# 22" vs. 24" velocity



## sqdqo (Mar 5, 2008)

I am looking at the Browning Lever rifles in .300. The .300 WSM is short action with a 22" barrel and a full 1lb light than the traditional .300 Winchester mag. The 1lb lighter is appealing but is there any appreciable loss on velocity with a 2" shorter barrel?


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## Sasha and Abby (May 11, 2004)

not too much... maybe 100 fps.

Before you buy one, check out the trigger. I had one in .308 and it was HORRIBLE. I hand-loaded for it and could not get it below about 2" groups. Everyone I have ever picked up had a bad trigger.


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## sqdqo (Mar 5, 2008)

I have one on .308 and it does have a poor trigger but shoots reasonably with under 2" @ 100 yds. I am not competing in bench rest matches, for a hunting rifle this is just fine for me.


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## KurtR (May 3, 2008)

bench rest.... for a hunting rifle 2" at a 100 is crap. I don't think the velocity will matter out of each one at 200 yds and under


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## specialpatrolgroup (Jan 16, 2009)

Rule of thumb is 100 FPS per inch to a point,


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## Longshot (Feb 9, 2004)

specialpatrolgroup said:


> Rule of thumb is 100 FPS per inch to a point,


Depending on powder burn rate, powder capacity, bullet weight.... the 100 fps is not really something to go by.


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## xdeano (Jan 14, 2005)

Velocity isn't anything without accuracy. I really wouldn't worry about the velocity that you'll loose because it won't be a whole lot in the figures unless you're going to shoot a long ways with it. Accuracy is king of the hill in my book.

So what if it can push a bullet at 3100fps if you can't hit what you're aiming at. Plus the critter isn't going to feel the difference between 100fps anyhow.

I agree with Longshot on his above statement. There are a lot of variables to be accounted for.

xdeano


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## specialpatrolgroup (Jan 16, 2009)

Longshot said:


> specialpatrolgroup said:
> 
> 
> > Rule of thumb is 100 FPS per inch to a point,
> ...


You are right, I was generalizing quite a bit, but its an easy way of thinking about it, and after so much length there won't be much of a difference at all, its a phrase used most often when people are comparing barrel lengths for AR's


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## Csquared (Sep 5, 2006)

You guys missed the point...he's implied the only reason for the WSM to be slower then the Win Mag is because of 2" less barrel oke:

But I've never seen velocity loss even close to 100 fps per inch....usually less than half that, but I don't shoot factory ammo. In fact, far more often than not you should be able to slightly increase burn rates and almost make up the difference when all else but barrel length is equal....but be careful :wink:


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