Thread: Barrel length considerations

Kia Ora Te forum.

After you all convinced me to ditch my 6.5x55 musings and knuckle down to a .308, I have spent the last couple of months weighing up which rifle I should get

I have largely settled on a Tikka T3X Lite. I know it's a little cliché, a little light and a touch more expensive than some, but its reputation for accuracy and the great action have won me over.

As I'm still waiting on the FAL to walk into the letterbox, I took a little research trip to some outdoor stores. One I saw had a T3X carbine. I've combed through Tikka's website for a month or more and haven't seen that term used. The salesman told me it was exactly the same except it had a 16 inch barrel instead of 20.

So, based on my little bit of knowledge - always a dangerous thing - this would make the rifle shorter (duh!) and lighter. But I'm worried about what I don't know. Namely, how will the shorter barrel affect accuracy, bullet speed, loudness and felt recoil? I will be fitting a DPT suppressor which makes it near enough to a 20 inch barrel again. Though, I suppose, if I just got a standard 20 inch barrel, the suppressor would extend it to 24ish inches.

Also, is the "carbine" designation legit? Has this outfit just gunsmithed a rifle, voiding the warranty?

For context, this will be a mostly bush and clearings rifle with the occasional shot over open farmland courtesy of some friends of friends. I will not get into long range shooting: 250 to 300 meters will be the maximum on game.

Thanks in advance.