22" or 24" barrel for .30-06

[sleepyone]

I am looking at buying a Model 70 Featherweight in .30-06. I already own two FN Featherweight Model 70s in .243 and .270. The .30-06 will be for out of state elk or moose hunts I'm hoping to start making in a couple of years. I'm leaning towards a 24" barrel because I have read the extra two inches gives you maximum performance out of the .30-06 caliber.

I really don't have an interest in going to any magnum calibers, so please don't go that route. I don't have the income to go on any dangerous game hunts, Grizzly hunts, or other game that would justify a 300 Win Mag or larger. My interests would be elk or moose, and the .30-06 is good for those. I know .270 works for elk, but I want to have the extra distance, energy and bullet selection that .30-06 offers.

I really do like the looks and performance of the Featherweight, but the .30-06 only comes in a 22" barrel. So I'm looking at either the M70 Sporter or the M70 Ultimate Shadow because they both offer 24" barrels. The Ultimate Shadow really caught my eye because it is all stainless, and the stock is a really nice composite with rubberized, oval-dot gripping surfaces on the pistol grip and fore-end. While all my other rifles have wood stocks, this rifle would only be used on hunts where an all-weather rifle would be ideal.

Three questions:
Does a 24" barrel in .30-06 make that big of a difference?

If it does, does anyone have any experience with the Ultimate Shadow?

Does it make a big difference to have a stainless barrel and composite stock when you are hunting in extreme cold and snow, or is that overblown?

 

[Arkansas Paul]

Does a 24" barrel in .30-06 make that big of a difference?

On paper, a little. Real world shooting conditions, under 300 yds? You'll never make me believe it.

 

[Skylerbone]

I bought a used Model 70 two years back for a moose hunt as a back up to my 700 (both in 30-06). Caliber was fine for a one-shot kill, he dropped less than 20 yards away. I had replaced the 700's walnut stock with a composite thumb hole but found myself drawn to that Winchester while shooting off-hand. It was fast and light though perhaps a bit less steady. Both blued rifles and both survived without rust despite cold, frost and snow. Unfortunately, the Winchester's composite stock did not survive an encounter with a tree.

 

[Bio-Chem]

.30 cal 180 grain bullet and 2700+ fps which a 22'' barrel will get you will drop an elk plenty dead.

 

[Andrew Leigh]

You will get a little more muzzle velocity, probably 60fps odd which is neither here not there.

Your primary aiming system is a scope so no difference there.

If shooting with irons you may find a slight difference with accuracy.

 

[USSR]

I have 3 Model 70's in .30-06. My hunting rifle has a 24" barrel, and my match rifles both wear 26" barrels. I intend to take every advantage of the increased case capacity of the '06 to realize the velocity advantage it has over the .308. Just MHO.

Don

 

[jmr40]

I've measured 130 fps velocity difference between barrels of the same length and seen some guns with 22" barrels shoot faster than other guns with 24" barrels. If you were to take a gun that gave a known velocity @ 24", cut it down to 22", it would make a difference of about 50-60 fps. But when comparing 2 different guns you never know until you chronograph them.

If you were to happen upon a gun with a "fast" 24" barrel and compare it to another 22" gun with a "slow" barrel you could see 150 fps more speed with the 24" gun. If the 22" gun happened to have the "fast" barrel and the 24" gun had the "slow" barrel it wouldn't surprise me to see the 22" gun be 20-30 fps faster.

When you compare guns with 4-6" difference in barrel length then it clearly makes a difference. With a 2" barrel difference pick the one that looks and balances best to you. I like a 22" barrel on a 30-06 and prefer the FW in a wood stocked rifle.

With good ammo your 270 doesn't give up anything to a 30-06 for your intended uses. YOU DON'T NEED ANOTHER RIFLE. But if you WANT another rifle I'd look hard at the Extreme Weather in 30-06. It is stainless with a fluted 22" barrel and a much better quality synthetic stock. This gives you a stiffer more accurate barrel than the FW, yet it weighs about the same. The Ultimate Shadow would be a great beginning point for a custom. You save a lot over the EW, but get the cheap stock. I use McMillan's on all my serious hunting guns anyway, so I'd be tempted to buy the Ultimate Shadow and re-stock it. You won't be disappointed in any of the Winchesters.

http://www.winchesterguns.com/products/catalog/category.asp

 

[USSR]

Really hard to estimate velocity difference between barrel lengths. With the exact same load and same length barrel (26"), one of my .30-06 rifles gets 2950fps and the other 2875fps. So, with a possible 75fps difference between rifles with the same barrel length, any calculation of velocity difference between different length barrels is nothing more than a guess.

