Rebarrelling a Rem 700

I made a 6.5-06 out of an old 280 rem BDL years ago. Tack driver ! That is a great round if you load your own...

65by55 said:

I made a 6.5-06 out of an old 280 rem BDL years ago. Tack driver ! That is a great round if you load your own...

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I do!

outrider58 said:

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I do!

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Yes I want build one of these as well. I have and old standard 270 SPS stainless that may be the doner
Since I have a 1*8 twist 270 it is in the decision matrix. 6.5-06 seems awesome. Go for it.


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Just confirm for my knowledge, you can not go from a short action to a long action and vise versa when re barreling. Is that correct?

engineerbrian said:

Just confirm for my knowledge, you can not go from a short action to a long action and vise versa when re barreling. Is that correct?

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That would make sense to me(my knowledge is sorely lacking in this field), but I'm not sure why you couldn't go from a long action to a short action. Again, I'm ignorant here but prepared to learn.

Just my humble opinion -

You can use a long action 700 '06 and make a .308 out of it, easily. (But, why would you?)

You can use the long action from that '06 and re-barrel for whatever you want, as long as the cartridge fits the action.

Bolts are available from Brownell's with different boltface(s) for the 700 action.



I've got a Remington 700 SA in .300 SAUM.
While I do like the cartridge, it doesn't live up to .300 WinMag, the same as the .300 WSM doesn't.

Both are a LITTLE more powerful than '06.

This rifle is gorgeous and accurate, but, it just doesn't really 'float my boat'.

I've given thought about re-chambering to .300 WSM or re-barreling (with new bolt, of course) to .308 Win or even .338 Federal (speaking of pink elephants).

With some $$$ either are easily attained.

engineerbrian said:

Just confirm for my knowledge, you can not go from a short action to a long action and vise versa when re barreling. Is that correct?

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Not necessarily. The 40X (basically a custom shop 700 action) is based on a short action but can be had in long action calibers. Single load only. Long action ammo will not feed from the magazine when based on a short action. There happens to be one of these for sale at Gunshack in Mt Airy. I don't recall the specific caliber but I think the original buyer passed away before taking ownership. The threads are the same on both long and short action.

I had a Palma rifle that was built on a long action. It had a single shot sled that could be removed and the rifle could be used as a repeater. It fed those .308 rounds just fine.

I can think of no reason to not take advantage of the extra length of the OP's longer action and use a round based on the .473" case head. I have a 6.5-06 and it is probably the most accurate rifle I own. Of the first 7 shots I fired at 600yds, 5 of them could be covered with a quarter! Best of all, the 6.5-06 is really simple to form cases for, take a 25-06 case, run it through the sizing die, trim to uniform length, done.

outrider58 said:

That would make sense to me(my knowledge is sorely lacking in this field), but I'm not sure why you couldn't go from a long action to a short action. Again, I'm ignorant here but prepared to learn.

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This thread is making me wonder if i can do something a little dfferent and more exciting with my old 700 PSS in 300 Win Mag.

Yes , "short action ctgs " can, and often were used in Long Action . Winchester M70 for many years, and early years of Savage M110 are prime examples .

Primarily to offer more/ high demand ctgs while only mfg one length of action . Other than the few oz of weight, and slightly longer OAL and bolt throw, the r
primary issues were tweaking the internal magazine and feed rails . OEM mfg were generally on top of this , but after the fact conversion required knowledge and skills of the gunsmith for major changes in length ( or shoulder shape ).


Additionally there are bunches of ctgs that go both ways , usually on purpose . Usual scenario is a ctg design to barely fit into a specific "short action ' , and to do so requires substantial compromise in bullet selection, and seating depth . Subsequently some handloaders began Jonesing for those ctgs in a longer action , so as to be loaded using larger usable case capacity, with a prefered bullet seated to base of neck , or reasonable close.

Highly popular example is the " 3 Inch .257 Roberts " , purpprted to closely approach .25-06 performance , in more effecent package . A highly known concept from 1950's thru '70s , google it sometimes .

And a good time to interject about action lengths . They varied from design . In the US , we take Long Action = Suitable for .30-06 . But lots of variety in long actions too. Some are just barely -06 length ( looking at you M98 Mauser ) , and some are stretched well into Magnum Action territory ( looking at you M1917 Enfield, M700 Rem )

Short Action lengths varied greatly , even in recent US made actions
Prime example , the Rem M600 ( & 660), and Model 7 were notibly shorter than M700 Short Actions . Remington designed whole families of ctgs are these actions - 6.5 Rem Mag, .350 Rem Mag, and the entire family of Rem Short Action Magnum ( RSAM) .

As witnessed in Pinecone's list , the original Rem Mags found a degree of popularity in long actions, and with a slight exception , the Rem Short Action Magnums were killed off by the family of Winchester Short Mags ( WSM ) , which fit in normal short length actions


Which brings us to Pinecone's list . Not picking on him , it's a fluid topic, and to fine tune semantics , it could indeed be " list of cal that are commonly used in long action custom / rebarralled rifles " .

But several listed are " short action ctgs " . Additionally the 7x57 , and all ctgs evolved from it could be considered " action length ambiguous " . Paul Mauser designed the M 91/93/95/96 Mausers, and all their respective Ctgs before the concepts of Long Action and Short Action existed. They were designed to meet the needs of his contracts from more or less scratch .

As the later world of bolt action rifles & ctgs these were kinda Intermeadate , sometimes being sort of long, sort of short .

Biggfoot44 said:

Yes , "short action ctgs " can, and often were used in Long Action . Winchester M70 for many years, and early years of Savage M110 are prime examples ...

