Long Action vs Short Action.

[JAYgs8163]

I took the barrel off of a long action and screwed a 308 Win barrel on it so I could run the bullets labelled "single feed only" in it. Of course there was some other work to be done as well, but it worked.

Savage made their original 308 Police sniper rifle on a long action CRF. I have one.

WSM loads in a long action is a entirely differ animal though.

 

[blvette75]

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 agree with your logic on this my custom 375 Ruger actually can have the standard 30-06 action but I went with the longer so I could use the higher BC bullets, it works for my hunting purposes especially for longer range hunting opportunities.

 

[nralifer]

Savage made their original 308 Police sniper rifle on a long action CRF. I have one.

WSM loads in a long action is a entirely differ animal though.

The performance of the WSM certainly can be improved in a longer action

 

[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.

Love it! Let us know the results

 

[Reelamin]

how long would that be?
What bullet are you using? The point of the question is to use a SAAMI chamber with long ogive bullets and still magazine feed and not have to use a custom reamer.

My experience is the number of hunter/shooters who worry and put effort into it this latest craze is a drip in the bucket. The number sold of guns sold to accommodate super long bullets, etc. etc. could not sustain rifle sales for any of the companies who have rifles from $500-2500. Some models will fill the bill just very very few.

 

[MW204]

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.

I built a 300WM on a Rem long action this past summer, a new Douglas XX 26" barrel, and loaded it with 178gr Absolute Hammer's, average 3350 fps measured 10' from chronograph, right now 3/8" group at 100 yds.

 

[JAYgs8163]

The problem with a WSM in a true long action is not whether it will shoot, but it's if you can get it to feed correctly from the magazine. This is the reason a few have mentioned they built there WSM long action as a single shot hand feed.

 

[nralifer]

The problem with a WSM in a true long action is not whether it will shoot, but it's if you can get it to feed correctly from the magazine. This is the reason a few have mentioned they built there WSM long action as a single shot hand feed.

Mine seems to feed well from a Savage 110 action and allows our bullets to seat out farther without the constraint of a shorter action. At 3200fps with our 175 BD2 the bullet at 1000 yds is still till going 1770 fps at 1000 yds with about 1200+ ft-lbs energy at standard sea level conditions and the OAL 3.076" 0.020" off the lands. In a short action the max OAL I can get is 2.880 and still use the mag. The extra length allows me to use a much better bullet than the 168 gr TSX I was using without the boat tail impinging into the powder space a full caliber length. The G1BC on the TSX is only 0.404 compared to the 0.605 for the BD2. With both bullets having the same MV, the large difference in BC and the fact that the TSX expansion is unreliable at 1700 fps means that the extra action length allows for the use of a vastly superior hunting bullet which at 1000 yds is going 500 fps faster with 2x the bullet energy and able to reliably expand.

 

[Lee7588]

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 use an origin also. I typically have a 300 win mag barrel on it but I also have a 308 barrel that I switch to a long with changing the bolt face. I haven't had any issues with it feeding correctly. So you should be all good

 

[Lee7588]

The problem with a WSM in a true long action is not whether it will shoot, but it's if you can get it to feed correctly from the magazine. This is the reason a few have mentioned they built there WSM long action as a single shot hand feed.

Why would the action length affect the way it shoots? To me the only thing difference between the long action and a short action would be the feeding but not it's shooting. The barrel threads into the action the same as it would have short action and it would still be chamber at the same that's a short action. I'd like to understand why you think it would shoot differently

 

[JAYgs8163]

Why would the action length affect the way it shoots? To me the only thing difference between the long action and a short action would be the feeding but not it's shooting. The barrel threads into the action the same as it would have short action and it would still be chamber at the same that's a short action. I'd like to understand why you think it would shoot differently

I didn't say it would not shoot. I said it may create feeding issues from the mag. Re-read my post.

 

[Lee7588]

I didn't say it would not shoot. I said it may create feeding issues from the mag. Re-read my post.

I'm sorry I missed part of your post( no glasses makes it hard to see without god light.

 

[Mike Matteson]

I am looking at getting 2-700Rem action in 30/06 those type of length actions. 1 to set up a new 25/280AI built, and the other to set up to do my fireforming for my case in different rifles. So off to the smith to see what older barrels he has on hand. To see what kind of trouble that I am getting into. I don't care if the barrels rifling is bad. Just as long I can have them rechamber for the cases I am going to use and the correct caliber. I have 1 reamer, and will be gettng a new reamer. So I'll have the barrels set up for each different case I want to fire form. So all I have to do is change out barrel to that chamber to fire form. So off to the pawnshops to look for actions.
Where I am going wrong?

 

[BrentM]

I am looking at getting 2-700Rem action in 30/06 those type of length actions. 1 to set up a new 25/280AI built, and the other to set up to do my fireforming for my case in different rifles. So off to the smith to see what older barrels he has on hand. To see what kind of trouble that I am getting into. I don't care if the barrels rifling is bad. Just as long I can have them rechamber for the cases I am going to use and the correct caliber. I have 1 reamer, and will be gettng a new reamer. So I'll have the barrels set up for each different case I want to fire form. So all I have to do is change out barrel to that chamber to fire form. So off to the pawnshops to look for actions.
Where I am going wrong?

Not sure what this has to do with choice of action length. If you want a long action it will work with a short action round. A short action will not generally work with long action cartridges.

What I thought the point of the OP's thread was about is using a long action for a short action round and net gain. A few already touched on the net benefit if ANY. For example in the PRC it comes in a .188 freebore generally from the factory and most custom shops spec a .188 freebore reamer. IF you choose a long action the gained ground would be to use a .240 freebore and seat 150 class bullets way out. In this case, you could probably see a performance gain. For those like me running a saami chamber, there is little benefit if any.