BBL Length for an LEO Sniper Rifle

[EricW]

LEO's / Instructors Only Please:

What do consider the correct barrel length for a police sniper rifle in .308?

(I am asking on behalf of a police supplier, since I'm clueless.) 26" seems a little excessive for urban use. So, 20, 22, or 24? Or is the answer really 26"?)

The average engagement distance of this person's customers is about 100 feet. From what I understand, police engagements rarely, if ever exceed 100 yards. 200 yards would probably be the absolute maximum for this rifle.

Opinions? Better/more correct facts to add? Vibes?

[BillL223]

I don't meet your respondent criteria, but Remington's LTR which is billed as an urban sniper rifle has a heavy fluted 20" barrel. I shoot one and it is sub MOA from 100 to 600 yards. Gun is stock out of the box although I adjusted its already good trigger to 2#. Currently wearing an inexpensive Bushnell 3200 10X x 42 scope. I do use an Eagle stock pack which elevates the comb.

[kurtm]

Why would 26" barrel length be excessive? Last time I checked Snipers/marksmen, don't kick doors, or deploy with the raid guys, they support those actions with accurate fire if neccessary. Barrel length plays no part in this, out side of short "seems" to be sexy. 20" barrrels will indeed give acceptable results in the parameters you set forth but the shorter the louder! One entity with which I work uses 28" barrels and these can almost be shot without hearing protection. The noise difference is huge! Any length will do, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get a short one "just because". KURTM

[Sac Law Man]

According to Major John Plaster, USAR (Ret). Most police/military snipers use rifles w/ 24 inch barrels..this is a good comprimise between being handy and still having adequate length for good muzzle velocity. Add or subtract 20 fps muzzle velocity for each inch your barrel length varies from this..

[tightloop]

How big a city constitutes an urban area...here in the country...the hot ticket is 26" tubes, usually custom in 308 or 7-08...general practice starts here at 200 and goes to 600...

[Chriss Grube]

The LTR is a good out of the box rifle. The best choice for an out of the box rifle is the AI AE. Only problem is they just jumped the price almost a grand in the last year. It now runs 2995. You need a 22" bbl for complete powder burn with FGMM ammo.

Yes there are certain situations where a 20" bbl becomes a better choice than a 24 or 26". Tight windows and alleyways suck with a long barrel.

The LTR with 168 FGMM ammo and a good 3.5x10 scope will do great out to 600 yards. Along with the fact that that is about as much as most PD's will fork over for gear anyway. Don't count on the FBI stats because in the real world the average will sooner or later bend you over. We had one a couple years ago that required a cranial shot at 287 yards.

[rkgsmith]

I have switched from a 24" heavy brl rifle to a much shorter (19.5") gun and have had nothing but good luck with it. My theory is more practice at positions other than prone, and heavy guns are hard to handle shooting off hand at targets in excess of 100 yards. Heavy sniper rifles are good for going prone and that's about it. If you have ever laid prone for about 8 hours you'll try to find any other position, and a shorter/lighter gun makes that a tad bit easier.

[EricW]

Kurt et. al,

Thanks for the feedback. My impression is (I have a 700 w/a 26" bbl) that the longer barrels are great, right up until you're shooting off hand or from an awkward position. I think my fears are correct, in that among LE0's that there is no universal doctrine.

If I was a Police sniper, and not assigned to counter-sniper activity, here in the NW I would choose a 20-22" bbl over the 26". Even if you're going after a bad guy in the woods, a long shot is 200 yards here. But I don't do it for a living, so my opinion means squat.

I never even thought about the noise issue.

[EricW]

Rem 700 Safety/AD issue is here.

We'll keep this thread for bbl length opinions.