Questions about permanently modifying a nice rifle

[mdd]

I have a very nice 22-250 varmint/target rifle. It has a 26" heavy barrel and shoots very well. Unfortunately, because of the length of the barrel, it is also a bit awkward to carry and handle when hunting. I have enough guns that I end up leaving this one behind and grabbing one that is shorter. The thought of having the barrel cut down to 22" and replacing the nice stock with a more durable synthetic has been on my mind lately. I like the weight of the heavy barrel and this gun has a nice two stage trigger. If I shortened the barrel a bit, I believe I would use it quite often. However, I have that nagging voice in my head that says "no, you'll ruin that beautiful rifle!" It's not something that can't be replaced as they are all over gunbroker and still available NIB from Ruger. Unfortunately, it is something that cannot be undone. Therein lies my struggle. If I do it and it still shoots great, I'll absolutely love it. If I do it and it shoots like a shotgun, I'm stuck with it. What say you?

[.300 Weatherby Mag]

I would buy a lighter gun, rather than modifying something that works well..

[mdd]

I have lighter guns already. Indeed I could buy a savage axis in 22-250 for less than the cost of modifying my ruger. However, I keep thinking that with a few changes this ruger could go from a "back of the safe" type gun to the one I want to take along every time.


This is what it looks like currently. This is a stock photo yanked off gunbroker but it gives you the idea. What I'm thinking is a 22" barrel (possibly even a 20" like the tactical bolt actions of today) with a hogue stock for an all-around gun for the hunting/shooting I do. I realize the shorter barrel will significantly increase muzzle blast but it would also make it much handier.

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p70/03cobra528/rugervt.jpg

[Hog Buster]

If it ain't broke...... don't fix it........

[trooper3385]

How about getting a new barrel. If you like it great. You can either keep the original barrel or sell it and get some of your money back. If not, you can always put your old barrel back on and sell the new barrel. You would be out of a little money, but you would still be able to get your gun back to it's original condition. Just an idea.

[Ben Towe]

There is nothing to shortening the barrel. A hacksaw and the muzzle deburring tool and muzzle recrowning tool sold by Brownells is all that is necessary. I would probably give it a whirl.

[HiBC]

Brother has an AR-10 T with what was a 24 in bull barrel He didn't like the way it would hang.Just too much weight out there.He brought it to me,I cut and crowned it.It made it a better rifleThetre is no question he is much happier with the rifle.I have not confirmed it,but he said something about how Armalite now sells the AR-10 T with a 20 in barrel.
I was looking at a Howa site today,they sell a 20 in bbl Heavy bbl varmint version.I am sure there are more.
I would not saw the barrel of on an original Sharps,or an LC Smith double,etc.There is a line we shouldn't cross.
But I just do not buy into the idea there is something sacred about the rifle you own that should not be altered.
If you like everything but the last few inches of barrel,cut it,and enjoy!!
I recommend having a quality job done,with a good crown.
I built my .375 with a 26" bbl.I made the original.Later,I decided to cut itright here,where my finger is.I didn't bother to measure,I didn't care.It came out 21 inches.Its perfect.#3 contour Douglas in a Garret Accralite stock,schnabel like a win fwt.
Its yours,and you do not answer to anyone.
On one hand,accuracy wise,shorter is relatively stiffer.In theory,it should be more accurate.You may however,have to develop a new accuracy load.
It is possible that if the variances in the bore work out that the bore is tight at the muzzle now,like "choked" a bit,and the cut puts the muzzle in a loose place,you could lose accuracy.
I think that is the only variable that could hurt you.

[lefteyedom]

Find a good gun smith and get the barrel cut and recrowned.
If it is professional done you won't lose any real value. Rugers bolt action are fine rifles but they are not high in collector piece ($10K). They are work horse, and that is their value. A rifle that you are confident in is a valuable thing. IT will be faster on the target which in turn mean more game. w

Shorting a 22-250 from 26" to 22" is not going adversely hurt your hunting performance.

I have three .308 win, A Remington Sendero that has a 26" heavy barrel and weights about 14 lbs, a Mauser (right hand loaner) with a 20" barrel and my deer hunting rifle, a left hand Savage which wears an 18 inch barrel. The 20" and the 18" barrels were both shorten and the Sendero barrel is a replacement.

[mete]

I cut my Browning 1885 45-70 from a heavy 28" to a much better 22" and with that cartridge velocity loss is insignificant. Makes for a much better woods gun . One of my better decisions.
A friend had damaged the end of his 222 and wanted to know the options , repalce barrel , replace gun , or ? I said the easiest was to cut the barrel .That would mean cutting to 16" .He then had a short , stiff bull barrel. Accurate and much lighter for carrying as it was a hunter.

Do it properly so you maintain accuracy !