Don

 

[Skylerbone]

You could easily give up 100 FPS finding an accurate load for your purpose and I'd happily let it go for that advantage alone. A definite craps shoot as to whose, and which length will be naturally faster, though I tend to believe that generally speaking longer will be faster. I will say that walking mile after mile in a bog had me longing for a lighter rifle and I imagine much the same if trekking for elk.

 

[sleepyone]

OK. Sounds like I ccould get away with the 22" barrel and have a lighter rifle for those long treks in the mountains. Here's another thing to consider. The LGS I use has a Featherweight .30-06 with a stainless barrel. It is a beautiful rifle. Not many are made. It is about $185 more than the blued barrel version. The stainless hardware against that nice walnut stock looks amazing IMO. Is a stainless worth the extra money?

 

[sage5907]

My primary hunting rifles were 270 Winchesters for over 20 years. About 20 years ago I found myself hunting with a 30-06 more and more and now it's my go to cartridge. If I were hunting in a mountain state like Colorado and carrying a rifle several miles a day I would take a featherweight Winchester with a 22 inch barrel. For open country hunting on flatter terrain I would take a standard rifle with a 24 inch barrel. The 24 inch barrel really gives you an advantage for 300 and 400 yard shots because the extra weight forward makes the rifle easier to hold.

 

[USSR]

Is a stainless worth the extra money?

That's a question that only you can answer.

Don

 

[sage5907]

I've hunted many times in the snow in Colorado and never had a problem with a blued rifle with a wooden stock. The one item on a rifle that will give you trouble in wet freezing weather is the trigger and most stainless rifles have the same trigger as the blued version. I really don't like an enclosed trigger for adverse conditions, especially one with a trigger safety.

 

[Skylerbone]

That's a question that only you can answer.

+1. Blued for me, preference only.

 

[natman]

Three questions:
Does a 24" barrel in .30-06 make that big of a difference?

If it does, does anyone have any experience with the Ultimate Shadow?

Does it make a big difference to have a stainless barrel and composite stock when you are hunting in extreme cold and snow, or is that overblown?

No. An extra 2" isn't going to make enough difference to matter, especially with a non-magnum, non-overbore cartridge like the 30-06. The animal won't run off thinking "Thank God he didn't use a 24" barrel.".

NA

It's nice to have. Stainless resists rust better inside and out and that's nice. Composite stocks don't care if they get wet.

OTOH, I've hunted in cold, snow and sleet with blue steel/wood without problems. A couple of coats of Johnson's Paste Wax will work wonders and a finger cot over the muzzle will keep water and snow out of the bore.

 

[jmr40]

A picture is worth 1000 words. This is a 1994 made SS Classic Fwt that I put in a McMillan Edge stock. It is about as perfect an all around rifle as I'll ever own. At 7.5 lbs scoped it is not too heavy, the 22" barrel is easier to use in thicker woods. It carries, points and mounts to my shoulder perfectly. As you can see it is accurate and my handloads are pushing 165 gr bullets to just over 2900 fps. It will shoot 150's to just over 3000 and 180's to 2800 with equal accuracy, but the 165's are my go to load.

The Leupold scope has long range dots. With the crosshairs zeroed at 100 yards the next 3 dots are right on the money at 200, 300, and 400.

The factory wood stock on the rifle you are considering will be about 1/2 lb heavier, but it is well worth the extra money for SS to me. I wouldn't keep it in the walnut stock, but that is just me.

 

[adelbridge]

If you want an excuse to buy a new rifle buy the .30-06 but dont fool yourself into thinking there is some magical difference between .270 and .30-06. If you want to change the caliber you can get a precision aftermarket .30-06 barrel for your .270. I have to warn you it gets expensive once you start tinkering as triggers, stocks, optics soon follow.

 

[sleepyone]

nice looking rig, jmr40. I'm putting one on layaway tomorrow morning. i'm leaning towards the stainless FW. I know the .30-06 does not do anything a lot better than my .270, but I like the caliber.

 

[Rem700CDLSF3006]

I just prefer the 24

 

[Geno]

I prefer 24" to 26" barrels for maximum velocity capability, and because for me, they seem to lay more stabile for long shots (300 to 500 yards). If I were hunting it for a woods rifle, I clearly would opt for a 22" barrel.

Geno