Best LR .30 caliber on .473 bolt face

[Savage 22-243 AI]

My favorite long range shooter in a heavy gun is my .308 Bear Magnum. Running 210 gr. SMK for light work and 240 gr. SMK for heavy work or punching paper at a mile. Next in line is my 30-06 AI. with 26" barrel. With 165 gr to 210 gr. Bullets. 30-06 is easy with cases, bullets and powder everywhere available.

 

[257X50]

They really need a "thinking" or "great idea" emoji for posts like this.

Ol Pharts like Ken Howell were something......friends to one of the old ones. Saw the then brany new model 7 and had it rebarreled to 338-308 for PA woods hunting. Hard to argue. Lol Bob Bell was a hunter.
Bob Shot out a 338WM built by John Buhmiller(another name to look up if you like the 460 Weatherby) just by hunting.

 

[ntsqd]

Without a comprehensive knowledge of every wildcat out there I was guessing a .30 necked .284 Win would be the most case capacity in the .473 bolt-face. Are there any larger cases with the same size rebated rim?

I'm assuming that he's stuck on .30 for some reason, that need not be justified?

 

[Eric Alexander]

My cousin is looking to rebarrel a Rem 721 long action and is wanting the best .30 caliber he can put on this action. Not looking to change the bolt face. He is looking to match or exceed 300 Win Mag if possible. Just share facts and your experiences please. Please don't make this a ,,,,,, contest.

At the moment, Weatherby has released the 6.5 RPM. It is essentially a .284 Win elongated to 30-06 length. A rebated cartridge that retains the .473 rim but wider case. It has a case capacity near a 7mm Rem Mag. Go get some RPM brass, open the throat, and put in bullet of choice. If he already has a 721 30-06, then just ream it out.
You will need to make up a reamer and dies, but history awaits. or just do a Sherman or Gibbs. Cheaper. but won't be as fast.

 

[xsn10s]

For me, and maybe many others there comes a point of diminishing returns. Then it makes more sense to step up to a magnum.

 

[436]

My cousin is looking to rebarrel a Rem 721 long action and is wanting the best .30 caliber he can put on this action. Not looking to change the bolt face. He is looking to match or exceed 300 Win Mag if possible. Just share facts and your experiences please. Please don't make this a ,,,,,, contest.

I think something like the .30-338 Win or it's Ackley brother the .30-338 AI both do a great job and are considered inherently accurate. Or just make it easy and chamber it for the 308 Norma Mag. Both would give a little more room in the magazine for the big bullets. I really like the Rem 722 and 721 actions for builds.

Ok, it seems perhaps his bolt face is .473" in tha6t case the .30-284 Win or its brother the .30-284 AI again both considered inherently accurate.

 

[Wv shooter]

I have owned a 30-06 AI and it was a great cartridge it is simple to make brass it was super accurate and it shot 06 rounds as good as the AI cheep brass And Good reloading dies long barrel life just my two cents worth good luck

 

[Rooks]

My cousin is looking to rebarrel a Rem 721 long action and is wanting the best .30 caliber he can put on this action. Not looking to change the bolt face. He is looking to match or exceed 300 Win Mag if possible. Just share facts and your experiences please. Please don't make this a ,,,,,, contest.

Seems it would be easier to just buy a win mag. Standard 06' is quite capable.

 

[xsn10s]

I have owned a 30-06 AI and it was a great cartridge it is simple to make brass it was super accurate and it shot 06 rounds as good as the AI cheep brass And Good reloading dies long barrel life just my two cents worth good luck

I like how Hornady dies are like 80 bucks for the 30-06 AI. People report how they cut down on trimming too so that's an added bonus.

 

[greenejc]

A straight .30-06 with a 26"+ 1:9" (just my preference) is no slouch. Depending on what your cousin is willing and able to do i.e., wildcatting/fireforming. AI version is another consideration and probably the best improvement with the least amount of work. I have a .30 Gibbs (https://www.longrangehunting.com/threads/30-gibbs-is-finally-ready.242088/) that I am still developing loads.

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Good luck!

Ed

You might also take a look at the Hawk line of cartridges. They make a 30 Hawk and a 338 Hawk that rivals the 300 winmag and the 338 winmag in velocity with the same bullets. But the Gibbs or the Ackley Improved will work nicely in either 30 or 338 caliber. The advantage to the Ackley Improved is that you can just shoot a standard -06 round in it and eject an Ackley Improved casing. The others require the brass to have a false shoulder formed and then be necked down to your caliber and then fireformed to move the neck forward. I'd go with the Ackley Improved cartridge and a 24 to 26 inch barrel, which will get near-300 winmag velocities and with judicious reloading will get into the 300 Winmag range. But I'm lazy. The Gibbs is a great cartridge.

 

[Buckys]

Not really an answer to the OP question, but I find this post useful:

Bolt face diameter's

Some times when considering a re barrel and chamber or cartridge change you need to know what round will work without bolt face and extractor work. I have a cheat sheet/ready reference and thought I would share it with every anyone that is interested. All of these groups of cartridges should...

www.longrangehunting.com

 

[nksmfamjp]

It's be interesting to see where Rich's 300 stacked up on that chart...

The 300 Sherman is about the same as 30 Gibbs, but longer neck for accuracy.

300 Sherman is as fast as I know you can get from 30 cal 0.473" bolt face. It performs comparable to 300 WSM, but holds 2 more rounds in the mag.

Mine isn't do, but from my research, it needs magnum oal 3.6" to fit mags and be on the lands. I think 30-06 oal is 3.43".

in a Winchester 70, this is just remove a mag spacer and maybe change the bolt stop.

 

[FEENIX]

The 300 Sherman is about the same as 30 Gibbs, but longer neck for accuracy.

300 Sherman is as fast as I know you can get from 30 cal 0.473" bolt face. It performs comparable to 300 WSM, but holds 2 more rounds in the mag.

Mine isn't do, but from my research, it needs magnum oal 3.6" to fit mags and be on the lands. I think 30-06 oal is 3.43".

in a Winchester 70, this is just remove a mag spacer and maybe change the bolt stop.

The longer neck for accuracy claim can be very subjective ...

(SOURCE: http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com...de-the-box-stan-wares-wicked-no-neck-wolfpup/)

I have only loaded the Berger 190 VLD with powders already opened but I am currently propelling it 2806 FPS with 57 RL-17 out of 24" barrel, 3.34", ES=15, SD=6, and .75 MOA with still plenty of room. Brass was fireformed .35 Whelen just to get me started. I will be trying the .270/.280 soon and see if the additional .046" makes the difference.

 

[Chuck32571]

My cousin is looking to rebarrel a Rem 721 long action and is wanting the best .30 caliber he can put on this action. Not looking to change the bolt face. He is looking to match or exceed 300 Win Mag if possible. Just share facts and your experiences please. Please don't make this a ,,,,,, contest.

Without a doubt I'd go for the 280 Ackley Improved. Gives 7mm Rem Mag performance with a substantial savings on powder used. Ammo availability through Nosler or you could fire form 280 Remington brass.