Whats the shortest you would go? New bolt gun build.

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Donutetr

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Im planning to have another smokeless rifle built on a 700 UML Action and a 50cal Brux Barrel. I have a .45 cal arrowhead SML build with a 26"+ Brake barrel for my main rifle. but sometimes Im hunting out of a saddle or in really think nasty areas and was wanting something smaller, better balanced and more maneuverable. A lot of times my shooting lanes are 15-30 yards with and occasional 75-80 yard lane. Id like to know if anyone is running a shorter barrel bolt gun and get some feedback Im thinking in the 22-23" range since I don't need crazy speed. (Also I looked into the encores and other B/A builds and Im just not a fan and Im wanting to go .50cal). any feedback or advice is appreciated. Thanks.
 
Whatever length you decide cutting down a barrel is easy. I've done it and so has Semisane. You can do it with nothing more than a tubing cutter to scribe your line and a hack saw blade to cut by hand. Once lopped off all that's left is to buff up the muzzle and install a crown.
Send a message to Semisane. I believe he has a series of pics on the process.
 
I have an ASG 23” .45 barrel on my 700. It is still heavier and less maneuverable than my CVA Scout conversion with its 25” barrel and brake. That 2”-3” didn't really gain me anything noticeable. Im not really complaining because it saved me a bunch of $ as i bought it cheap. But if you want a shorter, handier sml then either get the Woodman Patriot or a Scout conversion and leave the brake off.
 
Donutetr said:
Im planning to have another smokeless rifle built on a 700 UML Action and a 50cal Brux Barrel. I have a .45 cal arrowhead SML build with a 26"+ Brake barrel for my main rifle. but sometimes Im hunting out of a saddle or in really think nasty areas and was wanting something smaller, better balanced and more maneuverable. A lot of times my shooting lanes are 15-30 yards with and occasional 75-80 yard lane. Id like to know if anyone is running a shorter barrel bolt gun and get some feedback Im thinking in the 22-23" range since I don't need crazy speed. (Also I looked into the encores and other B/A builds and Im just not a fan and Im wanting to go .50cal). any feedback or advice is appreciated. Thanks.
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Way back in the day, the TC Encore's & Omegas were excellent for long treks into rough country & treestand hunting. I did both. They both are still very viable options for what you want to do today.
BUt there are newer, better options avail today as well, Omegas converted to SML's, the Scout conversions, and as you're already been told, the Woodman Patriot is the lightest of all of those options ( I think about 6.5lbs ) & you can have him cut the barrel to whatever you want & for the price, its your best option of them all for goin up in a tree saddle. & close quarters hunting.
 
My Patriot has a 24" barrel and I love it for carrying to the stand and back. Scoped, it's just over 7 pounds. I hunt a raised stand with a 7X7 shelter and there's plenty of room with that shorter barrel. My other guns, an Accura w/27" barrel and a Kodiak w/28" barrel, work ok from the stand but the carrying weights are not what that Patriot is. From the stand I max out at around 110 yards of clear shooting area with a couple 120-130 yard options but have never used them. The Patriot I shoot smokeless for several reasons but as for the barrel length the 24" is superbly accurate, but the muzzle blast is significant. I can't imagine shooting a gun with a 20"-22" barrel without hearing protection while hunting.
 
My recommendation is to think about the overall length of the gun you want and adjust barrel length for that. For a few years I thought I wanted a muzzleloader right about 34” long. Ordered a barrel for my encore and it was handy in the woods but boy was it a pain to load. Had to bend over just enough to support it trying to load it just felt awkward. Sold that barrel and lengthens it out to about 39”. That was just about perfect. This barrel I’m waiting on from Mark right now should put me about 40.5” give or take. I do believe that will be the perfect length for a mostly woods gun but still have enough barrel to reach out a little ways.
 
Take a look at this graph which is a 444 marlin that MGM cut 1 inch at a time off of and shot over a chronograph. As you can see your not even giving up 10% going from 26” down to 16”. A smokeless muzzleloader is essentially a straight wall rifle without a case and with a similar powder volume ratio as a 444, so it should act similarly.

Personally I love short rifles. My favorite rifles are various AR’s I cut down to 14” and pin and weld krink brakes too, and I have a few SBR’s with 6-10 inch barrels with and without suppressors. My break action single shots have 13-22” barrels. My 13” with a suppressor and my 22” with no suppressor are about the same total length as a 16” AR. If I were building a 700 for short range stand hunting I would go with 16 or 18” from the front of the breech plug and wouldn’t think twice about it.

F6097F94-9ADE-4154-BC91-65C6B193AF8C.jpeg
 
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As for the terminal affect, I’ve seen guys on here taking game at 500+ yards with these things. They are loosing waaaay more velocity in 500 yards of bullet flight than you will loose by cutting the barrel back a few more inches.
 
someguy2800 said:
Take a look at this graph which is a 444 marlin that MGM cut 1 inch at a time off of and shot over a chronograph. As you can see your not even giving up 10% going from 26” down to 16”. A smokeless muzzleloader is essentially a straight wall rifle without a case and with a similar powder volume ratio as a 444, so it should act similarly.

Personally I love short rifles. My favorite rifles are various AR’s I cut down to 14” and pin and weld krink brakes to, and my break action single shots with 22” barrels, which are about the same overall length. If I were building a 700 for short range stand hunting I would go with 16 or 18” from the front of the breech plug and wouldn’t think twice about it.

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Fantastic post. Thanks for the info
 
michiganmuzzy said:
I have an ASG 23” .45 barrel on my 700. It is still heavier and less maneuverable than my CVA Scout conversion with its 25” barrel and brake. That 2”-3” didn't really gain me anything noticeable. Im not really complaining because it saved me a bunch of $ as i bought it cheap. But if you want a shorter, handier sml then either get the Woodman Patriot or a Scout conversion and leave the brake off.
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Got any pics of the 23" rifle?
 
Since you are shooting short range then going as short as 16.25 inches would work fine. The 20 inches you are thinking of is good too. It is all about ease of use especially in heavy brush and trees etc.
 
Thought I would mention the Omega barrels that Woodman arms is producing also the Omega with a 24 inch barrel is very short and handy of course there's no action on that little Omega it makes a 24 inch barrel very handy to swing in maneuver whether in a deer stand or carrying in the woods not as lightweight as The Patriot and speaking of the Patriot that's such a fine handling rifle again there's nothing else out there that compares to the weight it will swing to the shoulder like a Browning citori shotgun. Just my opinion but I think those little milliseconds of a quick handling rifle often make a difference in getting a good shot off or not
 
If I understand the laws on guns then the muzzle loaders and antique guns can have very short barrels on them. Thus with a bolt action ML you could go really short on the barrel. A bull pup setup with a ten inch barrel would be pretty awesome. But with a conventional side lock it would be bad with the flash hole right behind your ear.
 
earlwb said:
If I understand the laws on guns then the muzzle loaders and antique guns can have very short barrels on them. Thus with a bolt action ML you could go really short on the barrel. A bull pup setup with a ten inch barrel would be pretty awesome. But with a conventional side lock it would be bad with the flash hole right behind your ear.
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Have you ever seen a Prairie River Arms bull pup ML? It’s an inline, not a sidelock, butt ugly and super cool.
 
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