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Shooting & Reloading - Mausers, Big Bores and others >> Big Bore Rifles
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cr500
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Reged: 11/10/03
Posts: 215
Loc: Singleton ,Australia
Most stable off hand .Long or short barrel.
      #19627 - 06/10/04 08:35 AM

I will be getting some of my hunting rifles rebarreled over christmas and am trying to make up my mind about barrel length. I,m thinking of making my 308 a short one with 22-23" barrel to be handing in and out of cars and in the bush. But my 300 weatherby only has a 24" barrel and I wanted to make this rifle good for off hand field shooting. What is the general consesus on making a rifle as stable as possible off hand (prone, kneeling, squating, standing)? What length barrel do the silhuoette shooters go for?
I was thinking about 27" long ,medium weight. Also am I right in thinking slightly front heavy is considered to be more stable?

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M82A1Barret50Cal
.275 member


Reged: 12/04/04
Posts: 96
Loc: ACT, Australia
Re: Most stable off hand .Long or short barrel. [Re: cr500]
      #19668 - 09/10/04 04:10 PM

I find it depends more on where the weight of the gun is than the length of the barrel, if the gun is muzzle heavy then I find I tend to be less stable and shoot low, if the gun is butt heavy, I tend to shake a bit and aim too high, I like a nice evenly weighted gun. All that said I think you would be well off with a 27" barrel, any shorter and you might find it a bit too loud...

M82A1

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atkinson6
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Reged: 26/01/04
Posts: 678
Loc: Idaho
Re: Most stable off hand .Long or short barrel. [Re: M82A1Barret50Cal]
      #20024 - 26/10/04 03:12 AM

For off hand shooting I like a 26" tube and a medium heavy or standard weight barrel that tends to make a rifle a tad muzzle heavy..this will hold down the tremors.....Try running to the top of a hill and shooting a 22" barrel fwt. rifle offhand, it will bounce all over hell as you try to hold your breath....

The old African hunters and the US Mountain men, knew a thing or two about shooting offhand, and all used long tubes, follow thier track or go shoot a muzzle loader off hand, they just hang on the bullseye.....

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cr500
.300 member


Reged: 11/10/03
Posts: 215
Loc: Singleton ,Australia
Re: Most stable off hand .Long or short barrel. [Re: atkinson6]
      #20028 - 26/10/04 08:47 AM

"Muzzle loaders just hang on the bulleseye??? Jeeze when I shoot mine ,the bulls eye is the only place the bullets dont go! No seriously ,my long muzzle loader is one of the reasons I was thinking of a longer barrel for my 300 weatherby. The out of breath shot is the one which stuffs me up the most ,which is why I,m after a more stable field shooting rifle. Even if it only shoots 1.5 MOA from the bench. I will shoot the shit out of the standard 24" barrel at F class and hunting ,then get a 26-27" long barrel for it.

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NitroXAdministrator
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Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 39877
Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...
Re: Most stable off hand .Long or short barrel. [Re: cr500]
      #20032 - 26/10/04 12:12 PM

Isn't it that a long sighting plane makes a difference for open sights but no difference for a scope. And the weight of the rifle makes a difference for off-hand accuracy / holdability ?



--------------------
John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
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AussieMike
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Reged: 01/09/04
Posts: 236
Loc: Southern Tablelands, NSW, Aust...
Re: Most stable off hand .Long or short barrel. [Re: NitroX]
      #20059 - 27/10/04 09:16 AM

But the longer the barrel the smoother the swing on running shots?

mike

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4seventy
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Reged: 07/05/03
Posts: 2210
Loc: Queensland Australia
Re: Most stable off hand .Long or short barrel. [Re: cr500]
      #20099 - 28/10/04 02:09 PM

In reply to:

What is the general consesus on making a rifle as stable as possible off hand



Easy, just make sure it's a double!

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4seventy
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Reged: 07/05/03
Posts: 2210
Loc: Queensland Australia
Re: Most stable off hand .Long or short barrel. [Re: cr500]
      #20100 - 28/10/04 02:09 PM

In reply to:

What is the general consesus on making a rifle as stable as possible off hand



Easy, just make sure it's a double!