[Art Eatman]

I dunno as I'd go all the way down to 20", but cutting back to 22" shouldn't hurt the bullet's performance. No reason at all to hurt the group size capability...

From the FWIW bin, a 19" .243 at night on coyotes does tend to light up the world just a little bit. :D

[jaguarxk120]

Do what you want, it's your rile. But be well advised that making any changes to stock guns will reduce the value if and when you want to sell it.

If the changes are drastic as you say then plan on owning it forever. Or take a huge loss.

[Tikirocker]

A bloke once spent about 50k trying to alter his home so he could get a grand piano into the second floor dining area ... the moral of the story speaks for itself.

Tiki.

[Kreyzhorse]

If you modify it, the value is going to take a big hit. If it were my rifle, I wouldn't do it.

[sc928porsche]

Get another 22-250 for hunting and use the one you have for the range and benching varmits.

[jmr40]

Never seen a barrel that was cut lose any accuracy, most improve simply because they are recrowned at the same time. Not sure about how much velocity loss from a shorter barrel in a 22-250, but in most calibers I've worked with it is less than most think.

[603Country]

Cut it off. Years ago (early 80's) I went shopping for a 220 Swift, and I figured that it'd have to be a Ruger and it had to be a used one, since I didn't have much to spend. I prowled gunshows till I found one. It had already been shortened to 20 inches by the cowboy that had it, so that he could put it on the dash of his truck and shoot coyotes when he saw them. It wasn't too beat up, and he swore that it'd shoot good, so I bought it. Best gun purchase I ever made. That short fat barrel would shoot any bullet I had into tiny little groups, and the short barrel made it easy to carry around. When I finally shot out the throat on it, I had it rebarreled with a 20 inch mid weight barrel. It's my favorite. Like one of the guys said, it isn't going to be a collector's item, so get some use out of it. Yes, you will lose some muzzle velocity, but use a fairly quick powder and the loss won't be too much. Trust me, the coyotes won't notice the velocity loss.

[Edward429451]

The Universe will not implode if you cut that barrel. If you mess it up you can always have a smith lop off another inch. I wouldn't be scared to cut it. Get the crowning tool. Use masking tape on the barrel at about 5 wraps so it's easy to cut straight up against the tape. Let us know how it turns out if you do it.

[mdd]

I have no interest in taking a hack saw to this barrel. If I do it, it'll be done right by a 'smith I trust. I want the muzzle redone exactly as it is now with a recessed crown. I spoke with my gunsmith about this today & he said it won't be any problem. He did not expect to even have to remove the barrel from the action so that will save $150 labor. He mentioned that he would be surprised if it proved detrimental to accuracy. I'm still on the fence and it seems the replies reflect my own struggle with this idea. Some are for, some are against. I agree this gun is no $7,000 Blaser but I am incredibly particular about all of my guns regardless of price tag. It is, on one hand, a shame to have such a rifle that never gets used. On the other, it may be a shame to change it in such a way that it would only be a bastardized version of it's former self.

This shouldn't be that hard of a decision but as I mentioned I'm very particular about my guns and, while I like the idea of doing this, actually doing it is a more difficult threshold for me to cross.

[106RR]

You might want to give some thought to the muzzle blast! Few manufacturers make a short barrel 22-250. The reduction in velocity will only be 100 to 150 fps soo you will split the difference between .223 and 22-250.

[Ifishsum]

If you really like the rifle otherwise and plan to keep it, I'd have it cut and crowned in a heartbeat. Nothing wrong with having a rifle customized to you, in fact I think it's kinda cool. It likely will not hurt the accuracy a bit, in fact short heavy barrels are typically more accurate than most- and the possible future value argument (which I don't necessarily agree with anyway) means little unless you plan to sell it at some point afterward. As you say, it's a factory rifle, not a $7000 custom gun.

I have a 26" HB .204 and it is an unhandy bastage to pack around for sure. I mostly use it on the range and rat fields I can drive close to, otherwise I would probably think about doing the same thing.

[HiBC]

The length is something you can sneak up on.You can try the hang/feel of it when it is just hack sawed or bandsawed off.22 in might be a good length to try first.Nothing says it has to be a length that is a multiple of 2.If it seems right at 21 1/4,that is a fine length.
You can be particular about your rifle by letting a good smith do a good job.
I dunno,I seldom buy a factory rifle.I dropped a check in the mail tonight for another barrel,a Lothar Walther to go on a 1909 Argentine action I have had for years.I build them to suit me.
Maybe one of the Quickload gurus around this forum would help you calculate an optimum barrel length to give a 99% or 100% burn based on your favorite load.
I expect if Audey Murphy bought a new rifle he'd have the stock shortened.
No need to be at the mercy of what the factory makes.There is no magic spirit in the thing.Its a tool for drilling holes.Make it suit you.

[natman]

Personally I wouldn't cut a 22-250 shorter than 22". It's overbore enough to use the barrel length.

