Long story short, I made an impulse buy on a bucket list gun yesterday. I’ve wanted one forever but it just something that’s realistically in my budget. Stopped my local shop to pick up a brace for my son in laws Scorpion, and there it was hanging on the wall. I took it home......
The good...
It’s green
It’s 7.62
It has the factory pic rail attached
It’s in fantastic shape (almost)
I got it for less than half of a new one
The bad.....
It has pipe wrench marks on the end of the barrel from the previous owner trying to get a stuck brake off. I was mind blown when I saw it.

So here is my plan. It’s a 26” bbl. They also offered this rifle with a 20” bbl. I’m thinking I’ll have it cut back to 20”, re-crowned, and re-threaded to 5/8x24. It looks like ADCO does this all for $140 plus shipping. From a day of researching it looks like I’ll lose about 150 fps by cutting those 6” off. I’ll also lose 200 yards off effective range. I think I’m ok with that. Accuracy shouldn’t suffer at all, and the bbl is more rigid. Plus the gun will be more handy to maneuver. Thoughts, opinions, or experiences?

It has the factory Sako TRG pic rail attached. So that means I will need to buy a pair of quality rings. Recommendations? Or should I take the rail off and buy a one piece mount? The Sako mount is $350ish, and a Spuhr is about the same.

I currently don’t have a scope worthy of this setup. I have a leupold 4.5x14 on my 700P. I may swap this over just so I can shoot it. What would you guys recommend? Budget wise I’d like to stay around $1k if possible. I’d like a Nightforce but I don’t think it’s possible. I’d like 15x or more, and variable power.

Any other suggestions or experiences?

My opinion, call up Short Action Customs, ask them to refinish it for you to remove the marks, keep it at 26".

If you do want it cut down to 20", also call Short Action Customs. Their work is to notch and is up to the standards warranted by such a fine precision rifle.

https://www.shortactioncustoms.com/

I have a 308 Winchester TRG-22 with 26 inch barrel and a 308 Tikka T3 with 20" barrel.
I imagine that without being able to compare two TRGs with the different barrels that those two would be about the best comparison possible. Unfortunately my velocity records don’t allow me to be sure if the same type of ammunition fired from the two guns was from the same lots. Because velocities vary among lots, that makes exact comparisons impossible.

In general, though, by looking at a number of different loads, it appears my experiences were about what you mention: a loss of 100 to 150 fps between 26 and 20 inches.

If the rifle will be handled anywhere except at an established range, there’s no question that 20 inches is far more convenient to deal with than 26", and that’s especially true if you plan to use a suppressor. Even allowing for the depth of the interface, my TBAC 30P-1 turns the 26" TRG barrel into a 34" monster. For a time I also had a 6.5 Creedmoor TRG-22 with 26" barrel, and finally decided it was just too much for me to be comfortable handling and traded it for another Tikka with shorter (24") and lighter barrel.

Having your barrel shortened to 20 inches seems like a good idea. Keep in mind that these days many long range precision shooters will scoff at the idea of using the 308 Winchester cartridge for that purpose (even though it was successful for decades in that role). If, however, that’s what you intend with the rifle, then of course the extra barrel length and bullet velocity matters.

As far as scopes are concerned, many other members have much more experience with all the models available, but without getting crazy, I’m happy with the one Leupold Mark 5HD 3.6-18×44 I have. I also like Spuhr mounts and have several, including on the TRG-22.

Thanks for the shop recommendation, I’ll check them out.
Sigfreund, your opinion is always valued! The TRG will probably replace my 700P, as I have no doubt it will shoot as well or better. As far as a purpose.... range fun, coyote and ground hog, long range deer season fun, or whatever needs to be targeted at a distance!

I'm a TRG addict with a pretty extensive collection. But are we truly talking some cosmetic damage at the end of the barrel? Stop whatever plan you have for cutting it and shoot it. lots. Be happy. use ammo till its time for a new barrel. cover it up if it bothers you. Now if we are talking a safety issue OK take action. Cut it if you need to. But if I was doing that plan there is no reason to live by what SAKO offers commercially. Cut it the minimum needed to make you happy. There is no magic number here. Yes the shorter ones are a bit more handy but at the end of the day its a big heavy rifle and these few inches mean nothing, but if longer range is what you want to accomplish why chop anything off beyond what makes you happy.
On the rail issue, I use the Sako rail and can't imagine why you would ditch it.

