Thread: .308 barrel length

How is the barrel length measured?.
Same as a shotgun? (rod down the barrel until it touches the breach).

Yes

Pro's for 16". If suppressed, perfectly fine to shoot and will do out to 500 yards with the right ammo selection.
If not suppressed then anything in between will definitely be louder and have more muzzle blast. 16" in the bush unsuppressed will not be ideal if bush hunting.
Pretty much, if you are getting a suppressor then anything over 16" is just more length and weight for nothing, unless you are planning on shooting longer range.

Originally Posted by 7mmwsm

This might come as a surprise to some.
I have a couple of 308 rifles and they have 22 inch barrels. And they work just fine.

My old Interarms Mk X has 22in, long enough to shoot around corners lol..ain't changing it. DPT Can fitted, super accurate with jacketed. Nice 50m groups with 204gn Walker Cast HP at .313dia doing 930 fps average with ICI Nobel 78 Shotgun powder, 6.0gn, 185gn Cast FP, same load doing 1020fps even tighter group. Quieter than a. 22LR Sub. Doesn't like 151gn Cast .308 dia at any velocity. Can makes it a longish rifle overall but balance is good. I just like it too much to mess with..carry something else if I want short and light.

If both barrels are the same profile, the 16" will be stiffer than the 20", and in theory slightly more accurate, especially for thinner profile barrels. Caveat - accuracy depends on a lot of other factors, so a shorter barrel isn't a guarantee.

Adding a suppressor may also help with harmonics and usually doesn't affect accuracy, or improves it slightly.