I know one of the benefits of chambering a long action for a short cartridge is being able to use longer bullets (i.e. 300WSM using the 208 grain Amax or 210 grain Berger VLD).

Besides the weight and length of throw, is there any downsides to this configuration?

Possible re-sale, if a guy is concerned with that.

I can't think of any downside with the exception of resale as mentioned by JPro.

If you plan to shoot the heavies it would be beneficial.

For bench rest use, it is said that a short action will be a more solid platform. The shorter the action, the less it can twist,ect.

Look at the 40x single shot for instance, there all built on a short action.

Resale, could be an issue as mentioned above.

The bottom line is, if your completely happy with your finished project, thats all that counts.

For me I tend to stay away from case sizes such as the 6mm rem, 257 roberts, 284 win, ect. just for the reason I like some magazine room in my short action builds.

My question would be.... WHY???? For example, why build a 25/284 on a medium length action when one could have built a 25/06 or, even better, a 257WBY? I guarantee that even with long VLD bullets the equal or larger overall case capacity of either cartridge, even IF one has to load the bullet somewhat into the case body, would at least equal or, in the case of the 25ROY vastly out perform the 25/284 with a LOT less hassle. I always try to match the action size and cartridge up together i.e. my bolt action .222 and .223 are built on older and truly small SAKO actions. Nice fit, no more extra metal than neccesary. I see a short cartridge packaged into a medium (30/06 or short magnum) length or longer action as a very poor planning of the end result custom rifle. As has been stated above, a shorter action would have been more solid and lighter. If you want to move a VLD or other longish bullet at any kind of speed, get some gunpowder behind it and I don't mean a paltry 40-50 grains of the stuff unless a short light rifle is the goal. My .02 worth.

Thank you.

HaYen

If you HAVE a long action and want to build something, go ahead. I mean, I HAD a long Mauser and wanted a 22BR. So what? It's on its second barrel.

i had similar questions about a 30-06 length action and the .257 robts. cartridge... got some great answers here...

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...&topic=0&Search=true#Post2774257

Dave,
That was the same exact situation I was in 20 years ago when I had my 22BR built on a long Mauser Model 98 action. I had the action, and wanted a 22BR. In fact, I disassembled the rifle yesterday to "tweak" the trigger.
Pix of rifle, with a Bell and Carlson stock recently painted by B&C.

....it offends the senses

The downside, in many cases, is that they won't feed very well if the round has to travel too far to the chamber and that is why they block the magazines..

With certain cartridges it works fine..I like an 30-06 box in a 7x57 for instance and I like a long throat to where I can seat a 175 gr. bullet to .284 deep in the case.

By the same token I have never been satisfied with a 30-06 box with a 22-250, .243 or 250 savage for instance, they need a magazine block and are definately better rounds in a short action. A 223 in a 243 length action is a disaster IMO. Let common since be your guide.

I don't know about all the actions but I just did some load development for a guy who had one of my kittys made on an MRC action which was ordered wrong and the rifle made with the H&H length action. It would not begin to feed the 375 Ruger based 358 until we converted it back to short mag configuration. The MRC is a snap fit proposition with change out of the box, follower and bolt travel stop, then it worked. The smith didn't use my dummmys and didn't test it so I got to do that part.

I have made several rifles on the Sako A-V actions and they will feed short or long mag from the same box (375 H&H or 338WM) with there one size fits all concept but there are a pusher.

I have a .270 wsm on a Mauser 98. Works great!

Thanks again. I've leaned a lot this weekend. Some manufactures categorize their actions bolt face into small,standard or medium, large, magnum, and extra large (lazzaroni etc).

Short cartridges can be use in long action firearms. There are benefits to matching up proper action lengths, bolt faces, and cartridges. If you have an old rifle you want to re-chamber, one can start there.

I also leaned about barrel manufacturing. The different ways grooves are cut; how to determine the proper twist rate; and what hand lapping a barrel means. Also to spend sometime researching a good gunsmith.

There still a lot of questions, so theres lot more to learn. I have a project in mind, but right now there are 4 CF barrels I want to get to swap out on my muzzle loader:

243
308
45-70
270 Win

Thanks again
HaYen

Morally its wrong on many many levels.

I like to use the same sized action. When I work the bolt from the shoulder it feels ths same, that's all...not that it makes any more difference than that.

The 08 case on a commercial mauser with a blocked magazine is just fine for me. No affinity here for the short actions...

CWG,

I just happen to have an old Winchester Model 54 chambered in 22 Hornet, and I do NOT consider it morally wrong on any level.

What about a 6.5x55mm with a 30-06 length mag and follower?

Gord,
The 6.5x55 will probably work if you seat you bullets way out and have a long throat in your rifle..but you would be much better off to go with the 6.5x57 and do the same thing. Better yet may be the 6.5x06..A little common since can save you a bundle of money and brain pain when messing with guns..:)

A small thing but I like it. With a long action and short cartridge you can load the cartridge straight into the ejection port, then straight down without having to push it back a half inch, too. The short cartridge is about the same length as the long action ejection port.

