Opinions wanted on cutting a 30-06 down to 16.5”.

[2ndAmendmentNut]

I few months ago a picked up a Sears M53 in 30-06 (for those who don’t know it is basically a plain Jane M70, made by Winchester for Sears.) It is a good old rifle, nice trigger pull, shoots j-words into 1.5” groups and so far boolits into 3” groups at 100yards. Not super accurate but plenty for hunting in the brush. I have been toying with the idea of cutting down its 22” barrel to 16.5”. I doubt accuracy would be effected, and if anything it might be improved. I figure I might lose about 200 or so f.p.s. which is significant, but will most likely only be noticed with j-words, and deer and hogs are unlikely to know the difference, bullet/boolit placement would still be the biggest factor in clean kills, not 200f.p.s. give or take. So am I missing anything? Is there a serious reason not to cut the barrel back? I personally think minus 6” of barrel the rifle would be over all handier, without any serious tradeoffs. Opinions and advice are welcome.

[Blammer]

you touch that sucker off with a full house load you better be wearing hearing protection.

the fireball at lo light may be something to behold too....

[462]

If my Mosin-Nagant M38 (18-inch barrel) is any indicator, the muzzle blast and noise will take quite a bit of the fun out of the shooting. Increased recoil may be another consideration. I've heard a few people say that the Enfield Jungle Carbine is not fun to shoot.

Perhaps a Winchester or Marlin, in .30-30, might be a better option? There is an increased cost factor involved, though.

Just my two-cents.

[btroj]

What? Sorry, I didn't hear the question. Someone just fired a short barreled '06 near me.

Sounds like someone needs a 30-30.

Brad

[lreed]

I had a FN-98 '06 with a 16 inch barrel, was real handy almost like a pistol. The muzzle blast was rough on the ears,so much in fact the 16 inch barrel is in my parts bin and the FN has a 24 inch barrel. lreed

[JeffinNZ]

It's a great idea if you are only going to burn 10 grains of Red Dot.

[geargnasher]

What? Sorry, I didn't hear the question. Someone just fired a short barreled '06 near me.

Sounds like someone needs a 30-30.

Brad

Nahhh, "someone" needs a .35 Remington!

Gear

[Phillip]

If it was a .308, I would say 16.5 would be OK with 1:12 twist and 150gr boolits. There not too bad to shoot, but a 30-06, no thanks. The muzzle blast would be over the top.

If You do want to cut is down, I would make it 18" min to 20" max. This will keep it form becoming unfriendly from the blast.

[Tracy]

I think 16.5" would be fine. For deer with jacketed bullets, I would load 150 grain bullets or lighter, or perhaps 170s that were intended for the .30/30. 165s and up may lose enough velocity to prevent sufficient expansion. I base this on the fact that 165 Remington PSPs do not open well on deer from my 18" .308, while they open fine from longer barrels.

[Larry Gibson]

Stick with the 22" barrel. "Handy" doesn't cut it when it comes to shooting it. You'll also get better cast bullet velcocity because you won't have to use as much pressure to drive the cast bullets to 1900 - 2000 + fps for hunting. You'll have to use more powder to achieve that velocity in the shorter barrel. This means increases thrust/accelleration.....bad for a softer cast bullet for hunting. The increased muzzle blast isn't worth it as mentioned.

Larry Gibson

[steg]

An acquaintance did this to a really nice 375 H&H, ruined the gun in my opinion, said he was trying for a fast shooting guide gun, a long action bolt gun, also a pre 74 mod 70, BTW he was asked not to bring it back to the range, something about the noise factor. .........steg

[bgokk]

I had a Sears M53 in .30-06 back in the 70's. I cut mine to 17" because I hunted in thick cover and used the rifle to push the scrub oak branches aside. That was to keep them from scraping on my clothing.

Removing that 5" made all the difference. I no longer had sore forearm mussels and never noticed the muzzle blast. But I can't remember ever hearing the shot when shooting at a deer.

I chrono'ed the rifle with W-W 150 Gr. Power Points before and after and only lost 98 FPS.

The rifle always was and still is a 1.5" shooter. My oldest son now owns it.

Back then I did not cast boolits and it has only shot J-words.

BG
Larry is right about shooting boolits longer will be better.

[snowtigger]

One of my Brothers in law has a Pre 64 model 70 in 338 Win mag. He had it re-barreled to a 16 1/2" bull barrel.
He always shot Federal Premium Safari grade ammo. These cartridges are loaded with some tough Nosler bullets.

Beyond 50 yards, they did not expand. Pencil sized holed through and through. I kept telling him they were too slow. I offered to load him some that would expand.
Finally, two years ago, he showed up with Remington core-lokt ammo. His moose went right down, DRT.
He still won't admit the Nosler,s were goim too slow, but last year, he was back in the field with thre Rems...... Pick your bullets , pick your powder, put up with the noise, and above all have fun.

PS; I shoot a Model 660 Rem in 350 Rem mag, so I know about noise.....

[nicholst55]

As everyone has stated, muzzle blast is going to be unpleasant. For a hunting rifle, you'll probably never notice. For a range toy, I'd want it to be at least 18" long.

I shoot an 18" FAL a bit, and it isn't that bad; no muzzle brake (aka Noise Enhancer) on it though.

[Lloyd Smale]

go for it if its what you want. You carrry a gun all day and only hear muzzle blast for a fraction of a second.

[bobthenailer]

IMO 18 1/2" would be ideal , i currently have 2 rifles that have 18 1/2 inch barrels a marlin 1894 357 mag and a custom 350 rem mag in a mannulacher stock and they are a joy to shoot & hunt with.
In the past ive owned a ruger # 3 in 22 hornet & another in 45/70 barrel length ? but they sure were handy and 2 rem 600s in 243 & 308 with 18/1/2 " barrels
I have a few other rifles with 24" 26 " & 30" barrels and IMO they are ony used for shots over 200 + yards and they sure arent even close to being as handy as the shorter barrels.
dont worry about the muzzel! blast it may bother some people at the bench but in the field you will never notice it , whats the difference if you shoot a 30/06 with a shorter barrel or a 300 mag with a 24 " barrel ? as far as noise.
I also have a few friends who have the remington 760 game master pump 30/06 carbine with factory 18 1/2 inch barrels and they both love them. of the bench the noise doesent bother me .

[pdawg_shooter]

If you want a 30-30, why not buy a 30-30?

[Echo]

I'm with KiwiJeff - load with a fast powder (4198, say), and adjust for accuracy and MV. I'll bet the fast(er) powder will have pretty much burnt up before boolit exit.

My dos centavos...

[MT Gianni]

If you want a 30-30, why not buy a 30-30?

The best handling guns I own are my 20" bbl BLR's. I would think 18-20" would be the max I would go and there is no real advantage from there to a 22". I vote to leave it as is or replace it with a smaller cartridge /shorter bbl gun.

[Artful]

18 would be shortest on '06 for me - I have some 308 with 17 and with suppressor they are ok but with muzzlebeaks they are noisy suckers - before you take it to field you have to take it to the range.