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:
I'm a TRG addict with a pretty extensive collection. But are we truly talking some cosmetic damage at the end of the barrel? Stop whatever plan you have for cutting it and shoot it. lots. Be happy. use ammo till its time for a new barrel. cover it up if it bothers you. Now if we are talking a safety issue OK take action. Cut it if you need to. But if I was doing that plan there is no reason to live by what SAKO offers commercially. Cut it the minimum needed to make you happy. There is no magic number here. Yes the shorter ones are a bit more handy but at the end of the day its a big heavy rifle and these few inches mean nothing, but if longer range is what you want to accomplish why chop anything off beyond what makes you happy.
On the rail issue, I use the Sako rail and can't imagine why you would ditch it.

Thanks for the insight! Do you use the rail on all your TRG rifles? What rings would recommend?

I'd also cut only the minimum needed to get rid of the damage. A silver lining is that having it treaded 5/8-24 will give you more options if you decide to use a brake or suppressor.


I tried a Spuhr mount and sold it. No doubt they are well made, but seriously overbuilt and bulky. I ended up with a Near rail and rings w/ a Nightforce scope.

http://www.nearmfg.com/products.htm

I had seen Near mentioned on Sniperhide, and checked out the website. Irks me that there are no prices, or at least not that I can find.

quote:

Originally posted by pepsiblue:
I had seen Near mentioned on Sniperhide, and checked out the website. Irks me that there are no prices, or at least not that I can find.

Click on "Order form and price list"

Congrats on the TRG. IMHO there's something to be said for a pre-dinged rifle. That way it's no big deal when you put another ding in it. And getting it for half price is a real score.

When I ordered mine new from Eurooptic a couple of weeks ago. I could have gone with a 20" or a 26" barrel. After much thought I opted for 20". It just makes the rifle more maneuverable and versatile. And since it's a .308 I'm not planning on shooting it much beyond 600 yards anyway, so I'm ok with a slight loss in velocity.

So it really depends on what you want to do with your rifle. If you plan on shooting it out to 1000+ yards with some frequency and have access to those kinds of distances, I wouldn't mess with the barrel at all and just live with the marks. Otherwise, why not cut it down to 20-24"?

BTW - mine is a tack driver. So far, after sighting it in and breaking the barrel in I've shot 8-10 five shot groups at 100 and 200 yards. My worst group was right around 1 MOA. Best around .3 MOA. Average around .6 MOA.

quote:

Originally posted by pepsiblue:
I’m thinking I’ll have it cut back to 20”
Plus the gun will be more handy to maneuver.

As far as a purpose.... range fun, coyote and ground hog, long range deer season fun, or whatever needs to be targeted at a distance!

"Handy to maneuver" -- IMO among the most over blown and over used statements on this website. Handy to maneuver makes sense for SWAT teams and active military personnel who are clearing houses. You're not in that position, and even if so, the Sako TRG-22 isn't the right rifle. I'm not SWAT or special forces either, but I've trained under both. And we've had some interesting post training hydration sessions in which the guys went into details.

Almost certainly, your biggest maneuvering issues will be taking the cased rifle from the back of your SUV to the shooting bench or shooting mat. A few inches of barrel length means nothing.

I compete in PRS/NRL/steel/precision matches. Most competitors use 24-26" barrels, and many of us shoot with suppressors -- which add another 6-9" to the barrel. Mine is 26" plus 9". We shoot from rocks, trees, barricades, hay bales, window sills, doorways, fences, barrels, culverts, pallets, tires, and other contrived positions. Sometimes lots of gun movement and position changes, sometimes not so much. But always on the clock.

There is only one stage where I cursed my barrel length. We had a shoot house where the first floor required shots from 3 windows -- at prone, sitting, and low kneeling heights. The ceiling of the first floor was so low that we had to crawl into it. I only had room for a mid-kneeling position, as I bumped my head on the ceiling for a tall-kneeling position. After shooting these positions, we climbed a ladder to the second floor, and took shoots from a peaked roof and through a narrow window slot. Now if you expect to be shooting on the clock from such a shoot house -- 5 shooting positions, 3 long distance targets from each position, 5 minutes total -- by all means go with a shorter barrel.

