I'm planning on building a .375 Taylor. I've been able to track down the following used actions for sub 500.

Pre-64 Win model 70
Tang Safety Ruger MkII

Sako AV for $700

Or for $900 a new Stiller Predator.

What say You?

The 375 Chatfield-Taylor came about in the days when there were few magnum length actions around, but std length 98s were plentiful. The 375CT will fit into an std 98 w/o a lot of alterations.

Any action would work fine. I used a 700 for mine and am quite happy with that. I'm never going to fight elephants with it so the CRF vs PF debate is moot. I personally would not spent $700-900 on an action for this project. A Ruger, commercial FN or similar 98, 700, or M70 will do just fine.

Furthermore ....

When figuring out dimensions, keep your bbl length 21"-22", your forend at 9" to look right with the shorter bbl and your total weight with scope around 8.75lbs.

Trust me ... It will handle well, carry well and look "right" too.

.

Would an HVA 1640 work?

18 echo,

PM sent.

Gotta go with the Pre

Dober

I'd have to go with the pre '64 too..

EZEARL....yeah, I think a HVA 1640 would work like a champ. They are usually as slick as a cats backside.

What difference is there between a modern Win 70 CRF and the Pre-64 besides action screw spacing and bolt construction?

Integral feed rails on the pre64 vs mag box on the Classic ; all parts are steel on the pre 64, spring steel vs MIM extractor(no biggie you can get good after market stuff for the Classic)...some other stuff.

Either will work....depends on what your smith wants.My last build in a mag caliber, my smith said "Classic!"....so Classic it was....

Either should suit your needs...

As SC hints at, you are best to try to find a standard 30-06 length action for the Taylor-Chatfield to my mind. There is no reason you couldn't put it in a magnum length action, but it just seems to defeat the purpose of the cartridge. As i understand it, the Taylor-Chatfield is just the .338 WM necked up to .375. And the .338 is a shortened .375 H&H. So what you have with the .375 Taylor Chatfield is essentially just a shortened (and a little improved) .375 H&H to fit through a standard/non-magnum length action. So the idea of putting in an action designed to fit the .375 H&H anyway seems a bit odd. My understanding is all pre-'64 M70 are 375 H&H length, just with magazine and bolt stop modifications.

The entire reason d'etre of the Taylor-Chatfield is its ability to fit into the 30-06 length action. If you are going to use a magnum length action anyway, the question as i see it, is why not just use the 375 H&H instead? If you want a Taylor-Chatfield, i think it deserves to be in a 30-06 length mauser action. There is very little difference in length between a 30-06 length and magnum length action, so it is of little practical significance, but a .375 Taylor-Chatfield on an action designed for .375 H&H just seems to lack a degree of "intellectual integrity" that i seem to require in a big bore rifle with the traditions that go with them.

Well, sort of.....any pre 64 30/06 receiver is long enough for the H&H rounds,but only after they did additional machining to a standard 30/06 length action,to lengthen the port, loading ramp,did receiver cutouts on the rear bridge,including the inside so that the magnum case head would clear on ejection,and machined the rails.....in addition to a longer and different box, follower,ejector, etc.

All this might have changed the hole spacing somewhat but I can't recall;the middle screw may be set back slightly.

Bottom line is the Taylor can fit a 30/06 mag box nicely without anything other than mag bolt face and of course make sure it feed/functions on those 30/06 rails......but if you are carrying a pre 64 30/06 length action, you are already carrying enough action length for a 375H&H,assuming you do all the machine work to it.

This goes doubly so for the Classic action,which is already H&H length as it comes.....just uses magazine blocks and different parts etc to set up for 30/06 length cartridges.

I went with the modern Winchester classic CRF action. Should be here in a few days. I'll replace the stock extractor with a williams right away and then save my pennies up to have Pac Nor true up the action and throw a #4 profile tube on it for me.

I'd go w/ a commercial '98 mauser action.

I don't see the point of doing this cartridge in an H&H-length action, but to each his own.

I've got a commercial mauser action on my bench downstairs and this is a cartridge I've thought many times BELONGED in that action.

So many choices, so little time (and money!)!!!!!!

I agree, but I would probably go with the Ruger M77 action (for the same reason).

1

Mine is on a pre-64 Win.

Supposedly yes. Husqvarna built the model 1651 on that action and chambered it in the powerful .358 Norma magnum. That cartridge is not much different from the .375 Taylor - in fact the latter can be considered as a .358NM/375 wildcat. The bolt face and the feeding would have to be adapted f�r the Taylor magnum cartridge, if a standard 1640 action is being used.

Pete

I'd just buy a .375 Ruger and be done with it.

or have the Ruger cartridge chambered in a M-70 action!

And be stuck with the supply/demand problem of only having 1 manufacturer making my brass.

338 Win Mag Brass is abundant.

Exactly!


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The answer to your original question: Use the pre 64 M70. It will feed very well with few alterations to the rails. It has a cone shape in the barrel breech area which helps feeding. The Ruger would be a terrible choice. PM me and I will explain.

R C-T "created" the 375 CT so he could use an old G&H 270 that weighted over 9 lbs. It had a mauser action which had a box of 3.375". The H&H would not work without grinding away a lot of the receiver so the obvious choice was the 338/458 case. He used it to hunt tigers so that gives you some idea of the date of his project.

Incidently, the pre 64 M70 receivers all have the same external dimensions and the same screw hole spacing. The H&H's were made by removing metal from the receiver in front of the magazine well. The true magnum mausers receivers were longer than the 98 types.

