Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters OCTOBER: Ask John Barsness Questions About "SHORT AND LONG ACTIONS"

Nah, if if it was supposed to resemble rocket science, I'd have to include some formulas, but even then try to avoid 'em. :-)

Thanks for the great article and interesting comments. I'm far from an expert and amazed at the wealth of info here on 24hrs.

Dave

Very nice article. It stitches together much of what I have read over the years. Thank you for writing it.

As for the short action vs long action--like the differences between "formal china" and "everyday china"--I did not care until I got married. For me, useful cartridges started at .30-06 and went up from there. Big boys shot big rifles chambered in big cartridges.

Post-nuptuals I learned to care, as my wife was not built to shoot your average 7.5lb & 14" LOP sporting rifle from Rem/Win/Rug in .30-06.

Nowadays I give every rifle the gimlet eye:
1. Can it be chambered in shorter cartridges and is it short action?
2. About 38" OAL or less and is it or can it easily be had in 12.5" LOP?
3. About 6lbs or less?
4. Oh, and left-handed bolt action?

Yeah, tough set of requirements. And thank Mauser and Remington for short actions.

More power to those who use a LA, they have it even if they don't need it, and even if it's overkill.

MD,

Honest question, how many animals have you killed with a LA that could not have been taken with a SA?

GB

PS - I have never hunted Eland, but other than dangerous game, this is probably the only animal I would be nervous about shooting with a 7-08,308. And I ain't no pot stirrer, but really, I've seen big elk taken efficiently with a 708 at over 400 yds, so I don't see how most could ever choose a LA over a SA cartridge.

Does anyone know if a 22-250 bolt action will work with a 270 round ? I bought a gunsmith's estate & am trying to assemble some long guns out of the parts I have found so far.A little over my head here & would like some help.

Thanks Ron

This whole myth that a short action is faster or better is based on a personal preference not real life experiences. Dangerous game is shot with long cartridges and 2 world wars were fought with long actions and I doubt a short action would have changed the outcome a bit.

Thank goodness for the internet, so we can find out so much worthless trivia to base our daily decisions on. Push feed being inferior to controlled round feed is another myth. If it was true, you would think there would be cemeteries all over the dark continent with dead hunters that were killed because their push feed guns choked.

True. Think of how many hunters deaths have been caused by using single shot actions like those horrible little Ruger rifles, or worse yet those 1885 Winchesters.....

Have beeen stuck on stupid so long now it seems like home to me ! lol

Have beeen stuck on stupid so long now it seems like home to me ! lol

It may take me untill summer to figure out how this site works

Nope, but there have been 270 length actions that have been converted to shoot 22-250.

Thanks , so how can I tell a 270 bolt form a 22-250 bolt ?

The problem I'm haveing is that I have 3 remington actions (1 long & 2 short ) with a selection of stocks & barrels. Matching them up is tough ,all the barrels fit the 700 actions but some are 270 & some are 22-250. It was easier to assemble my last 2 that was a winchester 1890 22 pump & the knickerbocker double . I stared out small & am working my way up to the 700 remington bench guns.

.22-250 in a factory gun will be SA, the bolt is shorter than a LA.

As posted, you can build a .22-250 on a LA, not sure how it would feed. I have a .257R on a M-700 LA, feeds as slick as any gun I have, but it was put together by a master smith, Ron Lampert, MN.

.22-250 works best on a SA, 2.8" box mag, .270 needs a full 3.4" LA box mag.

DF

May need to go back to the pile of old guns & learn more about the 700 s before I start the building. Also would you finish the stocks before you would glass the beds? ( not where the action & barrel goes ) I can sand & put a finish on ! lol

Ron

Glass'em then finish'em.

DF