Long Action vs Short Action.

[MW204]

I have a Rem Mod 7 in a 300 WSM that I can't run the big boys in unless I run it one at a time, but I have it for a hunting rifle. I have gotten into the long bullet craze and I like them, but they don't work so well in a WSM.
I am seriously thinking about either selling it or giving it to my grandson as a custom from his grandpa.

 

[nralifer]

I have a Rem Mod 7 in a 300 WSM that I can't run the big boys in unless I run it one at a time, but I have it for a hunting rifle. I have gotten into the long bullet craze and I like them, but they don't work so well in a WSM.
I am seriously thinking about either selling it or giving it to my grandson as a custom from his grandpa.

If you have a long action with a magnum bolt face you could just do a barrel change to use the WSM in the long action that would work with your magazine.

 

[lancetkenyon]

Most Sherman Short and Sherman Short Tacticals were designed to fit in a true SA w. Wyatt's extended box. 2.980" COAL.
The 6SST, 25SST, 6.5SST, 6.5SS would see zero benefits of a medium action with all bullets except MAYBE the 6.5mm 150SMK, 153.5 LR Hyb, and 156 Elite. Even those are only limited by mag length by less than .020" to the lands.

The rest, yes, could benefit from an XM length (3.200") mag/ejection port.

 

[nralifer]

Most Sherman Short and Sherman Short Tacticals were designed to fit in a true SA w. Wyatt's extended box. 2.980" COAL.
The 6SST, 25SST, 6.5SST, 6.5SS would see zero benefits of a medium action with all bullets except MAYBE the 6.5mm 150SMK, 153.5 LR Hyb, and 156 Elite. Even those are only limited by mag length by less than .020" to the lands.

The rest, yes, could benefit from an XM length (3.200") mag/ejection port.

the Sherman Mega cartridge, slightly longer than the WSMs, will benefit from a 3.3"length action especially if one wants to use the Badlands 30 cal 175gr BD2 195gr BD2 and especially the 205gr SBD2.
These are high BC bullets for their weight and under most if not all hunting circumstances will out penetrate lead core bullets of equivalent or heavier weight.

 

[Muddyboots]

The same applies to standard cartridges like .270, .280 and 30-06 with LA like Rem700 that has ~3.65" COAL. Add freebore and they will increase performance as well.

 

[BrienM]

I just switched the bolt head on my Origin LA, unscrewed the proof prefit winmag barrel and dropped the action off for a 308win project. I'm going to find out if the controlled round feed of the Origin long action will feed 308's from a long action 10round 30-06 HS precision magazine. I didn't have anything else I was willing to use as a switch barrel rig so here this one goes. Many times it seems like the 308 barely fits the short action magazines anyway.

 

[nralifer]

I just switched the bolt head on my Origin LA, unscrewed the proof prefit winmag barrel and dropped the action off for a 308win project. I'm going to find out if the controlled round feed of the Origin long action will feed 308's from a long action 10round 30-06 HS precision magazine. I didn't have anything else I was willing to use as a switch barrel rig so here this one goes. Many times it seems like the 308 barely fits the short action magazines anyway.

I love Kimber guns but their short actions are really short. Useless for higher BC bullets.

 

[nralifer]

The medium actions are perfect for the short magnums. Gives you the room you need for heavy for caliber bullets and doesn't send you to loading short mags in long action magazines and bottom metal.

You are right. I guess I was confusing a "long action" for a medium action. I really was referring to an action length of 3.2-3.3". The pics, if the administrators can help with the down loading, show a 6.5 PRC and A 7SS dummy rounds in a Rem700 action whose port measures 3.23". The gun is set up for a 6.5PRC and these rounds feed perfectly.

 

[CNY Yote Hunter]

Tikka only has one action for all calibers which is pretty awesome for the wsm applications I have found for this very reason. Savage used to have this as an option too back when there was a model 10- short action or 110 long action. You used to be able to buy a 110, 308 for example and had unlimited reloading potential due to it being a long action 308. Now I have no clue if they still have this as an option or not because they model everything as a 110 but it says short action for the normal short action calibers so I'm not sure if they use shims like the tikkas do.

 

[rellim8154]

Let me know how this works out. I just started a build with a long action Orgin, 6.5 prc and 300 prc barrels on order. See how everything does out of the LA, specs for fit are the same. Barrel swap, inexpensive way to run essentially same rifle, 2 different bullets for different hunting applications.

I just switched the bolt head on my Origin LA, unscrewed the proof prefit winmag barrel and dropped the action off for a 308win project. I'm going to find out if the controlled round feed of the Origin long action will feed 308's from a long action 10round 30-06 HS precision magazine. I didn't have anything else I was willing to use as a switch barrel rig so here this one goes. Many times it seems like the 308 barely fits the short action magazines anyway.

 

[kfreeze]

I agree the main reason why I built my 260 on a Remington long action is because it feeds silky smooth and I don't have to worry about how far receipt my projectiles out

Exactly. I did some coal checking with 260 and 6.5 saum (same case length) and 156 bergers. You need 3.100" to seat the bullet optimally in the case. Even an extended mag box only gets you 3.000", Which by the way, is good for a 6.5 creedmoor with a 156 berger.

 

[kfreeze]

Tikka only has one action for all calibers which is pretty awesome for the wsm applications I have found for this very reason. Savage used to have this as an option too back when there was a model 10- short action or 110 long action. You used to be able to buy a 110, 308 for example and had unlimited reloading potential due to it being a long action 308. Now I have no clue if they still have this as an option or not because they model everything as a 110 but it says short action for the normal short action calibers so I'm not sure if they use shims like the tikkas do.

No. They still have the long and short action. They just call them all the 110 now. Makes sense right.... lol

 

[Jeffpatton00]

Wanted to express my views on action length. With the advent of shorter fatter relatively high capacity cartridges, I am observing that they are actually better suited to longer actions, say 30-06 length actions than shorter ones. Such cartridges include the WSMs, Shermans, the PRCs, etc. The reason I think they are better suited to the longer action is that the longer action and magazine will better accommodate the very high BC bullets now available, since the bullet can be seated further out in the case and increase the usable powder capacity, providing greater optimization of the bullet jump as well. Limiting powder space and jump control simply degrades the potential of the short fat cases, which arguably are more efficient than longer cases with narrow powder columns. Case in point is my 300WSM. I have that rifle in a long action Savage, it feeds well and I can shoot our 175 gr BD2 bullet 3200 fps and the 195 gr BD2 at 2995 fps. From a short action that would be difficult to do if not dangerous with those bullets loaded to magazine length. Finding the same thing using a 6.5PRC. Would like to get some rational discussion about this subject from the obviously experienced reloaders on this site.

I'd like to jump in on this thread and ask if anyone knows of a good resource to learn more about the technical aspects of choosing an action? I'm interested in building a precision rifle and as I read the ads for different actions by quality builders, it's clear that there is a lot to understand here. I haven't found any books or online articles which go deep into different actions' features and functions, so I'm left trying to piece together passing references in threads like this, but if anyone can recommend a good source for a deeper understanding of rifle action technology, it'd be much appreciated.

 

[The Hock]

When I built my 270 WSM on a long action it had to have a single stack box for it to feed right. It later became a 27 Nosler and a good friend owns it!

Now there's a Defiance anTi (medium) at the gunsmith for the 270WSM.