Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles .284 Winchester Bolt Guns?

Which manufacturers chambered the .284 Winchester in a bolt gun and what years did they offer them?

Lightfoot,

Relying strictly on my memory (which may be a chancy thing <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> ):

Browning chambered the .284 in the late 60's in their Safari rifle. I believe it was the one with the Sako action. Also, sometime in the late '80's or early 90's I believe that they chambered the 'Micro-Medallion' in .284 Win.

And, of course, Ruger chambered the tang-saftied M-77 in .284 somewhere in the middle 70's. I don't believe they made all that many of them.

As far as I can remember, that's about it for the mainstream manufacurers.
Hope this helps...the9.3Guy

Winchester chambered an obscure 70 DM, but I've never seen it. I'm sure that there are others, but I can't think of any.

The easier and less expensive path to a bolt action 284 is via a 7mm-08 and a 'smith with a 284 reamer. My, currently in-process, bolt action 284 is a 700 LSS 7mm-08.

Jeff

Thanks for the responses. I've thought about the rechamber or rebarrel route too. One drawback to the .284 is the overall cartridge length. Would it be practical to rebarrel a long action gun so you could stretch the OACL a little? The other concern is the larger diameter of the .284 case. Will that create feeding problems if you rechambered a 7-08?

A 284 works just fine in a 2.800 magazine box with all the bullets that I have tried up to 140 gr. While the base of the bullet IS way down inside the case, the 284 reaches max. pressures @ ~~ 90% loading density. Therefore, there is no significant loss of effectiveness.

If you were trying to use powders slower than the 4831's for example, you might benefit from longer seating in a long action. However, even then, the capacity gained would only be on the order of 4-5% (say 1% more velocity potential). If using a long action, a 280 Rem. makes more sense.

FWIW: I built a 284 on a Rem short action that had the mag box stretched to 2.950. It was an expensive process for little or no gain. I just would not bother to do that again.

JimF

If you don't mind rebarrelling,probably the best short action would be the push Model 70(less feeding issues than the controlled feed version),with a 3.1 mag box it'll have the length needed.I'm helping a friend right now with a 284 project on a short Rem 700 with the mag box stretched rearward to about 3.25 inches.It'll make a dandy 284.You could put one in a long action but that negates part of the allure of the 284 case,it fits short actions and has the powder capacity of the '06 case.Does anyone know if the tang safety Ruger in 284 was a long or short action?I just bought a long action tang safety M77 in 270 and am wondering what to do with it.

Tang safety Ruger 77s in 284 are short action guns. There were a couple of different runs of them, some with flat bolts, some with 3-digit SN prefix, some with ???

While you could build a 284 on a long action, all of mine, except 1, are short actions. I have a 70 XTR Fwt that was rechambered from 6.5x55 to 6.5-284, it is the only long action 284 that I have. No feeding problem in either the 7 or 700 action.

Jeff

My tang safety Ruger M77 flat bolt in .284 has a two number prefix serial number. it was made in 1970. The magazine box will allow for a 2.90-ish C.O.L. I have found IMR-4350 to give excellent performance with the 130 grain Speer SP and 139 grain Hornady SP. IMO a short action is more than adequate for this great little 7mm round.

i did one on a weatherby ultralight in 7-08. all of them are longs. just removed the spcer in the mag box and rechambered....
woofer

I just a few minutes ago came home from a gunshow and saw a Browning A-Bolt Medalion in 284. It was the first incarnation of the A-Bolt, and a very nice looking gun, with matte bluing and a beautiful piece of wood. I nearly bought it, but found an ultralight Ruger in 257 R that I couldn't do without. The seller, whom I know very well, wanted $550 for it but I'm sure he would sell to me for not much over $500, so that's about what you'd be looking to pay for one.

The factory chambered bolt action .284 Win's that I'm aware of are:
Win 70XTR DM made by special order in '94, est. 200 made, I've got one nib. I've only seen one other.
Ruger 77 flat bolt and 77R, I'm not sure when the flat bolts went into production but, it is my understanding the 77 .284's were discontinued in the late 80's but, could've been early '90's.
Browning A-Bolts; Medallion, Hunter and Micro Medallion. I wasn't aware they were also chambered in the Safari. Sure would like to add one of them to my collection.
There was a European manufacturer that chambered it, but I don't recall wich. The collector that I purchased the 70xtr DM had one and had told me.
Bill

If your considering a long action, I also would recommend the .280 Rem.

Re the Safari 284, Browning made only 185 of them. If you do find one, it's probably worth a few bucks to collectors.

I don't know about other manufacturers, but Winchester must have chambered a few Model 70s for the .284. The one that I saw was a M70XTR, with CRF, a detachable magazine, and a 24" barrel. I believe that the magazine was a 3-shot in-line, which would likely help avoid feeding problems. All-in-all a very nice rifle, although hardly a compact piece. I saw it at Saskatoon Gun Works in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. It had been there quite a while and might still be there for all I know. I have not visited them lately.

I'll definately be keeping my eyes out for one of them Safari rifles. It would fit in very well with my collection of .284's.

How much was Saskatoon Gun Works asking for that 70xtr DM? What are the requirments to get it back into the states? If it's still available and the price is right I'd be interested. Was it used or nib? I'd rather have one for shooting this time. If it's a CRF then it's not factory configured.

I'm also looking for a nib Medallion .284 for a reasonable price.
Bill

Sorry, I don't recall the price: I think that it was in the mid-700s $CDN. It was, however, a NIB gun with CRF. You can contact the dealer at:

Saskatoon Gunworks
1935 Ontario Ave.
Saskatoon, SK
Tel: 306-242-6747

Bill often has slightly unusual items on the rack. I know that for a time he had a NIB Remington M700 MR in 7x57 long after it was dropped from the line. Before you ask, that one finally sold.