I suspect that the problem is really the barrel diameter even more than the length. Heavy barrels are great for high volume shooting, not so great to carry around. I'd recommend that you use your current rifle for the use it was designed for or sell it to someone who will. If you want something to carry in the field, get a rifle with a sporter weight barrel.

[lefteyedom]

I try not to double post to a thread but,...

The man wants to make his Ruger rifle more useful. It is not like drawing a set of 38 DD on the Mona Lisa!!!

As far as re sell value, shorting the barrel would only hurt resell if he tried to sell to a pawn shop. If it were sold on Gunbroker the shorten barrel might just being a selling point for someone else. How many people have replaced the factory tires and wheels on their truck? Did the new wheels and tires ruin the resell value? (with in reasonable tire sizes)

The nice thing about selling a gun is that if you don't like the price being offered you do not have to sell!!

News FLASH, guns a are tools and toys at the same time. Enjoy them, make them your own. Shortening a barrel is no different than having a stock shorten, an action bedded, action trued, ect.

If the work done is professionally the rifle will be a source of pride. If he shortens the barrel and does not like it, it not that big of a deal to replace the barrel.

[Tbag]

I'd wager to say having the barrel shortened and finished professionally won't hurt its value much, taking a hacksaw to it is a completely different story. As your gut is telling you, you will likely find that it may turn into your favorite stick. Personally I'd customize it to fit my needs and not look back.

[WyomingWhitetail]

i run into this question a lot with one of my other hobbys (rebuilding old cars and trucks). Did you buy this gun to look at and just to say you have one? Don't sound like it so make the darn thing usable. That's the point of having things like this, you can take them and custom tailor them to you needs; hence i have a 59 ford pickup with 4wd and a fuel injected six cylinder project that i need to finish. This isn't some 50,000 dollar double rifle built before the war, it has no collector value, so cut the darn thing off and shoot it. If you ever do try to sell it most people will think a lot like you in terms of carrying balance and like the fact it has a short barrel, And in the end its your rifle so do what feels right to you.

[jimbob86]

It's your money: squander it if you want to.

This is a specialized rifle for target shooting/varminting ....... chopping the barrel and putting on a lightweight stock makes is akin to "choppin' and droppin' a 4x4 3/4 ton pick-up when you already have a street rod/ lowrider.... now you have two lowriders and and can't haul anything or get over a speed bump.

That 26" barrel makes for stellar velocities with slow burning powders and the big fat heavy stock makes shooting prairie dogs all day from a portable bench down right comfortable...

.... and a .22-250? What is it you are wanting to stalk/still hunt with that? There are better tools for the job, and it sounds like you already posess them....... why butcher a perfectly good specialty tool to make it more ...... general purpose? Are you really that bored that you have to invent new ways to spend your money?

Here's an exciting idea: send your unwanted money to ME. I'll regale you with riveting tales of what I did with it!

[Picher]

I'd cut it to 23". You'll probably find that 3" off the end is enough. If not, you can always have it cut again, but it's darned hard to make it longer!!

My B-I-L had a factory 6mm Rem sporter that was 22" and I never liked that rifle. I also had a 24" Rem 700 in .22-250 with a sporter barrel that worked well for me. Noise seems to bother me more when barrels get much shorter than 24", especially varmint hunting, when we tend to shoot often (usually without ear protection).

[jimbob86]

I dunno as I'd go all the way down to 20", but cutting back to 22" shouldn't hurt the bullet's performance.

I'd bet it (going from 26" to 22") would cut about 400 f/sec off of muzzle velocity potential. While it is true that there are no varying degrees of dead, the really neat thing about the .22-250 with that long barrel is that you should be able to get .220 Swift level performance with less powder.

[Art Eatman]

I don't have the URL on this computer and I'm feeling lazy, so Google for "Secrets of the Houston Warehouse".

A bunch of guys looking for groups down around one-tenth or better. They concluded that 21.75" was the ultimate answer for barrel length.

[natman]

I took a look at Ruger's website. What you have now is a Ruger Target Rifle. It weighs 9 3/4 lbs without scope. If you cut 4" off the barrel, it will still weigh 9 1/2 lbs, nearly 11 lbs with a scope. I suspect weight is the real reason you don't like to lug it around.

A standard Ruger has a 22" barrel and will weigh a whopping 2 1/2 lbs less, which will make it MUCH nicer to carry.

[Doodlebugger45]

I would also cut it off a bit. I agree with the suggestion of 23". I have owned precisely 1 rifle with a 26" barrel. It wasn't the weight that bothered me. It was just not handy. Even compared to a 24" barrel, that extra 2" always seemed to be in the way, snagging on things. It would seem like the 26" barrrel wouldn't be all that noticeable, but it really is. The velocity reduction would not be noticeable.