Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 24 inches to 18 inches 375 H&H

At what point in shortening a barrel will accuracy be significantly affected?

To keep the noise down!

Geeez, do I have to explain everything to you……..?

I am thinking about 125fps loss. But with CFE223 you can increase velocity over some of the other powders commonly used with 270’s.

Mine is 22” and I wouldn’t want it shorter than 21”.

Suppressors make a rifle pretty unwieldy something to be avoided for things that require a 375 level of power.

All things being equal, a shorter barrel is more accurate than a longer one.

I bought a push feed Model 70 a few years ago in 375 H&H 24 in , cut it down to 18" and installed the sights back on I ended up putting a reciever sight on it and it shot very well. very handy rifle. Don't know how much I lost in power but was very cool shooting it on a over cast day. You could see a flame come out of the barrel. Very popular at running deer shoots.

So they don’t set the ship on fire.

Based on expansion ratio, I’d be surprised if you lost more than 70-80 fps. A 375 H&H is not an overbore chamber like a 264 Win Mag or even 7mm Rem Mag, which you could expect to lose 160-180 fps in an 18” barrel in lieu of a 24” barrel.

Overbore chambers/cartridges are sufficiently less efficient, thereby losing much more velocity in a shorter tube.

300 gr bullet at std 24” barrel at 2,550 fps would still achieve approximately 2,475 fps in an 18” barrel.

I had a Ruger 77 Guidegun in 375 Ruger and a 20" barrel. That combo just about perfect but in right hand. Sold it and built a Left Hand Mauser in 375 Ruger and went with 22" which is perfect for the intended use with iron sights and removable LPVO. I gained a little over 100 FPS with the extra 2" of which no animal would be able to tell the difference. The difference for me was a longer sight line between the rear peep and front sight.

For woods and thick brush, I use the 450 bushmaster in a 16" barrel on a Savage 99. That combo is perfect for the use. For nighttime hunting for hogs, I use a Mauser with a 18" 450 Bushmaster barrel and 8x56 scope. Less than 100 fps difference between the two.

I believe that a 18” barrel with a 6” titanium suppressor would as handy as a 24” barreled rifle, would be much quieter and kick less.
Inch for inch the titanium suppressor vs steel barrel…

That's simply not true, when the rifle is put together with a suppressor in mind.
When building with the end goal of using a suppressor, the entire package can be made a similar length to a 23-24" normal rifle and balance properly. It just takes some planning, not only with barrel length, but stock weight as well as scope and mounts to counterbalance the can. The big thing is not screwing a can onto a normal length rifle, as that absolutely does destroy the handling characteristics.

To the OP, skip ER Shaw if they won't go shorter than 18". Find a smith that will build on a 16-17" barrel. The can will work fine with a shorter barrel in the 375 because of the expansion ratio - the muzzle pressure is a lot lower than the "magnums" the can companies are worried about when they talk about minimum barrel lengths.
Whatever you do, stay with a light barrel contour. Too many smiths (and rifle manufacturers) build 375s on overly heavy barrel contours. Since you're looking at a Rem 700, stick with something like the Rem mag sporter contour used on the factory 7RM.

Prairie goat. Their maximum length is 18” with threaded for suppressors.
I’ve had excellent luck with their barrels. SS and threaded all in. I agree with your comments though.

Aww, max length is likely due to muzzle diameter. That’s good that you can go shorter! Just don’t let them talk you into a #4 countour or whatever other unnecessarily heavy contour they might try to sell to have a shoulder for large muzzle threads.

Bugger, in the book 60 years with rifles, Paul Mathews had his model 70 cut to I believe 18.5 ". He cut it off just behind the front sight. He seemed to love that rifle. Mine has the traditional 25 " barrel.

If it were me, I’d make sure I had enough money left over to hire someone to shoot it for me……..

I always ran a 22" barrel on my 375's. Were I doing a Shaw, I'd use their #2.5 contour. Should be ideal at 18" (or 22").

The battleships guns were designated 16” x 50, meaning the barrel is 50 times the diameter of the bore…

Shaw did a re-barrel for me and stamped it with the chambering designation.

If that is what you meant, maybe I don't understand your statement.

I've been using Shaw barrels (among other brands) for many years. I can't remember them trying to "talk" me into a different contour than ordered.

They also offer Remington factory contour barrels, not just their numbered contours.

This is my choice as well. A few more inches of barrel is very little on weight but a big difference in noise IMO.

Dumb idea. Forget the velocity loss, at worst, it might slow it down to 375 H&H Flanged speeds and there's nothing wrong with that. The muzzle blast alone should dissuade you.