Ruger M77 Mark II Target .308 - Should I Cut and Thread it?

[Jcann]

I was just voicing my opinion on what I think it would do. It may be right. It may be wrong. Sorry I’m not as OpERatOr as you.

But to your article you posted; longer barrel apparently doesn’t make it more accurate. Over 1” group at 100 yards? Not that great.

And from a reloading perspective we all know that more FPS isn’t always equal to more accuracy.

I appreciate the back handed compliment but I’m no more an OpERatOr than anyone else here. Although I know a higher MV allows the shooter to take more advantage of the bullets BC than a slower velocity. Therefore having better down range performance.

Possibly the OP doesn’t care about that which is fine. He may want a lighter quick pointing 300 yard rifle whereby a bullets BC is not that important. Although, you won’t achieve a lighter quick pointing rifle by lopping off 6 to 8 inches of a barrel and then screwing a 6 to 8 inch can on it.

There is not a factual answer with regards to expected accuracy after you cut the barrel back 6-8 inches other than a loss in velocity. The OP had a rifle like this in a 204 years ago that he regrets parting with. Now he’s about to make another decision he may end up regretting as well. I’m not here to pick fights or argue. I’m here to lend insight and wisdom based on my years of hunting, shooting and reloading experience. And, if that makes me an OpERatOr, I’ll gladly wear the moniker.

Also

from a “HAND LOADING“ perspective, we should all know that LESS FPS isn‘t always equal to more accuracy either. But, I’m sure you will learn this as you grow in this discipline.

 

[GlockPride]

Those Ruger Mark rifles have really shot up in value. I’d hate to see you spend a couple hundred to knock a couple hundred off in value, if you catch my drift.
What about buying another shorter barrel that’s already threaded?

 

[diggler1833]

1) There are multiple charts if one just does a ".308 velocity vs barrel length" search on Google Images.

2) A good rule of thumb with the .308 and medium burn powders is about 25 FPS/inch.

So what does that mean? Well, using my personal example of a 165gr Nosler BT at about 2,680 FPS at the muzzle; I keep velocity above 2K FPS out to ~380 yards. * My personal limitations on hunting ranges are that I like to keep impact velocities above 2K FPS...you don't have to worry about bullet failure to adequately open/excellent crushing and tearing etc...(that's a long rabbit hole, so I'll stop there). My barrel is also 26 inches.

A 20" that reduces velocity by ~150 FPS (2,530 FPS) would see that 2K FPS threshold occur at about ~ 310 yards...so a loss of 70 yards range to increase portability. It is up to the end user and their circumstances to determine if the trade-off is worth it.

Now you can load around that to make up *a little* for the lost velocity...but if running your load to the ragged edge of pressure doesn't give you the accuracy you want, then it is pointless.

 

[Profreedomokie]

I took a two-day shooting and reloading class a few years ago from Gorty Getters. He is a custom rifle builder whose rifles have set national 1000 yd. records. One thing some of us did during the class was the ladder load development test. This test will show you how to load your ammo for the best accuracy your rifle is capable of. Barrels whip around when fired and you want your bullet to exit the barrel at the exact location each time it is on target. I used a Steyr SSG 69 .308 for the test and had 20 different loads starting with the maximum and working down 3 grains each. It does surprise you to see your hottest loads be the lower ones on the target. We did this at a range of 200 yards. I had vertical stringing of about 14 inches. You then pick out the tightest 5 shot group and fine tune you loads from there. I did this test later with a Steyr .308 Match at 300 yds. and the complete group was under 4" with the 20 different loads. The Match has a thicker barrel and match chamber.

 

[thaHooligan]

Yea I'm a little worried about losing accuracy and screwing this rifle up, which I definitely don't want to do. Especially after finding one after 18 years or so. lol. I have other shorte barrel .308's, so I think I will just leave this one as it is.

 

[Dangerousways]

just my 2cents, don't see that rifle very often, i wouldnt cut it, by the time you pay a good smith to take the barrel off, cut and thread it, put it back on, you could almost buy another rifle, that rifle will go up in value, but not if you modify it, there are plenty of savages, remington tacticals, mvps, patriots, ruger americans, hunters etc,
as far as hunting rifles go, i see dozens of 30-06 and 270 as compared to 308, very rarely do i find an older 308.

 

[diggler1833]

Yea I'm a little worried about losing accuracy and screwing this rifle up, which I definitely don't want to do. Especially after finding one after 18 years or so. lol. I have other shorte barrel .308's, so I think I will just leave this one as it is.

One of the benefits to a 26" .308: The report isn't all that bad when you aren't wearing hearing protection while hunting. Obviously a suppressor is better, but I don't go around saying "huh?" all day after shooting a deer either.

My 26" .308, and it's my "go-to" even after having plenty of more impressive options:

 

[thaHooligan]

My 26" .308, and it's my "go-to" even after having plenty of more impressive options:

Nice, what rifle is that?

 

[08H3]

I’m all for the chop personally. As long as you get the smith who threads it to put a good crown on it you won’t loose the accuracy of the gun.

I recently bought a new production Remington 700 308 adl varmint to modify myself. It started out a 26” heavy with cheesy plastic stock. Pictured here with a Bushnell 6-18x50

Well I cut it to 20” put it in a HS Precision M24 short stock that’s 29” instead of 31” long and put the scope back on. I didn’t like the balance so it came back apart and was cut to 18”. Originally I planned to go to 16.5” but decided to stop at 18”. I have since taken the big scope off and went to a Vortex 4-16x42that mounted a lot lower and fits the rifle and me perfectly. No accuracy issues here, still shoots fantastic and especially without the cheap ass stock.

With the vortex

Okay, now some real world use stuff . I hunted with 308 almost exclusively until about 4-5 years ago so for the first 6-7 years I hunted I used one or another 308 rifles from 16”-22” barrel lengths. The Savage model 10 sporter being my favorite to carry around but this Remington 700 tactical 16” 308 was a blast to shoot, literally. It accounts for one of the 3 biggest deer I have ever shot and also the longest shot taken. I hit this guy at 270 yards, dead on in the neck facing me, went in exactly where I planned and stopped about halfway through him in the liver if I remember correctly. The round was 150gr monarch soft points from academy, nothing special but even from the 16” barrel it opened up, did it’s job and dropped the buck in its tracks with one shot.