[gerard488]

Hi All,, I just picked up a P-14 303 made by remington, with a 26 inch barrel.
Question is, can I shorten the barrel to 20 or 22 without affecting the accuracy? The rifle is not original, It already has the stock cut down and is missing handguards

 

[jim brady]

Keeping it in .303 caliber, shortening the barrel will not effect the accuracy of you rifle - as long as it's done right and the crown is proper. Having said that, if you are going that far, have you considerd re-barreling to another caliber? The P14 is a very strong action, and with the large bolt face a switch to .300 Win Mag might be an option. Wouldn't be all that much more cost than shortening the barrel and re-crowning, and the ammo is easier to find and more potent than .303. Just a thought.

 

[CHW2021]

You would likely not harm anything by shortening the barrel, but, how accurate is the gun now? If you are happy with the accuracy why take the chance/

As far as the above, you could rebarrel the gun, but the expense would be great.

 

[jim brady]

Got to both agree and dis-agree with CHW, and the disagreement is very slight. If you are happy with the rifle, save your money and use it as is.

Cost wise, depends on you and several factors whether or not the expense of a new barrel warrants the job. A ball park - and that is VERY rough as a guess - to have a gunsmith shorten the barrel and re-crown and replace the front sight I'm guessing at $250 or so, Maybe slightly more or less. I've dealt with Gunsmiths who ran the price ranges for custom work from 'Let's do it!' to 'I'd better change my drawers after hearing this!'.

A guestimate of a new barrel installed would be around $350. Here's that little fly in the ointment: You could buy another rifle for that. Or, depending on lots of other factors (is the rifle a private purchase with no paper trail, how badly do you want your own customized rifle, etc, etc, etc.) it may be worth it to you to chuck out the money and have it done. I just threw out an idea, and bless you whatever way you go.