22”vs 24”

[Luvthunt]

Asking for pros and cons on 22” vs 24” barrel on a 375 HH

 

[Bonk]

Go with a 23"

 

[Bonk]

Sorry, I'm in smart ass mode this morning. ;-)

 

[Pheroze]

I like the balance a 24" barrel gives. Shorter feels awkward to me. I have a 22" on mine but on all my other guns I am building I have opted for 24".

 

[Bonk]

Ok, I'll be serious. I think with a few exceptions barrel length is way overthought. Gun manufacturers know what they're doing. They generally don't put barrels on guns that are inappropriate for the caliber. Some calibers, like my beloved 300H&H, do much better with longer barrels. OTOH, 308 works great with everything from 18" barrels on up. Same caliber bullet but they behave very differently.

The other angle people discuss is 'handiness'. I don't give that idea much validity. I have long barreled hunting rifles and I have short barreled micro rifles. I've never had a problem walking in the woods with any of them. We're talking no more than 5-6" total difference in OAL. I'm convinced it doesn't matter.

I was only sorta joking when I said 23". I had my 375H&H cut to 23" when AHR did the upgrades. Seems to me to be a nice compromise. Which actually makes my point. If my 23" barrel was an inch longer or an inch shorter could I really distinguish a real world difference? No, I could not. I think 375H&H is such a versatile caliber that barrel length doesn't matter much beyond personal preference.

 

[Pheroze]

BTW I also found no real difference with the velocity of my handloads out of a 22" barrel. The final velocity was well within the book predicted values. So no issue there. I think it comes down to how you like your rifle to feel in hand.

 

[Rem700stw]

I would go with 24. If you find it unwieldy or muzzle heavy in YOUR hands you can always shorten it. You will likely give up $200 and 50-100 fps in doing so. If, however, you are planning on going into harms way in tight cover and tangling with things that can hurt you I think you should reconsider cartridge choice as opposed to barrel length. The 375 is capable of killing anything but is not in my humble opinion a "stopper".

 

[Luvthunt]

Thank you all for your thoughts

 

[TTundra]

I'm all for shorter barrels. For me, the better handling offsets any possible loss in factory loads. If you reload, you can make almost all that up if you want to. These aren't 1000 yard bench guns, so most don't need to eek out every fps possible. Although, and again, if you reload you can make it what you want and close that gap some.

I typically rebarrel instead of just cutting down. More cost, yes, but I go with a slightly heavier contour/profile to add a little weight depending on the rifles purpose and/or caliber. If looking for a small and lightweight package, then I just chop the factory barrel.

 

[USMA84DAB]

I will have to politely disagree with Bonk. While on my recent trip to SA, I stopped the PH during a stalk. "Gee, I wish I had another 4" of barrel on my rifle to snag on thorns, rocks, and bushes!" We had a chuckle. He had taken to referring to my 20" Ruger Alaskan as "Stubby". Handiness - carrying the rifle 99% of the time, and firing it 1% of the time - matters to me.

Mine is chambered in .375 Ruger - purposely designed to replicate the H&H from the 4" shorter barrel. I bet you could tweak the powder burn rate/load to get the same results from the H&H, so you don't need the extra 4" of steel.

I am not overly tall - 5'10" and built like a tree trunk with a 28" inseam. I like the smaller/lighter barrel and action length. As Boddington observes, the hills are getting steeper and the rifle heavier. I was able to slip my 270gr Barnes TSX right through a blesbok's boiler room from a lasered 253 yards with the 20" barrel. It also worked well on a 200 yard running away baboon shot. I really like handy.

If you want the "normal" length of 24", rock on! This is personal preference - both will slay the critters well with good shot placement. There are MANY factors that play into getting to the Goldilocks rifle for YOU. Have a great time experimenting and tweaking to find out the perfect combo for you. Be advised, though - it can eat up your wallet! LOL!!!!!

 

[machinistbutler]

I have 375 H&H rifles with 23, 24, 25 inch barrels. Other than a bit of velocity I can't tell much difference. The 23 inch is a beauty AHR, so it wins the prize for looks hands down. 24 is a Belgium Browning Safari, and two cz550 with the 25.

Optics on them are much more important than the barrel length.

 

[meigsbucks]

If given a choice, I’d go with the 22”. It’s the 40-60 fps loss versus a little more handiness. I’d prefer the handiness. By the sake token, if my rifle had a 24”, I wouldn’t spend the time or money to have it cut down unless after using it, I felt the need to chop it.

