Barrel length and suppressors

[peterk1234]

Need some hunttalk wisdom. I would like to run suppressors on two hunting rifles. The first is a tikka t3x lite in 308. Barrel is 20.5 inches. The second is a savage lady hunter in 6.5cm with an 18 inch barrel.

I spoke with a gunsmith and he told me that I need an outside diameter of .600, 5/8 inches back from the muzzle. I'm assuming it is for a shoulder. I have that with the tikka. I can get to. 600 about 1.25 inches back on the savage. So it looks like the savage would need to get chopped by .625 to meet the minimum requirement. Savage barrel is starting to get short.

So I have some questions:

1. What are your thoughts about where barrel length should be for these guns? I will be using a nomad ti on mine, which I already ordered. It will serve double duty. I actually bought it for my ar, which is used for yotes. I will likely try to get the same can for my wife's savage.

2. Will a can add velocity? So, can I gain back what may be lost if we need to chop the savage? Does a can effectively add to barrel length in a meaningful way?

3. Is a barrel ever just too long after adding a suppressor? Not from a standpoint that it is too long to lug around, but will it mess with harmonics because I'm dangling a bunch of weight off the muzzle?

4. Would you chop the tikka? If I do does it mess with accuracy? That gun just shoots good right now.

Thx Pete

 

[Rie Bread]

Chop them to 18”

 

[Sheltowee]

Good choice on the Nomad Ti. I have the standard Nomad on a 20-inch 6.5 Creed and it sounds/feels like shooting a paintball gun.

I assume your guy is trying to thread it 1/2x28?

To answer your questions:

1. I think you'd be fine with the .308 at 19" and change. A 16.75" 6.5 Creed would likely be fine but you're already not getting very much velocity and you're starting to approach SBR land that short. Would your guy consider threading as-is and mounting a shouldered adapter to it? That would help you maintain some length and get you the required diameter.

2. In my experience, a little bit much not a ton. 1 inch of barrel in a standard caliber is roughly 25-50fps lost.

3. If the barrel is of good quality, the stock and action properly bedded, etc. the harmonics should remain consistent from shot to shot with a suppressor hanging off the end. It'll certainly mess with harmonics relative to unsuppressed, though.

4. Eh, probably, just because I love my 20inch Tikka with the Nomad. Mine is in the CTR flavor though.

Good luck and keep us posted with what you end up doing.

 

[Hem]

All this talk has me considering the same for my Tikka .308 with a 20" barrel.
Not too concerned about balance of rifle with a 9 oz can. The Nosler suppressor Newberg uses looks interesting.
Honestly I have no clue how to initiate the process of registering.

 

[Sheltowee]

All this talk has me considering the same for my Tikka .308 with a 20" barrel.
Not too concerned about balance of rifle with a 9 oz can. The Nosler suppressor Newberg uses looks interesting.
Honestly I have no clue how to initiate the process of registering.

Super easy. Online shops like Silencer Central can walk you through the process pretty quickly. I had an attorney who specializes in Second Amendment work draft a trust for me-- those are useful if you plan on buying more than one NFA item over the course of your life. They also give you flexibility to add other users to the trust. I'd recommend it but they aren't right for everyone. Pretty sure Silencer Central will also give you a free trust with purchase of a can through them.

 

[Hem]

Super easy. Online shops like Silencer Central can walk you through the process pretty quickly. I had an attorney who specializes in Second Amendment work draft a trust for me-- those are useful if you plan on buying more than one NFA item over the course of your life. They also give you flexibility to add other users to the trust. I'd recommend it but they aren't right for everyone. Pretty sure Silencer Central will also give you a free trust with purchase of a can through them.

Thanks. Yeah, I watched that video put out by Silencer Central. I still don't understand the aspect of purchase. You buy a can, but it isn't released from the company until the ATF contacts them?

 

[Sheltowee]

Thanks. Yeah, I watched that video put out by Silencer Central. I still don't understand the aspect of purchase. You buy a can, but it isn't released from the company until the ATF contacts them?

Pretty much. You pay for the can, submit your Form 4 paperwork, the store holds the can in ATF jail and a couple of days/weeks later, the ATF gives the green light. My Nomad took 9 days to approve, with two of those being holidays.

 

[Rie Bread]

Thanks. Yeah, I watched that video put out by Silencer Central. I still don't understand the aspect of purchase. You buy a can, but it isn't released from the company until the ATF contacts them?

Montana tactical. If you have had a federal back ground check before it’ll be quick and easy

 

[Guy]

Can doesn't add velocity. Sometimes a bit, sometimes not at all. Variable. No huge increase for sure.

When you chop the barrel to accommodate the can, you lose that velocity. Often the loss is worthwhile because shooting with a can is really nice on the shooter. But yes, there's a price to pay in shortening the barrel.

Guy

 

[Potsie]

I took my .308 down to 19”. I had planned on going to 18” but my smith had a hard time getting the barrel off, so we left it long enough for it to make it out the other side of the lathe.

I’ve got my 6.5 PRC and .223 there now getting bobbed and threaded. Both will be 18”.

 

[peterk1234]

Good choice on the Nomad Ti. I have the standard Nomad on a 20-inch 6.5 Creed and it sounds/feels like shooting a paintball gun.

I assume your guy is trying to thread it 1/2x28?

To answer your questions:

1. I think you'd be fine with the .308 at 19" and change. A 16.75" 6.5 Creed would likely be fine but you're already not getting very much velocity and you're starting to approach SBR land that short. Would your guy consider threading as-is and mounting a shouldered adapter to it? That would help you maintain some length and get you the required diameter.

2. In my experience, a little bit much not a ton. 1 inch of barrel in a standard caliber is roughly 25-50fps lost.

3. If the barrel is of good quality, the stock and action properly bedded, etc. the harmonics should remain consistent from shot to shot with a suppressor hanging off the end. It'll certainly mess with harmonics relative to unsuppressed, though.

4. Eh, probably, just because I love my 20inch Tikka with the Nomad. Mine is in the CTR flavor though.

Good luck and keep us posted with what you end up doing.

Correction on the creedmor. It's considered a 20 inch barrel. I think it is actually 19.5. So it would basically get chopped down to 19 inches. I think we can easily live with that.

 

[CowboyLeroy]

I have a banish 30 that lives on a 22 inch bergara no. 5. It can be a little odd climbing into a treestand but you get used to it quickly. I wouldn't rush to cut your barrel down until you'd spend some time with it

 

[The Hedgehog]

I’ve got a couple rifles with .56” outside diameter barrels where I want to to cut them, thin. Do I need to look for 1/2 x 28 direct thread suppressor? I’m assuming it could be threaded to that.

 

[Sheltowee]

Correction on the creedmor. It's considered a 20 inch barrel. I think it is actually 19.5. So it would basically get chopped down to 19 inches. I think we can easily live with that.

I run around 2777fps with a fairly spicy dose of H4350 under 127gr. Barnes LRXs with my 20inch. You’ll be fine at 19.

 

[Sheltowee]

I’ve got a couple rifles with .56” outside diameter barrels where I want to to cut them, thin. Do I need to look for 1/2 x 28 direct thread suppressor? I’m assuming it could be threaded to that.

I just had two 1/2x28 to 5/8x24 adapters delivered today for my .338-06 and 25-7PRC. Cautiously optimistic they’ll do fine with no impact on accuracy.