Handgun Metallic Silhouette shooters have known for about 40 years there is negligible difference in the velocity of a normal rifle cartridge fired from a rifle or the same cartridge fired in 14" to 15" pistol barrel. Generally speaking, it’s easier to get top-notch accuracy from the pistol than a rifle. Short-barreled rifles also have their place, though. Note most benchrest rifles sport barrels of around 20" in length. In general the best accuracy comes with short, stiff barrels.

Lets use the popular .308 as an example. Just after the T/C Encore was introduced I spent a day chronographing .308 and .30-'06 ammo through rifle and pistol barrels. As I already had a lot of experience with rifle-type cartridge in short barrels, I didn’t find any surprises.

Ammunition for the .308 was 21 varieties of factory ammo. The pistol was an Encore factory 15" .308, with a new barrel except for having a couple hundred break-in rounds through it. The rifle was a Winchester M-100 with a 22" barrel in essentially new condition.

The 150 gr. ammunition in the pistol averaged 2,525 fps, in the rifle 2,669 fps, an average difference of 141 fps, or only 5.29 percent.

The 165 gr. ammunition in the pistol averaged 2,455 fps, in the rifle 2,592 fps, an average difference of 133 fps or 5.13 percent.

The 180 gr. ammunition in the pistol averaged 2,473 fps, in the rifle 2,581 fps, an average difference of 108 fps or 4.18 percent.

Interestingly, the 150 and 165 gr. ammo fired in the pistol gave an average of around 13 fps less velocity spread then the same ammo in the rifle. The 180 gr. ammunition reversed this finding.

There's more from J.D. Jones in the March/April issue...

• Ought Six
• So What?

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