[Gumpy]

I have a Turkish Mauser, none of the s/n matches. I'm thinking about shortening the barrel. My question is, how much will it effect the ballistics and how short can I go realistically.

MARLINITUS; An untreatable disease, usually resulting in an empty bank account!

 

[tahoe2]

lots of info still needed to answer that one, but here goes; (all of this is a wild a$$ guess).
In reading lots of articles over the years, this is based on metallic cartridges, and actual tests done over the years by notable gun writers
(Bob Milek, Wiley Clapp, Mike Venturino, etc...) yet so many variables apply, and every case is going to be different, that said;

average velocity loss is about 25 fps/per inch cut, so a 24" barrel cut to 20" should lose about 100 fps, a 29" barrel cut to 23" should lose about 150 fps.
There is no set rule for these results, Magnum cartridges may be less susceptible due in part to their higher start speeds.
pistols and revolvers are even less susceptible due to their shorter starting barrel lengths.
Bob Milek did his testing with single shot Contender pistols starting with 14" barrels that used bottleneck cartridges,
can't recall for certain but I'm thinking 22-250, 243 Win , 7mm-08 were the cartridges. It's been a long time and the memory fails me.
Anyway, hope that helps?

 

[Gumpy]

It sure does! Do you remember where you have read about this? I'd love to read it. I knew that it would have to effect the velocity some. Mostly because of the continued effect of pressure on the projectile. Anyway that's the way my mind was thinking, but I wasn't sure of the drag coefficient due to the friction of the barrell. Thanks again for your views.

MARLINITUS; An untreatable disease, usually resulting in an empty bank account!

 

[tahoe2]

Obviously every firearm/cartridge relationship is going to be different, but I believe the articles I read were form the early to mid 80's in Guns & Ammo magazine. Don't know if you can goe back that far for G&A articles. I know that Mike Venturino is still writing in Cowboy Guns magazine (title probably wrong) the others I mentioned sadly passed away years ago, but I think Ken Waters did something like that in his Pet Loads book. Requires a little research. Good Luck!!
Keep us posted about the Turk?

 

[tahoe2]

cut down mauser

Here's a couple of pics of a cut down Spanish mauser I did last year. (before & after)
it had a 29" barrel, now a 21", since I hunt a lot of tight timbers, shots come at 200 yds or less,
I was more concerned with hunt-ability than velocity,
it's slightly above a 30-30 in power (7x57 mauser) with a better trajectory for long shots.

it's the one on the bottom.

 

[CallMaker]

From a practical hunting standpoint I don’t think shortening the barrel would be a disadvantage. In fact quite the opposite, the shorter barrel should be handy when hunting.

 

[greyhawk50]

My son has shortened the barrels on 5 Russian M91. I believe he cut 8" off of 4 of them and they were extremely accurate with any weight bullet whereas not so with the 5th one. That one was cut shorter than the rest and would only hold an acceptable group with the lighter SKS reclaimed bullets. I don't remember the length (maybe just over 16"?) but there is a chance that going too short will cause accuracy problems with the heavier bullets.
The web says that the 91/30 barrel is 29" and the M44 barrel is 20.2".
If I remember, I'll ask him the next time that I see him. (who knows when that will be)
Here is an example of one that worked well. Maybe you can guess from the picture??? Looks like he removed 8".

 

[Gumpy]

The woods are very thick here and when your gunbarrel gets on one side of a saw briar and your hand and arm are on the other it gets quite painful. Probably most what I shoot will be 196gr,20000fps, soft point. I'm gonna shorten it and see how it works. It's just a gun I put together with odd parts so I won't be out nothin!

MARLINITUS; An untreatable disease, usually resulting in an empty bank account!

 

[tahoe2]

gumpy

that load will kill just about anything this side of Africa, I wouldn't worry about losing a few inches of barrel, the most important thing is the cut & recrown.

 

[Gumpy]

Thanks for your input fellers. I'm going for it. I'm gonna float the barrel also while I'm working on it.

MARLINITUS; An untreatable disease, usually resulting in an empty bank account!

 

[CallMaker]

Great. Keep us posted on the progress and results.

 

[greyhawk50]

Thanks for your input fellers. I'm going for it. I'm gonna float the barrel also while I'm working on it.

MARLINITUS; An untreatable disease, usually resulting in an empty bank account!

Bedding the action in the stock would also be a good idea. Just a suggestion.

 

[Gumpy]

I've never tried that! Never to late to learn. Gotta read up on it.

MARLINITUS; An untreatable disease, usually resulting in an empty bank account!