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Good stuff Foot.

The can of worms is officially open. Now we're rolling!

The Winchester Model 70 used a standard action for both long and short cartridges for many years. They used different bolt stops and magazine box spacers to accommodate the shorter cartridges. I don't remember offhand when Winchester came out with a short action Model 70 but, I think it was in the early '80's.

engineerbrian said:

This thread is making me wonder if i can do something a little dfferent and more exciting with my old 700 PSS in 300 Win Mag.

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The .300 Win Mag has a larger bolt face. .532" I think, to go smaller would require a new bolt. By the time you go through all the expense, It would be more cost effective to just buy an action with the correct size bolt face for your intended purpose. Unless of course, you are planning to go with a cartridge that has the same head diameter as the .300 Win Mag.

dist1646 said:

The .300 Win Mag has a larger bolt face. .532" I think, to go smaller would require a new bolt. By the time you go through all the expense, It would be more cost effective to just buy an action with the correct size bolt face for your intended purpose. Unless of course, you are planning to go with a cartridge that has the same head diameter as the .300 Win Mag.

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Good to know. Thanks!

dist1646 said:

Not necessarily. The 40X (basically a custom shop 700 action) is based on a short action but can be had in long action calibers. Single load only. Long action ammo will not feed from the magazine when based on a short action. There happens to be one of these for sale at Gunshack in Mt Airy. I don't recall the specific caliber but I think the original buyer passed away before taking ownership. The threads are the same on both long and short action.

I had a Palma rifle that was built on a long action. It had a single shot sled that could be removed and the rifle could be used as a repeater. It fed those .308 rounds just fine.

I can think of no reason to not take advantage of the extra length of the OP's longer action and use a round based on the .473" case head. I have a 6.5-06 and it is probably the most accurate rifle I own. Of the first 7 shots I fired at 600yds, 5 of them could be covered with a quarter! Best of all, the 6.5-06 is really simple to form cases for, take a 25-06 case, run it through the sizing die, trim to uniform length, done.

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Gonna keep this in mind. Thanks!

outrider58 said:

Showing my ignorance. Thanks for the suggestion.

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Proving my ignorance on the subject as well.

outrider58 said:

I've got a Remington 700 inbound. It is presently a 30-06. I'm toying with the idea of re-barrelling it. I'm leaning towards a heavy barrelled long range rig. Besides .308, what are my other options for this action?

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I just made the same change last year. I re-barreled and stocked a .30-06sps. It's now a .308 long action in a hunter 700la stock. I found a 20" fluted Remington R5 heavy barrel.

dist1646 said:

The .300 Win Mag has a larger bolt face. .532" I think, to go smaller would require a new bolt. By the time you go through all the expense, It would be more cost effective to just buy an action with the correct size bolt face for your intended purpose. Unless of course, you are planning to go with a cartridge that has the same head diameter as the .300 Win Mag.

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This thread has really piqued my interest. I found this info on another forum. I dont know how accurate it is, but its interesting to say the least.


Bolt face diameters cheat sheet

Short actions with a bolt face .Dia of .384 +/-
17 Remington
204 Ruger
222 Remington
223 Remington
6x45 (think .223 necked up to 6mm)
6 & 6.5mm TCU
20 Tactical
20 Practical (think .223 necked down to .20cal)



Short actions with a bolt face .Dia of .473 +/-
225 Winchester
22/250 Remington
6mm Norma BR
243 Winchester
250 Savage
260 Remington
6.5/284 Norma
7/08 Remington
284 Winchester
300 Savage
308 Winchester
338 Federal
35 Remington
358 Winchester
6 & 6.5 Creedmoor
6.5 Lapua
6XC


Short actions with a bolt face .Dia of .540+/-
223 WSSM
243 WSSM
25 WSSM
7mm Remington saum
7mm WSM
300 Remington saum,
300 WSM
325 WSM
350 Remington Mag.


Long actions with a bolt face .DIA of .470 +/-
220 Swift
6mm Remington
240 Weatherby Mag
257 Roberts
25-06 Remington
6.5x55 Swedish
270 Winchester
7x57 Mauser
7x64 Brenneke
280 Remington
30/06 Springfield
8mm Mauser
338/06 A Square
35 Whelen


Long actions with a bolt face .Dia of .540 +/-257 Weatherby
264 Win Mag
270 weatherby Mag
7mm Remington Mag
7mm Weatherby Mag
7 STW
7mm Remington Ultra Mag
300 H & H
300 Winchester Mag
300 Weatherby Mag
300 RUM
303 Brit
8mm Remington Mag
338 Winchester Mag
340 Weatherby Mag
338 RUM
375 H & H
375 Weatherby
375 RUM
416 Remington Mag
458 Winchester Mag
458 Lott


Long actions with a bolt face .Dia of .585 +/-
30/378 Weatherby
338 Lapua
338/378 Weatherby
378 Weatherby mag
416 Rigby
416 Weatherby Mag
460 Weatherby Mag
470 Nitro Express

engineerbrian said:

Just confirm for my knowledge, you can not go from a short action to a long action and vise versa when re barreling. Is that correct?

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No.

You can use a long action for any cartridge. You just have a longer than needed action and bolt throw.

You usually cannot use a short action for a long cartridge, although in some instances or methods it may.

Seems to me that it would be an accident waiting to happen if you can easily put a long action cartridge into a short action barrel, and then try to force the bolt closed. That's probably why they make both. Just because it's physically possible doesn't make it a good idea.

I have a .280AI reamer.

Just in case you decided to go that route. It makes for a fabulous long range gun.