Different barrel lengths & velocity plus bullet tests

[6mm Remington]

I posted this information on another forum of some bullet testing and velocity testing I did a while back. I used 3 different rifles in 6mm Remington with different barrel lengths so I could see what effects barrel length has on velocity and if it approximates with what most of us have read. The loads used in each rifle were exactly the same so that was not a factor. I used three different bullets, the Partition, Accubond, and E-tip. I then shot each bullet out of each rifle into water jugs at 25 yards to get penetration, weight retention, and expansion. I sure love those Nosler bullets and these things did amazingly well.

I thought this was some good information to pass along.

David

http://forum.nosler.com/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=19372

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

I have use the Partition for at least 30 years in my 30-06 and .300 Wby with outstanding results. I still use it and see no reason to change. The Accubond is great too, but still no reason to work up a new load for it, Partition is my bullet as long as they offer it in their product line!

 

[Gr8bawana]

Those are pretty good test results. A while back Easmans did a similar test using ballistic gel with several premium bullets and some factory everyday loads. I was surprised how well the plain old remington core-lokt performed compared to the premiums.

 

[6mm Remington]

I have use the Partition for at least 30 years in my 30-06 and .300 Wby with outstanding results. I still use it and see no reason to change. The Accubond is great too, but still no reason to work up a new load for it, Partition is my bullet as long as they offer it in their product line!

The Partition is certainly never a bad choice!

 

[NE69]

The velocity difference is very interesting. Exactly what I was expecting. Thank you for posting this.

 

[Mr Drysdale]

I like reading the results. I too would have expected the difference in the barrel lengths but it's great to see it on paper. Great test. Sounds like fun.

 

[Tim McCoy]

You need to be careful drawing conclusions, beyond these 3 rifles. Individual rifles of the same barrel length will give different velocities with the same load. Still a fun test to read about and thanks for sharing it. But the variation between each rifle is a factor in this test and it's results. There was a gun writer years ago, started with one rifle with a very long barrel. Used same load all the way, and progressively sawed off barrel and shot, sawed and shot, inch or so at a time. I forget all the data, but there was velocity loss as it got shorter. Don't recall caliber or anything beyond thinking that was a waste of a barrel.

 

[6mm Remington]

Tim you are absolutely correct. Example of that is we had 4 Remington Model 700 heavy barrel .308 Win rifles at work and 1 Savage'. Three had 24 inch barrels, one had a 26" barrel, and one had a muzzle brake so the barrel was about 20". Using the same lot with the same bullet and load I chronographed each of these. There was more than a 200 fps spread from the fastest rifle to the slowest, and the 20" barrel was not the slowest of the bunch! The extreme difference did surprise me.

You are correct also in that there are three completely different rifles here and I'm sure that had some impact. I completely understand, but I had three rifles in 6mm Remington with 3.5 and 4" of barrel length difference between the lengths so that's what I had to work with. I also thought it would be neat to show any difference in the bullet expansion and penetration because of the velocity differences. For instance I would have bet that my Model 600 with the 18.5 inch barrel and slower velocity would be the one to penetrate deepest at 25 yards. My thinking that the bullet would not open quite as violently and quickly and therefore it would penetrate deeper.

I saw that same test you were talking about in one of the magazines. That was a pretty cool test. I'm guessing he was going to pull the existing barrel off and chamber it for something else. Last spring I tried to practically give away a brand new Model 70 barrel in .270 Win and no-one bit on it! Maybe those barrels aren't worth much after all.

 

[Tim McCoy]

I'd have bet with you on the penetration test too. Rifles are individuals, all so different, but that is in part what makes it so much fun to tinker with them. I heard a saying I often think about relative to rifles, velocity sells, accuracy kills. Many folks put a bunch of emphasis on velocity, when what they probably need more focus on is accuracy with enough velocity so the bullet performs as designed.