Cutting Barrel Down question

[MNellis3023]

Hello Everyone..

This is my first official post, so be easy on me 8)

I just acquired a DPMS LR-308 with the 24'' Heavy Barrel.  I want to get this barrel cut down to make it more hunting friendly.  I have been told that I will hardly see any difference in performance between the 24'' and the 18''...Is this true?  Also, a few people told me that I would hardly even see a difference between a 16'' and 24'' performance.

Also, are these barrels able to be fluted?  Or will it ripple the barrel to much and affect the accuracy?

Lastly, will a standard lowprofile Ar-15 gas block in the proper diameter work for the 308?

The first picture is of the gun before I refinished the receivers in black....just didn't care for the silver to much

[SWshooter]

Personally, I think 16" is a little short for a 308 for anything. I have a 24" on my rifle and I may cut it back to 20" but don't think I'd go any shorter. I had my barrel turned down to a thinner profile, rather than cut shorter.

[R2002K]

I have the LR308B with the Heavy 18 inch barrel, and I get really good accuracy with it.  It is still pretty heavy, and I have the same fears as you about fluting or dimpling.  My 18" likes the lighter bullets, 155 is what I shoot.

[concretus]

18-20" IMO is ideal for a hunting rig. Mine has the 18" bull barrel. Yea it's a little heavy but still feels good to shoulder up and fast handling. I looked into ADCO about turning the barrel down. They say it does not effect the accuracy of the barrel but right now my rifle shoots 1/2moa and I don't want to take the chance. Some folks have done it and were very pleased with the job. Good Luck!  8)

[Iheartmy308]

I read an article last night (may have been linked from this site but dont recall) where 2 studies found no difference in velocity from 24" to 20."  When the barrel was cut to 18" accuracy stayed the same but muzzle velocity was 32fps lower.  They used Federal match grade ammo, I think it was from 2660fps to 2630fps with no accuracy loss.

[VaderSpade]

I want to have mine turned down. I have a 24” .260 bull barrel, and it’s just too #$%@ heavy. I hunt where 300 -500 yards shots are not uncommon, so don’t want to lose any velocity.

Has anyone had this done? Any links to having it done? I have a friend with a BIG lathe, if I had some guidelines I would like to do this myself.

So far I have not gotten a DPMS upper with anything close to 1 M.O.A. :'( so I’m not too worried about messing up the accuracy. I do have more than a few rifles that will shoot under 1 M.O.A. so I know it’s not me.

[survivalshop]

If done right , cutting a bbl. down in both length & dia. should not be a problem .

There is more to it than just cutting the bbl. down . It needs to be crowned & or threaded/crowned . Which requires special tooling .

If you have done this before go for it , if not, send it to some one who does it for a living & backs up there work.

You will loose a little velocity when cutting down , but unless you are shooting past 800 yrds, I would not worry about it . The .308 (or .260 for that matter ) has plenty of power for the ranges you are going to hunt in .

I have a 16" that has no problem keeping around 1" groups @ 100 yrds & if I get around to putting a good trigger in her ,she will be under 1" groups .

Next year I will be going to a 800 yd. range & give my hand loads & the 308's a real work out .

[SWshooter]

ADCO does a good job, fast turn around too.I used a Vltor Low profile gas block on my LR-308 and it functions just dandy.