Yes, in fact there is a gunsmith I know in Colorado that builds them.

Please forgive my ignorance, but would this Classic spoken of be what I have?
It is a early nineties stainless M70, CRF 300 Win. Came with the "BOSS" abomination on it.
I've been trying to figure something to build with it, not so much that I don't like the 300,
just that I don't like the brake/blob end of barrel.
I've been thinking 358 Norma, but if the box is the only thing keeping it from being able
to go 375 H&H, hmmm...

Need a new magazine box and probably must alter the bolt stop. There could be a few other mods in the mix, but all in all a very simple conversion for the Model 70. Always carrying dead weight when using an original "short magnum" on a LA Model 70...

ANY action that is long enough to handle a 30-06 length cartridge will work...Take your pick. Go with a M98 if you want a "cheap" CRF, if YOU can do most of the work otherwise stick with a commercial CRF receiver...

Unless you have some kind of a love affair with Pre-64 Wins, I would also just buy a Safari Express in 375 H&H or 416 Rem or CZ and go shooting...forget the wildcats...you don't gain a thing ANY way you look at it and it will end up costing you as much and probably more by going the wildcat/other receiver route. ANY pre 64 receiver/rifle will cost you more than a new one also. I know this will upset the purists but that doesn't much matter to me...if your are going for a big dollar custom make, fancy stocked, engraved shooter, that is another question, but a meat and potatoes new model will do just as well and probably better than the pre 64 receiver.

I built a 416 Taylor using a Ruger Tang model receiver...it works great...Originally a 30-06 so I did have to open up the bolt face a bit and reshape the extractor slightly but DIDN'T have to do any rail work.

In todays world I would us a RUGER case and do a 416 RUGER...the same with the 375...much better, smoother feeding I think.

Luck on your project.

I thought the 358 Norma was designed to work in 30-06 length actions? If not, I need to adjust my unofficial search for a donor action.

That is my understanding, which is why I was considering it.
Finding out my action could also handle the longer H&H is
what I just "learnt" here I think

The action which you describe is not a pre-64 but a "Classic" M70. The receiver is about .125 or .150" longer than the pre-64 and has a magazine mortice in the receiver which is just right for a 375 H&H length which is 3.6 or so. I have built more than a few 338, 7RM, 358 Norma's etc on Mausers and it takes a lot of work to get them to feed from the magazine as well as either of the M70's. These mauser conversions shoot groups from a bench well but that is much different than feeding from both sides of the magazine which has either one, two, or three in the magazine.

This might be a factor if it was a varmit or target gun but in a 375, buy 200-300 rounds of brass up front and if you only get 5 reloads a case you will have more rounds for that rifle than 99% of 375's ever see.

So if I am looking to build a 358 Norma from a Winchester I need a 375 receiver? Are the new '06 length FNH Winchesters any deeper in the mag?

.358 Norma Mag was one of the factory chamberings in the Husqvarna HVA 1640 action.

The"short magnums" (i.e. 264, 7RM, 338, 358 Norma, 458) all work through a 3.375 magazine box which is the same length of box for which the 270 and 30-06 are designed. The pre-64 M70's and the FN mausers had boxes slightly less than 3.4". So, from a box length standpoint they will work in those actions. The 700 Rem has a box length of 3.6+ so those cartridges will fit in the M700 as far as length goes. However the magnums are much wider and there is more to getting a rifle to feed well than length. The mausers had boxes wide enough for the. 473 head (30-06) whereas the magnums are .532. This difference creates stacking issues given the geometry of the widths and tapers etc. The pre-64 M70 boxes are wider and therefore easier to get to feed perfectly with the belted cases. This is a very complex subject and very few of the younger gunsmiths really understand it. They have experience with the M700 push feed type actions. The complications are much more significant for the CRF type actions than the push feeds which will pretty much work with any cartridge regardless of head diameter or taper.
The important thing to remember is that most shooters judge function by groups fired over a rest which is much different than how the thing feeds with varying numbers of rounds in the magazine. Most of the gunmakers who understand are dead or pretty old. Those who work on M700's primarily have no about these issues cause the m700's feed pretty well with anything.

So if I use a donor CRF action from a post-64 or newer FNH made I should be good to go on the 358 Norma re-barrel? Will the feed ramp need any work done to it?

If the M70, either classic or FN, was originally a 338, 300 Win, or 7RM then it should feed the 358 Norma just as well as it did the original cartridge. Now how well it worked originally is another question. CRF actions require "timing" to get everything to work perfectly. Most are "good enough" for most users. One of the reason Echols get $15,000 for his Legend M70 is the amount of time and work it takes to reach perfection.

Thank you for your information RinB it is quite helpful. I will ensure I get a 338/300/7RM receiver to help on the feeding. I may get an FNH made Extreme Weather. Would the take off barrel be worth selling? If so, where would I sell it? Guns America? Thanks.

5th
The length of the magazine determines the maximum length of shell that will fit in the magazine. The width and depth of the magazine control the number of rounds which can be held in the magazine and the way the shells stack within the magazine.

The way shells stack is mostly determined by the magazine width but that plus the configuration of the feeds rails in the magazine or the receiver's rails or the feed ramp or some combination of all, impact the angle at which the shell leaves the magazine and enters the rear of the barrel. In a CRF action consideration must also be given to the tension and width of the extractor on the bolt as well as the depth and width of the extractor groove in the case head. There are even more considerations but these are a few of the more major ones. Oh and there is the issue of the magazine spring strenth as well.