****
You're looking at longer distances to target. The 308 Win cartridge suffers from both large vertical drop and significant wind drift at longer distances. A longer barrel increases muzzle velocity, which helps mitigate challenges from both drop and drift. It's free velocity -- use it.

Furthermore, a longer barrel adds weight to the rifle, which helps to reduce recoil. With lower recoil you will be better able to keep your sights on target after the shot, have better understanding where the shot impacted, and have better ability to correct point of aim for the next shot.

Leave your barrel at its current length.

I would avoid the Sako Mount. Just not flexible enough IMHO. I replaced both mine and use a Mil-1913 std Picatinny rail with a Spuhr mount. This is a rifle where the overbuilt Spuhr mount is just right. I would lean towards refinish the original barrel just in case you ever want to use the factory irons etc. For a pure shooter there's nothing wrong with going to 20" either but in my mind the 20" barrel is more for the folding stock model than the fixed stock model. I'd trim it just enough to clean it up if I just had to.

My 308 absolutely loves 175gr bullets and N-140..........

quote:

Originally posted by djpaintles:
I would avoid the Sako Mount. Just not flexible enough IMHO. I replaced both mine and use a Mil-1913 std Picatinny rail with a Spuhr mount. This is a rifle where the overbuilt Spuhr mount is just right. I would lean towards refinish the original barrel just in case you ever want to use the factory irons etc. For a pure shooter there's nothing wrong with going to 20" either but in my mind the 20" barrel is more for the folding stock model than the fixed stock model. I'd trim it just enough to clean it up if I just had to.

My 308 absolutely loves 175gr bullets and N-140..........

Would you care to share your load? My email is in my profile if you’d rather not post publicly!

quote:

Do you use the rail on all your TRG rifles? What rings would recommend?

yes as having parts for the dovetail makes no sense to me as its pretty unique and the rail is universal. I run nightforce scopes in nightforce rings/mounts. Works for me and makes the sometimes move optic things around pretty easy. Mostly I've used the factory Sako parts like bipod, etc. except on the muzzle where its irrelevant. But I am trying the KRG folder at the moment (here but no experience yet) instead of the Sako one due to price.

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:
But I am trying the KRG folder at the moment (here but no experience yet) instead of the Sako one due to price.

I tried the KRG folder and ended up sending it back. It fit horribly. It was designed for the TRG-21 and did not fit my TRG-22 in an acceptable way. I also had objections to the cheap sheet metal retainer nut on the cheekpiece riser, for the several hundreds of dollars that thing cost they could have put a quality nut instead of a 1/2 cent piece of sheet metal. Hopefully they have fixed both of these issues since because other parts of the stock were nice.

Another thing I'll toss out here to get everybody's opinion on is the factory bipod. I Love the thing. It seems loose but the second you lean into it it locks up rock tight. Lean back and the cant adjusts instantly back into it and it's tight. Plus the rotating around the bore axis that only other equally expensive bipods will do. I like the thing despite it's being rather uncheap. Anybody else prefer a different bipod or the TRG's?

I have loved the Sako bipod forever. that is everything but the price but at this point I own a bunch so sunk cost. But I am trying the combination of an acra spigot and an atlas on an acra mount as that would let me easily move an atlas to anything I use. There are some small advantages to the atlas for me (like feet in the winter) that make it worth a try. again have not tried it out. Thanks for the heads up on the KRG folder its just been sitting here so I'll accelerate my test plan in case it has to go back. I did get a KRG chassis for another project and they were very responsive on addressing some small issues I had, so hopefully they have done that on the folder. I have several of the Sako folder and like all trg stuff well built and usable, but just so silly expensive.

+1 for Sako bipod. Picked mine up about the time I bought my rifle when I discovered that Beretta was having a 40% off sale on mags and accessories for the TRG.

Get on their mailing list, as they've had 2 such sales in the last 2 months. Makes buying their very expensive products a lot more palatable.

literally the only way to buy a TRG magazine is to wait till Beretta gives you a massive discount on occasion.

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:
literally the only way to buy a TRG magazine is to wait till Beretta gives you a massive discount on occasion.

And they usually do that a couple of times a year. I wouldn't be surprised to see a 20-30% discount in a few weeks.

I just checked the website, and they do have a bunch of stuff on sale, but no TOG magazines sadly!