin and welded a Wardin Surefire blast diffuser.
I wanted to build a tactical "Urban Sniper".
The heavy barrel allows for multiple follow up shots, the blast diffuser keeps the concussion forward and dust signature down, and the shorter length was to make it more handy and also more rigid..
But, then I see that most police Snipers use a 24" barrel.... from my understanding, police snipers would rarely setup for a shot past 300 yards, so why do they need all that barrel?
With my 168gr Hornady ELD-M handloads, I'm getting just over 2500 fps at the muzzle with 45.3gr of Varget..... single digit SD's... (over max- don't copy or be careful!)
At 600 yards, it's still tracking at 1550 fps (dialing 5 mils elevation).
Is that too much drop at 600 yards? (Approx 9')
Does 1550 fps seem like enough velocity to still be effective up to 600 yards? Energy at 600 yards is calculated at 980 ft-lbs....
At the 600 yard range/ windy conditions, I was getting sub MOA. At 300 yards, before the wind picked up, I managed .4 MOA....
At the 100 yard range, it's always sub MOA, a few times I got 1/2 MOA... 1/2 MOA takes a lot of patience, concentration and calmness between shots .... sub MOA comes rather easily....
Thanks in advance for your feedback.

 

[King_beardsly]

Definitely a niche rig but if everything is tracking and lines up then you should be golden depending on what you want to use it for. Now will it be optimized for 1000 yard F-Class not at all but banging steal at 500-600 you’ll be sitting pretty and I think most police use a 24” just because it’s the “standard sniper rifle” since that seems to be the most common offering in heavy barrel 308’s

 

[SkyScrapin]

TLDR: Try 155hybrids. You'll be happy you did.

Big fan of the shorter barrels.

I'm transonic with my 308W at about 680y shooting 155 hybrids. 11" of barrel, so a little shorter than yours.

I have tested anywhere from 125gr to 185gr and the 155s were the best blend of speed and velocity. Even though the 135gr SMK was moving faster, it didn't have enough back pressure for complete powder burn causing massive SD issues. At 500y it was a problem for me. Moving to 155s stabalized my sanity a good bit. 185gr didn't have enough velocity to make them justifiable.

You will also notice a huge difference in sound based on projectile class used. Assuming you keep powder and suppressor the same, the light for class projectiles will be seriously loud, the heavies much more managable.

 

[Solidbuilt]

TLDR: Try 155hybrids. You'll be happy you did.

Big fan of the shorter barrels.

I'm transonic with my 308W at about 680y shooting 155 hybrids. 11" of barrel, so a little shorter than yours.

I have tested anywhere from 125gr to 185gr and the 155s were the best blend of speed and velocity. Even though the 135gr SMK was moving faster, it didn't have enough back pressure for complete powder burn causing massive SD issues. At 500y it was a problem for me. Moving to 155s stabalized my sanity a good bit. 185gr didn't have enough velocity to make them justifiable.

You will also notice a huge difference in sound based on projectile class used. Assuming you keep powder and suppressor the same, the light for class projectiles will be seriously loud, the heavies much more managable.

Ok, sounds good- I'll give those 155 Hybrids a shot.
I can't believe you can get out to almost 700 yards with an 11" barrel.
Thanks for the info

 

[SkyScrapin]

Ok, sounds good- I'll give those 155 Hybrids a shot.
I can't believe you can get out to almost 700 yards with an 11" barrel.
Thanks for the info

It's fun. Haven't crunch the Max Ord for a fair comparison, but in my head I'm arc'ing like a 30-30. Plenty enough for killing stuff and ringing steel.

12" 6.5CM shooting factory Berger with 140s is transonic to about 900y close to sea level. Haven't put any critters down with it though. Purely been a range toy for the EL OH ELs.

 

[thedude824]

With regards to “police snipers”. We used the crappy R700 308s our Department supplied/approved along with the approved soft points (175 I think). At my agency, a shot past 100 yards was absolutely forbidden. Granted I left 10 years ago and at the time our Police Chief was more interested in a friendly cuddly image and not “scaring” anyone.