Where did I say anything about either cartridge "needing" a 26" barrel? Some other people posted about 26" barrels on the .300 Winchester, but I sure didn't.
You might want to check back in this thread a little ways for another of my posts listing the velocities of 180-grain bullets from a 24" barrel in the .300 Winchester with some powders introduced in the last 12-15 years.
Some short actions are much shorter than the same "long" action, because the long action is enough longer to handle cartridges like the .300 Weatherby and .375 H&H. But others are just long enough to handle the .30-06 or .300 Winchester Magnum. I'd bet that if blindfolded you couldn't tell the difference in "balance" between a couple of rifles using the latter sort of actions. This is because I've invited some people to try with NULA rifles.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.” John Steinbeck
