"Short Action" vs. "Long Action": Need some Learnin'

Short actions are - well - shorter ! They are used for catridges like .308 Win, .243 Win , and other cartridges having an overall length up to about that of a .308 Win.

The long actions are used for 30-06 length cartridges and magnums like the 300 Win Mag. where the cartridge length requires a longer action .

Not sure where the designated cut-offs are (I assume there are such values), but short actions have receivers designed to handle cartridges on the order of .308 Win length and shorter. Long actions would handle cartridges of the length of say .30-06 on up. There are also magnum actions (which again I believe are different from long actions) for extremely long cartridges. Don't know why someone would specifically want to chamber a long action for a short cartridge. If the action is as short as possible for the cartridge being used, it should be lighter and have a shorter bolt throw (faster/easier to chamber next round).

is there really any disadvantage (like accuracy or reliability) to having a long-actioned rifle chambered in a short-cartridge?

Click to expand...

Not any disadvantages in either accuracy or reliability.

voilsb said:

So other than comfort, is there really any disadvantage (like accuracy or reliability) to having a long-actioned rifle chambered in a short-cartridge?

For the background, this came up in a conversation about the Rem700 .300WM and the drop-in conversion (+bbl and bolt change) to .308WIN.

Click to expand...

Only disadvantages were as mentioned earlier, I think. Not sure if having a longer magazine well will be a problem in terms of feeding reliability -- I think that's mainly an issue if the well is on the short side (abrupt angle for cartridge feeding).

Question -- How is changing a barrel (and headspacing it) and a bolt on a Rem 700 a 'drop-in' conversion?

"long action rifle with a short action cartridge."

voilsb,

Two possibilities. One, when Winchester initially chambered the Model 70 for the .308 Winchester cartridge, they did not have a short action receiver and chambered it in their long action. Two, someone is talking about building a target rifle for a cartridge such as the 6.5-.284. Although the parent cartridge (.284 Winchester) is a short action cartridge, the high BC bullets that are used for long range shooting are REALLY LONG, hence making the cartridge too long for a short action. The dimensional difference between the two actions is that the long action is about 1/2" longer than the short action. Hope that helps.

Don