Short Barrel, Long Range
By Barrett TillmanQuestion: How do you get a vegetarian to eat steak? Answer: Give him a taste.
That’s the philosophy of William Graves, proprietor of GPS Defense Sniper School in Scottsdale, Arizona. A successful, experienced shooting instructor, Graves defies the conventional wisdom that precision rifles need long barrels. Whereas most off-the-shelf rifles have 24- or 26-inch tubes, GPS offers extremely accurate weapons with 16- and 18-inchers. His proof is in the results – a fusilogical steak to convince the ballistic vegetarians.
Actually, short barrels have been discussed for decades. At the Gunsite scout rifle conferences in 1983-83, subjects included the optimum length to provide practical accuracy at 300 yards. The final configuration was a lightweight, 18-inch barrel on a bolt-action receiver.
Several years later, Steyr-Mannlicher chopped almost 10 inches off the SSG and marketed the special-purpose SSG-P with a 16-inch barrel to meet legal requirements. But the industry standard remained 26, as few serious riflemen believed that 18 inches could deliver optimum accuracy at long range.
Actually, the information was already there. Much as I loved my SSG’s exceptional precision, its 25.5-inch barrel frequently got in the way, and the bolt was stiff. Consequently, I had a 20-inch tube mated to a Ruger 77 action and saw no appreciable loss in practical accuracy.
Shooters ask about the velocity differences between an 18- and 24-inch barrel. GPS instructor Dan Herman just grins: “It seems to run between 20 and 100fps per inch, depending on powder, bullet, and barrel, but you know what? It doesn’t really matter.”
He’s right. Instructor Ryan Cleckner is a combat experienced sniper from Afghanistan who says, “I wouldn’t care if a bullet turned 40 degrees left and 10 degrees down coming out of a short tube as long as it was consistent. You can adjust for that on a scope.” He found that with the same ammo he needed only two more minutes of elevation at 900 yards.
Ryan adds, “My rifle came from the factory with acceptable sub-minute-of-angle accuracy out of a 26 inch barrel. I had my barrel cut down to 18 inches, took it to the range and was pleasantly surprised to see the accuracy improve to a 1/2 minute of angle. Yes, the shorter barrel was more accurate.”
The reason for the seeming anomaly is due to harmonics – the amount of vibration in the tube caused by firing the projectile. Harmonics in turn affect accuracy by the amount of flexing as the round leaves the muzzle. For a given length and diameter, the only way to reduce harmonics is to stiffen the barrel by shortening it.
GPS provides Remington 700s, fairly standard rifles except for the short barrels. The Sniper Rifle Performance Package (SRPP) includes the glass-bedded barreled action with squared recoil lug and bolt face. The synthetic stock accepts five instead of the usual four rounds, and the trigger is adjusted to a crisp, consistent 3 pounds. With tactical scope of the owner’s choosing, the all-up weight runs just under 12 pounds.
Overall length tuns about 36 inches, providing significant advantages when hunting in the forested or rocky terrain, or negotiating urban barriers. The applications are obvious for those in special operations or police work, as well as for anyone who may have to dismount a vehicle in a hurry.
In a short three hours Bill and Ryan took me from zeroing – with half-inch wide groups at 100 yards – to tactical drills, to 920 (840m), and finally to 1,200 yards (1,090m).
That’s right: .308 hits on an 18×24 inch silhouette at 2/3 of a mile. From an 18-inch barrel. Impressive as that sounds, I was merely the trigger mechanic. Ryan did all the work by expertly judging the gusting wind so, in Jeff Cooper’s words, I was holding “way out beyond Fort Mudge.” Making use of the mil lines, with plenty of blue sky at 10 o’clock from the target, we walked on target in about six rounds. Then we scored again.
The scoped rifle is surprisingly fast and agile up close. After adjusting hte magnification and focus knobs, Bill ran me through some intermediate-action drills at the seven-yard line. From low ready to the shot ran barely one second: all five rounds clustered around the target’s nose. Getting through the doorway was notably easier than with conventional rifles or shotguns.
If the modified 700 was impressive, the .308 DPMS Panther proved a revelation. With a 14.5-inch barrel (plus a permanent flash suppressor for legality) the semiauto .308 was just as accurate as the 18-inch boltgun on the 920 yard silhouette. Believe me, fellow Dillonites, you can read about it and intellectually accept it, but you need to shoot it before you emotionally believe it.
Bill Graves notes that the SRPP has advantages beyond the performance. First, the rifles are always in stock. That’s right – no backlog because GPS ships in a week. It’s a huge consideration in today’s political environment. Secondly, the 5+1 magazine affords decent ammo capacity even in limited freedom jurisdictions.
To summarize: in 30-odd years of writing about guns and shooting, I’ve tested very few products that I believe in so much that I would spend my own money on them. They include the Savage Scout, the Robar QR-2, and Kimber 1911s. Now you can add the GPS SRPP to that list – and another helping of steak, please.