I've had that combination with Ruger 77 223, Rem 700 222-223, Savage 110 223, and a Mauser 243. I even seem to remember the 110 Savage does that with 30-06 length cartridges, too.

Bruce

Yes, Don and I'm jealous inasmuch as that's a full-rail commercial action. Mine was on some kind of mysterious German sporter 98 with a thumb cut and double-set triggers. Might have been a GEW, or might have been a factory sporter.
Doesn't matter, the dang thing shot fine but the stock ALWAYS gave me a shiner. So I made it a BR. First barrel stunk (and when I recycled that it now makes a fine Fireball) so I slapped on a Lilja, redid the stock, was working up loads, shot a .260 for 5 and the next load I tried destroyed the action and stock. Pilot error. Major pilot error. Used up at least two of nine lives on that one.
By the way, yes, feeding stinks with a long action and short cases.

And to me, it is like putting a Chevy engine in an old Ford, trying to make a drag racing car out of a Civic, a great grandma wearing a mini skirt, or trying to make a Jap bike look and sound like a Harley. It just should not be done.....

HI, guy's I'm new here. My names Caleb, I'm from Montana, and I love guns. Anyway, I've got a rem 700 in a 270 win that I traded to have for a project rifle. Also have 28", .224, 8 twst pac-nor blank. I really would like a 22-250 AI, but not sure if it would feed right. Thouht about hitting the pawn shops and trading for a short action, but I've only got 300 bucks in the rifle and it's stainless pre-lock. Don't think I'll break even at a pawn shop. Anyway, any suggestions, do you think 22-250 AI can work in it. Thanks

Caleb,

Welcome aboard!!!
This is a good place to hang your hat when you have time.

In a long action, I'd likely go 22-6mmRem before I'd do a 22-250 based chambering. There's actually load data in Hornady's latest manual. Could be fun....

Yeah, I thought about 22-6mm, or my gunsmith has a 22-243 middlestead reamer, but he said 900-1000 rounds tops and throats smoked. My uncle has 22-6mm AI and 22-250 AI, he's on his 3rd or 4th barrel on the 22-6, but he said he'll never be without one. Iv'e seen him shoot rock chucks pretty rerular at 700-800 yds.
He's only had the 22-250 for a year or so, started out shooting 75gr a-max, but now he's at 55gr B-tips at almost 4000 fps. The 22-250 shot the a-max in the 3300 range, while the 22-6 was in the 3700 range. Anyway I guess it comes down to how often you wanna put a new barrel on. Thanks for the replies
CALEB

Stack the Mag with .22/250 blanks and feed into the .270 chamber. That`s an easy way to test feeding befor changing the barrel.

It should be relatively simple to convert that long action to a short action by posting a "want to trade" on the classifieds. You might have to chip in a few bucks, but who knows - there might be a guy with a short action looking for a long action.

Whatever happened to the 220 Howell? I found this site by doing a google search for it. That sounded like a great idea loaded to lower pressure. That would be about the easiest conversion to my action. I'd rather go without the short fat cases shooting vld in a long action. I have a 6.5-284 in a long action ruger77 old model, and it feeds fairly well, but I've had it hang on the back of the barrel before.

I have an old 03-A3 that was converted to 308Win and used for NRA HighPower Rifle. Heavy 26" bbl. Very accurate. No mag box shortening or blocking of any kind. Feeds and functions perfectly.
'Cept for you have to pull that bolt back an additional 1/2" or so.

A sense of proportion to my mind. Other than that there is very little gained in actual velocity in exchange for the longer action, more weight, etc. I would go ahead and try the longer bullets seating them as deeply as you have in the short action and see where your velocity is. In my short action .284, for example, the very long 140-gr TTSX (OA magazine length 2.95") seats waaaaaaaaaayyy down into the case yet gives me almost 3000 fps with a "book load" of H4831. As Barsness has repeated many times you get only a 1% vel increase with each 4% increase in case capacity (IIRC); at any rate the difference in vel of a bullet seated to the base of the neck and one seated .25"-.3" deeper will be neglible. The seating the bullet down into the case (within reason) has earned a undeserved notoriety in regard to rendering the cartridge a cripple.

Bottom line: minimal gain for weight and length added.

I see your point, I don't mind a little extra weight, but with a 28" barrel every little bit in lenght will be noticed. I'm more interested in getting out to the lands than a little velocity loss, two of my buddies have rem 700 short actions, 308, 6mm, that can't touch'em when loaded to mag length. Both are stock rifles and I'm sure my gunsmith could keep the throat to minimum if rqusted , but if they would feed through the long action it wouldn,t be neccasary.

Would you want to save that barrel for when you come up with short action? In the mean time you could do 6mm-06 or so on the long action. I don't have one but my uncle has a 240 and it's a cool round. Many here have the 6-06 and one of them is Dober. There is a few treads on it from a week or two ago. You could run your 55's like the 22-250 but faster and go up to over 100 grains if you wish. I will get my 22-250AI next week so I like that idea too, just in a short action. Welcome to the fire.....