 

[sgt_zim]

Whatever you're comfortable and confident shooting.

The velocity delta between shorter and longer barrels at ordinary hunting distances is meaningless.

 

[Cam Moon]

I have 375 H&H rifles with 23, 24, 25 inch barrels. Other than a bit of velocity I can't tell much difference. The 23 inch is a beauty AHR, so it wins the prize for looks hands down. 24 is a Belgium Browning Safari, and two cz550 with the 25.

Optics on them are much more important than the barrel length.

I think what you are trying to say is that you think you should sell one to me.
As to the OP, I can't really say. Like many things in life, I'm gonna take what I can get!

 

[Bonk]

I will have to politely disagree with Bonk. While on my recent trip to SA, I stopped the PH during a stalk. "Gee, I wish I had another 4" of barrel on my rifle to snag on thorns, rocks, and bushes!" We had a chuckle. He had taken to referring to my 20" Ruger Alaskan as "Stubby". Handiness - carrying the rifle 99% of the time, and firing it 1% of the time - matters to me.

Mine is chambered in .375 Ruger - purposely designed to replicate the H&H from the 4" shorter barrel. I bet you could tweak the powder burn rate/load to get the same results from the H&H, so you don't need the extra 4" of steel.

I am not overly tall - 5'10" and built like a tree trunk with a 28" inseam. I like the smaller/lighter barrel and action length. As Boddington observes, the hills are getting steeper and the rifle heavier. I was able to slip my 270gr Barnes TSX right through a blesbok's boiler room from a lasered 253 yards with the 20" barrel. It also worked well on a 200 yard running away baboon shot. I really like handy.

If you want the "normal" length of 24", rock on! This is personal preference - both will slay the critters well with good shot placement. There are MANY factors that play into getting to the Goldilocks rifle for YOU. Have a great time experimenting and tweaking to find out the perfect combo for you. Be advised, though - it can eat up your wallet! LOL!!!!!

No worries. We're just chatting about guns. It's all good.

I get it. My favorite 30-06 is a 20" Ruger Guide Gun but I don't find longer barreled guns to be a detriment when I'm stalking. They aren't helpful but they aren't much of a problem either. YMMV.

 

[One Day...]

The facts...

Shortening a barrel...

• Makes a rifle shoot a little slower. The velocity loss depends on caliber, bullet weight, bullet bearing surfaces, powder characteristics, etc. etc. so it is relatively hard to predict and it is not consistent across calibers and loads. Typically 1" shorter = 25 to 30 fps slower.
• Makes a rifle muzzle a bit lighter and changes a bit the balance of the rifle. This can be good or bad depending on the initial balance of the rifle.
• Increases muzzle blast and muzzle flash considerably. This is an often forgotten aspect, but very real...
• Reduces a rifle overall length.
• Changes the aesthetics of a rifle.

There is little doubt that chopping 8" from a 24" barrel to make it 16" would have a rather dramatic impact on all of the above.

Conversely, pruning 1" or even 2" is mostly relevant to the "eyes of the beholder". It will not change drastically, or even noticeably, the ballistics or handling characteristics of a rifle.

The reality is that in jesse thick enough to not see a full elephant at 10 meters, anything longer than an 4.5" barreled pistol will catch on something sooner or later, so whether going from 24" to 22" is worth the expense or not is a purely personal question of preference...

 

[WAB]

Mine is cut to 21 1/2”. This rifle started life as one of Winchester’s M70 SS crf rifles. The bbl profile is just too heavy on these rifles. Cutting 2 1/2” off made it balance better and improved handling in the coastal Alaskan brush where I was using it. I could have replaced the bbl when I customized the gun but it was a tack driver. I am very happy w the result.

 

[nztimb]

The question of barrel length is one I spent some time analysing and apart from the performace aspect of the longer v shorter there is the handling aspect. Depending on cartridge of course but in the medium to heavy, a longer barrel is slightly slower to swing onto target but on a moving target is a much steadier swing. A shorter barrel is not as steady in the offhand and not as easy/accurate to "point" as you bring it up to the shoulder. The longer barrel has an effect on the recoil impulse with less muzzle rise so again you can be back on target more smoothly.

 

[freefall]

20"

 

[colorado]

you lose approximately 25 fps per inch on a 375 H&H No animal is going to notice that. I have a 22" barrel on my BDL in 270, and 24" barrels on my 375 Weatherby and 500 Jeffery. All feel great. Balance is more important in my mind