Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Short action winchester build

+1

.338 Federal

Not gonna happen real effective like on a SA. Both work more better on a LA.

I guess as I approach maturity (in my mid 40's now) I'v grown up a little (but not much).

I'm trying to find less thumpers and more accuracy. the big 7's, big 30's and 338's are cool, hit hard and make a lot of noise.

I'm easing in to the 6.5's and smaller easier on my wallet and shoulder stuff.

for 600 yards and under work. It's hard to look past the 260 and the 123's

Just one of the reasons why a .270 started out as my friend and will always be my friend. User friendly, kicks little and kills a lot. And if for some odd reason I needed ammo in a country store I'd have a chance to find it...that is if I can recall that I forgot it...grin

Dober

For Mark and Cocadori, the short action M70 is a 3.1" action, not a 2.8" action. Big difference.

I've built two .25-284's and buddies have built several .22-284's, 6mm-284's. None of us have experienced any kind of feeding issues, but I'm sure some rifles simple fail to feed just about anything. If a rifle/action has had feeding issues with the .284 case, "generally" it had feeding issues before. Most feeding issues are caused by a bad mag box, feed ramp or follower. That being said, I love the .284 case, but the 7mm-08 is an absolute hammer on critters and has all the goody in a short action.

I really love slinging 120 grain pills at over 3,100+ pfs. in the .7mm-08. Flinch

Maybe have a smith open up that bolt face and work the feed rails and do a 7WSM. Just a thunk. A 3.1" SA leaves a lot of doors open.

As it comes from the factory it's a 2.8" action. To make the longer rounds work you have to remove the magazine spacer, shorten the bolt stop and ejector, and rework the rear of the feed rails. It's not as simple as it sounds and the one time I did it with a .257 Roberts I never did get it to feed 100%. I'm sure a good gunsmith could get one to feed but it'd be much easier just to stick to a .308 based cartridge like a .243, .260, 7mm-08, 338 federal or 358 winchester.

I have one of the very same actions (Win Classic SA custom compact in .308). And I have thought about the same thing as you have on many occasions.

And everytime I have thought of something, when the final analysis came in, I had to scrap the idea.

The .308 has so many different types and weights of bullets to satisfy just about any type of hunting and/or shooting that you want to do.

I say leave it as it is and enjoy it!!!!!

FWIW, a 120 ballistic tip .284 hits as hard as a 130 accubond .264 from the 308 case at 400 yds, almost as good at 500/600.

Comparing TTSX 120s in both the 260 at 3k, surpasses the 7/08 at 3100.....at 300 yds and beyond.

Both work. I do like the 338F a good bit, but would build one if plans were to work w/in 300 yds, for expansion, though it likely can be pressed a bit more if trajectory understood. No doubt it will work just as well as smaller bores on intended game.

Add Bull Elk, Moose, Bear, etc. to the mix and a 338F might be preferred.

Yup got that, Mark Wright of Wright rifles in Livingston made quite a few 284's off the 70 short and taking the spacer out.

My thoughts were a short even at 3.1" wouldn't go so well with a 7x57. (I wouldn't think)

Dober

or for something different wander over to AR and see the B&M series of short action chamberings all the way up to 50 cal. they utilize .532s but that is easy enough to fix. check the big bore forum I believe. 225+ easy pages of reading.

Is the Montana 99 short action the same length as the short M-70? I have one in 7X57 AI and it works great plenty long enough. --- Mel

This is pretty close.

Thing is, once you know how to do something, in this case getting the 284 Winchester to run correctly in a Model 70, it is repeatable...and much less difficult the second time around.

There are guys out there that are seeing the popularity of the 6.5-284 Norma and finding ways to get that hot-rod to feed, and therefore the 284 Winchester, by logic, follows.

My smith simply dropped in a WSM magazine (no spacer to worry about removing), the bolt stop was indeed shortened to allow for the cartridge pick up, the feed rails themselves were NOT touched, but the feed "lips" of the WSM box magazine were tweaked until feeding was flawless (you could say that my smith is a great smith when it comes to this aspect)
It also goes without saying (but I will anyway) that knowledge of of the feeding characteristics concerning the 284 must be seen as a primary issue of the build when this cartridge is desired. When one builds for the 284 (correctly) it really is a build and not just a barrel change.
Simply dropping the common same old/same old cartridges of a particular family into the generic floor plan isn't really "building" it's more like a simply changing the curtains.

Yeah, the 260 Rem and the 7-08 Rem are performers, but I do like to see the barrel of a Model 70 stamped with the letters "Win" instead of "Rem." But, that's just me.

im leaning towards something based off the 284 case only thing thats holding me back is it seems like some people say it wont feed good and others say it feeds just fine from the magazine

Surely a short action M70 is just calling out for a .338x57 O'Connor.

Just to throw one or two more wrenches in... a 6.5 Creed would be a stellar fit in that length action, as would a 6XC or 6 Dasher.

I'd say ditto on the first two:

6.5CM, as good as a 260 or 47 Lapua

6XC

and I'd add the 6x47, though you do form cases, not a big deal, one time bump down.

If you're going to build on a short Winny, it would seem foolish not to utilize the 3" box.

Go 284, and find a smith that has references confirming that he knows what to do to make it feed (most of which was outlined nicely by 358WSM above).

The improved x57 case is not to far behind the 284 case, and you don't give up a round in the mag. There is also the 6.5x55 improved that isn't too far behind the 6.5x.284, but doesn't seem to have caught on in the US.