In a gas gun. What's the optimal barrel lengths? Looking for PRS style shiiy.

Gasser .308 in PRS…pretty sure they don’t make a barrel long enough to make you competitive.

If you’re already buying the barrel just go .260 or 6.5 C.

I love my 308s and they have been my workhorse across this whole nation but they just aren’t an option for PRS in my mind.

260 was my first choice. But finding a good barrel is almost non existent. Lol. But not following why u think .308 is not competitive???

If for true PRS events, I wouldn’t get a .308 gasser if you wanted to be highly competitive. There’s no tactical division in PRS Gas Gun division. You’ll be going up against 6creeds, 6.5creeds, 6ARC, etc… All of those have considerable advantages in both ballistics as well as less recoil.

If going for a DMR event, like what they run down at Arena, I would review their guidelines for barrel length/weight for particular divisions.


If you’re hell bent on a .308 for PRS gas gun division, I’d get at least a 24” barrel, and as heavy as you can find, with a very effective brake.

I’d strongly consider opting for a 6.5creed for a large frame or a 6ARC/224Valkyrie if going for a small frame. I would take any of them over a .308.

.308 is just to slow to be competitive.  Lots of recoil so you’ll struggle to spot your rounds and get back on target compared to other shooters who will make only fine tuned adjustments to their position.  The round is much more susceptible to environmental issues, there’s been matches where you start your string holding one side of the target and end holding the other side but keep hit counts high because even while the change happens fast the round is still getting on target, less likely with a .308.  At 500 yards a .308 is probably half a second behind most of the competition, even the “slower” rounds line 6.5 C or .260, for a 12 round string that’s six additional seconds minimum just to get the spotter to call the hit…at 500, it only gets worse as the targets go farther.

Good explanation. I see your points and fully understand.
So when I started toying with the idea of shooting prs style matches. I built me a nice 556/223 18in gun. Right after that the 6 Arc came out. I was like well damn. Then I started ROn and figured out quick that 556 is not a route I want to go. Their was a few 556 shooting it. But their was good mix of 6.5 grn, cm, .260, 308, 6mm and so on. I don't have a LG frame. So I wanted to go with a .260, but can't find shit for that. Then decided to go with .308. but I'm not ded set on anything yet. Just researching.

https://www.larue.com/products/260-barrel/

Kool that helps. Lol. I was looking for complete upper. But that works too

So, why 260 for a gas gun over a 6.5creed? Generally curious. I’m a fan of the 260, just not for a gasser.

No telling if it’s in stock, but I’ve been eyeing a 556 barrel from them so I see it every time I go over there and look on the site again

Never bit into hype. Dunno y just don't intrigue me. If I'm thinking right the 260 is same projectile from a bigger case correct?

If you have a 5.56 AR now, why not buy or build a 6mm ARC upper for your small frame AR? Suggest you skip 224 Valkyrie and 6.5 Grendel and just go with the 6mm ARC. I have 224v, 65G, and 6ARC - wish I had just started with 6mm ARC. You can buy factory ammo or reload. Suggest "longer" 6mm ARC barrel - 22 inch or 24 inch.

The .260 Rem. is a .308 case necked down to 26 caliber. Because it's a smaller bullet, it shoots faster and flatter than the 30 caliber .308. Also for any given weight, the .260 bullet will be a longer bullet than a .308, allowing the .260 to be more stable in flight, due to this additional length. From what I hear, the ~26~ caliber stuff seems to hit a sweet spot in dimensional stability vs. weight.

Having said all that, I like a .308. And if I can hit a pie plate at 100 yards, I can kill a deer. That's pretty much my litmus test these days....

In a gas gun you're limited on OAL. If anything, the longer case limited bullet options/capability due to how far back it has to sit in the case. The CM is a better round, whether you buy into the hype or not.

^ This. The 6.5creed offers more bullet options without eating up case capacity when limited by AR magazines. The LaRue/KAC mags allow you to seat longer than Magpul, but you can get 5-6 Magpuls per LT. Now, the LT mags really are good, but the Magpul works very well too.

Plus, a large frame (LF) can beat the brass up pretty good. With an autoloader, where it’s easy to burn through ammo when practicing, I’d want a round that has a lot of factory match options. The 6.5creed has that whereas the 260 has limited amounts.

In a bolt gun, 260 or 6.5creed. The velocity difference between the two are very close.
Large frame gas gun, 6.5creed.

A 6ARC or 224Valkyrie would be great too, and probably a better option if you have limited experience with a LF. The small frame cartridges are easier to shoot than a LF. My 224Valkyrie has the same recoil as a 223, but is much more effective out past 600yds. Spotting hits/misses can be tougher to spot as a new shooter/spotter, but the splash is still perceivable at 850-900yds even with heavy mirage when using good glass. Yet another caveat would be if you are worried primarily about QP matches. If so, I’d just go 6ARC and stay under a 20.1” barrel. The valkyrie really needs 22-24” to get the most out of it, slinging 80’s at 2950fps.

Good luck regardless of which route you go.

I'm definitely buying a 6arc upper to out on my SF. If nothing more to varmint hunt. First time I seen it was on some yote Killin videos. It was nasty. So I'm gonna get a upper and build the LF into a 260 and see how I like it.

Do you reload? I ask because in my experience 260 factory ammo is significantly harder to find than 6.5CM. I have both - one PRS bolt gun in 260 (used to be SuperJ's) and one PRS bolt gun in 6.5CM. I reload so not a big deal and they use same projectiles, powder, primers and very similar load data - only difference is brass.

I used to have a 260 deer rifle and I used 7mm08 brass necked down as at that time was a shortage of 260 brass.

SuperJ and I both went down the 224V rabbit hole a while back before 6mmARC was introduced and I went 6.5Grendel a decade or so ago. 6mm ARC for the current win. We will see what comes out next!

I have everything to load 260. I have loaded some. But it was 6.8spc. had good results with that. I have bolt rifle chambered in 260. I had built off a new Remington action.