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4seventy
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Reged: 07/05/03
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Loc: Queensland Australia
Re: Most stable off hand .Long or short barrel. [Re: 4seventy]
      #20101 - 28/10/04 02:12 PM

OOPS! Double discharge! Sorry!

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cr500
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Reged: 11/10/03
Posts: 215
Loc: Singleton ,Australia
Re: Most stable off hand .Long or short barrel. [Re: 4seventy]
      #20149 - 29/10/04 08:43 AM

4Seventy. I would like to try your theory on doubles being more stable. If you could just send one to Cairns for me to trial over a season or two ,I will see how it is for off hand shooting. If you could send a 470 or 500 NE ,preferabley and old English model ,though a newer American one would suffice for my experiment. I will post results as I go.

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4seventy
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Reged: 07/05/03
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Re: Most stable off hand .Long or short barrel. [Re: cr500]
      #20152 - 29/10/04 09:04 AM

In reply to:

If you could send a 470 or 500 NE ,



Better than that I'll bring them up personally!
You just organize some piggy's for us to test them on, plus a couple of nice female "gunbearers" , plus a couple of slabs of XXXX and I'm on my way!

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mikeh416Rigby
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Reged: 24/02/03
Posts: 6051
Loc: The beautiful Oley Valley, PA....
Re: Most stable off hand .Long or short barrel. [Re: cr500]
      #20260 - 31/10/04 08:05 AM

I'll share a personal experience with you, and hopefully it will help your decision a little easier.

Back in the early '80s, I won a Remington 700 ADL with a 24" barrel, and immediately sent it off to a well known gunmaker to have him work his magic on it. I told him I wanted it for hunting Dall Sheep in the Yukon Territory, and he suggested I let him turn the barrel down to a very light contour, get the trigger pull down to 2 3/4 pounds, skeletonize the action and magazine box, and epoxy bed the action into one of his light weight fibre glass stocks. I agreed, and 2 months later I had a rifle in my hands that wouldn't shoot a group larger that 5/8" with Federal 160 grain factory ammo. With handloads, it kept almost everything well under 1/2 inch- from the bench.

Shooting offhand though was another story alltogether. That rifle was so darned light at the muzzle, that I was very hard pressed to shoot a group smaller than 10 inches at 100 yards. It just wobbled all over the place. On the sheep hunt I was fortunate enough to shoot a 38", 12 year old ram the first day of the hunt, and later shot a B&C Caribou with it. Both shots were from the prone position, using my back pack for a rest. I sold the rifle shortly after I returned from the trip.

Now, all of my rifles sport either 24 or 26 inch tubes, and have either a #3 or #4 contour. The weight out at the end really makes the rifle settle in well, and really helps eliminate most of the wobble. For example, with my Winchester Model 70 in 375 Ackley, firing off hand, I can keep 10 shots in under 6 inches unless I screw up. I'm sold on the heavier barrels. Hope this helps you out.

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cr500
.300 member


Reged: 11/10/03
Posts: 215
Loc: Singleton ,Australia
Re: Most stable off hand .Long or short barrel. [Re: mikeh416Rigby]
      #20271 - 31/10/04 01:23 PM

Mike416Rigby ,what you talked about is what I was thinking as well. I shoot better off hand with my 458 Zastava (with 300gn bullets) than I do with my 22 rimfire. The cheap old Zastava seems to have a stock which suits me perfectley(after market sythetic) and it has a medium weight 26" barrel. My 22 has a short light barrel and short stock to suit my wife. The Zastava seems alot more stable to hold off hand. I have pretty much decided on a No 4 contour 27" barrel for my 300 Weatherby.

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mikeh416Rigby
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Reged: 24/02/03
Posts: 6051
Loc: The beautiful Oley Valley, PA....
Re: Most stable off hand .Long or short barrel. [Re: cr500]
      #20292 - 01/11/04 02:29 AM

My .22 has helped me become a better shooter offhand. It's a Remington 541-T bolt action. It has a heavy 20 inch barrel, and I mounted a 4X Leupold scope on it, then had my smith do a trigger job on it. I use it mostly at 50 yards offhand, shooting at 2" paste on dots. I shoot at least 100 rounds every other weekend, and can usually keep 90%+ of the shots inside the target. It's great practice for when you break out the high powered stuff.

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