Short Bolt Guns

[mountain_man]

I have been thinking lately that I would like to have a bolt gun that has a short (longer than NFA so 16-18 inch) barrel. I saw a lot of custom 300 blackout rifles that were what I was thinking of, but was unsure of the cartridge. From what I have read about the blackout it seems interesting because it seems to be a low recoiling round that the missus could shoot, and it seems to be very efficient in 10 inch barreled guns which would mean no excessive noise or flash from a 16 inch gun. However I am still unsure of the cartridge. The primary use for this rifle would be 1) Plinking 2) Predator hunting 3) Maybe south eastern white tail deer in close range wooded areas. For plinking I would like it to be fairly accurate out to 200-300 yards which is the furthest that I have access to to just go shoot. If it was used for deer it would be under 100. Are there other cartridges out there that I should look into that would fit the above requirements without having excessive muzzle flash/noise?

 

[juk]

If I were in your shoes I would look at a CZ527 Carbine in 7.62x39. They are very handy little rifles and are accurate to boot.

 

[ThomasT]

I have a remington model 7 with an 18.5" barrel and walnut stock. It is light weight and shoots plenty accurate enough for 300 yards. Most groups are in the 1" range. Mine is in 7-08 caliber. They were also made in 223, 243 and 308.

They are getting a little hard to find. You see more of the plastic stocked ones on GB but the shorter wood stocked ones still show up.

 

[SHOOT1SAM]

Take a look at the Ruger Compact/Youth in .260 Remington.

Sam

 

[jmr40]

A 308 works great at that length. Not as many options for sub 20" guns, but barrels can easily be shortened.

 

[YZ]

To what Juk and Ratshooter suggested, add the Remy 700 Tactical. One variant comes with a 16" massive barrel, as short as they get. It is around $700 and can be had in 223 Rem. I owned one, great to shoot. Downside - the Hogue Gillie stock but it is replaceable

 

[mountain_man]

Question about the Cz527 is it a .308 bore diameter or a .311?

Also I see suggestions for a .308. I had heard that they turn into flame throwers out of 16 inch barrels, is this just a myth?

Thanks

 

[YZ]

It's true even for some 223 ammo. The 700 I mentioned comes with a threaded muzzle for that.
The 527 is 223 or 7.62x39 (the latter is a great alternative I agree)

 

[critter]

I have one of the Ruger stainess compacts and find it to be a very light, short and handy firearm. The tiny thin barrel is way more accurate than I ever thought possible.

Mine is in .308 but a lighter caliber would be nice. I kina wish I had another one in maybe .223.

 

[desidog]

I had heard that they turn into flame throwers out of 16 inch barrels, is this just a myth?

 

[JShirley]

Ruger Compact in 6.8SPC. It will be efficient, accurate, and hit harder than .300 without much recoil.

If you can find one: http://www.slickguns.com/product/ru...5-barrel-3-rnds-low-524-tax-your-local-dealer

 

[3212]

I have a 2005 Ruger M77 MarkII 161/2 barrel in .243.Stainless/Laminated with 3 to 9 scope.Its my wet weather/walking in the thick stuff rifle.I took a running 140 lb doe at 50 yds and a young doe jumped in the brush at 20 yds with it.Very handy and shoots 11/2 inch groups at 100 yds.It does crack louder and show more fire than my other .243 with a 24 inch barrel.But,it does not distract me at the range and hunting.I paid $700 for it new at Cabelas.

 

[mountain_man]

Desidog I think that answered my question in perhaps the most entertaining way possible. Got a video ?

 

[mac66]

Think old school.

I bought a like new bolt action Steven 325 a couple months ago. They were made from about 1948-51. It is the predecessor to the Savage 340 basically the same rifle. Both are bolt actions with detachable mags. Mine is in 30-30. My intent was to cut the barrel to 16" and make it into handy little deer rifle. I haven't got around to it yet but I am going to hunt with it this year.

The nice thing about bolt action 30-30s is that you can use just about any kind of .30 caliber bullet and load them up.

Interestingly I just saw another recently at a Cabelas for $150, which is more than I paid for mine but is still a great deal.

 

[tryshoot]

Had a remington 742 carbine in .308 and it was a flame thrower. 18 in barrel.

 

[aubie515]

If your state allows NFA...grab a can if you go with 300BO.

Mine started life as a Savage Axis 223...I bought a McGowen 16" threaded barrel. I haven't shot it yet since I'm still waiting on my suppressor to be approved. But the Axis cleans up nicely if you don't mind putting in some work. I redid the stock to reinforce it since the factory stock is flimsy.

I sent out the bolt to have a bolt knob installed and to have bolt body finished in cerakote micro slick.




I put my rifle together for PA whitetail using a suppressor. I'd say the 300B) isn't the best choice for predator hunting, but you could swap back to 223 in under 10 minutes if you go with a Savage action.

 

[mountain_man]

I like the looks of your savage. I may end up going a similar route and get a .223 savage and have it cut down to the length that I want. That way I have the option of converting with a barrel swap to the many 223 derivatives. Or I may just go with a .308 and use one of its derivatives. Too many choices.

 

[Ignition Override]

If you exclude muzzle noise or possibly flash, an Enfield #5 "Jungle" might work. They have nice aperture sights and sometimes very good bores.

Also, my Spanish FR8s have three aperture sights (plus open), and being built on the large-ring 8mm Mauser actions, can safely shoot modern .308.
By the way, the weaker Spanish 7.62 Nato ammo was designed for the small-ring (7mm action) Spanish Nato 7.62 and FR7 rifles plus the full-auto G-3.

The FR8s also have flash hiders. Sort of like having an Enfield "Jungle" in the more common .308 round, and with less recoil.

 

[peyton]

Remington is making a couple of short barrel rifles in 300 blackout. I have an Micro 7 and it barely weighs 6 lbs and with a 16 inch barrel.

 

[EHCRain10]

If you can find a FR8 they are truly great guns, I love mine

 

[critter]

I, too, had a Rem 742 carbine (18") but mine was a 30-06. NOBODY had to ask if it was YOU that fired! It made leaves rain from the trees! LOUD, FLAMETHROWER, but accurate enough that I took several deer with it. I even headshot a squirrel with it. Decapitated it but the rest was edible. Very handy in the thick stuff.

 

[Lloyd Smale]

model 7 308. It can be loaded down to 300 blackout velocitys and be loaded up to full power 308 level when you need it and brass and bullets can be found everywhere. At least they used to be available everywhere:banghead:

 

[HexHead]

How about a Ruger Gunsight Scout rifle?

 

[swampcrawler]

mountain_man Question about the Cz527 is it a .308 bore diameter or a .311?

Also I see suggestions for a .308. I had heard that they turn into flame throwers out of 16 inch barrels, is this just a myth?

Thanks

.311

Awesome little rifle but a PITA to scope and the firing pin spring is too weak for surplus ammo and the bolt handle sucks for scope.

 

[Hook67]

The CZ527 does have a .311 bore, but I have loaded many different .311 and .308 bullets in mine and can tell no real difference in the accuracy. The rifle shoots most any load at or under 1.5" and several go under 1". I even load some .314" 180 gr cast bullets in it that will shoot almost as well as the jacketed. This is a very neat, well made rifle except for the potential issues outlined by swampcrawler above. I have fireformed all my brass for this rifle and only neck size them now, so I don't have much of an issue with the light primer strikes any more. The scope height does not bother me in the least.

Mountain Man, I was given an old Rem M600 in 222 Rem that had been neglected and had a very poor finish and a rough bore. I was never able to get it to shoot, so I sent it to JES and had it rebored to 7mm and rechambered to 7mmTCU. This perfectly fits the bill for what you are looking for but would not be worth the effort unless you stumbled on a similar rifle for next to nothing. I have less than $250 in the rifle (JES’s cost). The caliber is ideal for kids and ladies and has practically no recoil or muzzle blast.