Long Action vs Short Action.

[nralifer]

Wanted to express my views on action length. With the advent of shorter fatter relatively high capacity cartridges, I am observing that they are actually better suited to longer actions, say 30-06 length actions than shorter ones. Such cartridges include the WSMs, Shermans, the PRCs, etc. The reason I think they are better suited to the longer action is that the longer action and magazine will better accommodate the very high BC bullets now available, since the bullet can be seated further out in the case and increase the usable powder capacity, providing greater optimization of the bullet jump as well. Limiting powder space and jump control simply degrades the potential of the short fat cases, which arguably are more efficient than longer cases with narrow powder columns. Case in point is my 300WSM. I have that rifle in a long action Savage, it feeds well and I can shoot our 175 gr BD2 bullet 3200 fps and the 195 gr BD2 at 2995 fps. From a short action that would be difficult to do if not dangerous with those bullets loaded to magazine length. Finding the same thing using a 6.5PRC. Would like to get some rational discussion about this subject from the obviously experienced reloaders on this site.

 

[gearguywb]

How about the medium action?

 

[Aoudad 101]

My 300win mag is short action and I jam the lands. Only advantage I see would be in a hunting rifle one could use a magazine. It's all depends on the rifles purpose I suppose. But on another note could you not just use a reamer with 0 Freebore and achieve the same?

 

[nralifer]

How about the medium action?

how long would that be?

My 300win mag is short action and I jam the lands. Only advantage I see would be in a hunting rifle one could use a magazine. It's all depends on the rifles purpose I suppose. But on another note could you not just use a reamer with 0 Freebore and achieve the same?

What bullet are you using? The point of the question is to use a SAAMI chamber with long ogive bullets and still magazine feed and not have to use a custom reamer.

 

[BigBucks18]

The medium actions are perfect for the short magnums. Gives you the room you need for heavy for caliber bullets and doesn't send you to loading short mags in long action magazines and bottom metal.

 

[Slick8]

I built my 7 saum on a long action and love it. Imo-the pros outweigh the cons when building a high performance short mag with high bc bullets. You save minimum length and weight with a SA which can easily be made up in other area's. The one that really gets me is the SA on a 26 inch barrel.

I'm running a LA with a 21 inch barrel and a .195 freebore at .15 off the lands. A full case of H1k loaded with a drop tube is driving a 180 hybrid to 2840 for best accuracy of 4 inches at 850.

I had to throw that 300 yard .411 group in there, it was too hot showing mild ejector marks and a mildly stiff bolt lift...

 

[Joefrazell]

Yes, anything bigger than 308/6.5cm is going to run better on a long action. Unless a guy needs to save the extra 2-3 oz a long action is the way to go. The mediums are cool too but for me personally I like the longs. The longs allow me to do crazy stuff like have a 7 saum barrel and a 300 prc barrel for the same stock/action and they both feed great out of the 300 prc aics magazines. Can't do that with a medium. I like the modularity.

 

[Tucker65]

how long would that be?

I've used a few Lone Peak medium length actions for 6.5 PRC builds. The Wyatts internal magazines have an inside dimension or 3.225" If you wanted a detachable magazine the Hawkins hunter mags will allow 3.210"

 

[Aoudad 101]

how long would that be?
What bullet are you using? The point of the question is to use a SAAMI chamber with long ogive bullets and still magazine feed and not have to use a custom reamer.

190 vlds, sorry for my ignorance didn't see anything about SAAMI. More coffee please

 

[WeiserBucks]

This is earth shattering! It'll completely change the way we look at things going forward! Can't believe nobody figured this out before!

 

[deadidarren]

Wanted to express my views on action length. With the advent of shorter fatter relatively high capacity cartridges, I am observing that they are actually better suited to longer actions, say 30-06 length actions than shorter ones. Such cartridges include the WSMs, Shermans, the PRCs, etc. The reason I think they are better suited to the longer action is that the longer action and magazine will better accommodate the very high BC bullets now available, since the bullet can be seated further out in the case and increase the usable powder capacity, providing greater optimization of the bullet jump as well. Limiting powder space and jump control simply degrades the potential of the short fat cases, which arguably are more efficient than longer cases with narrow powder columns. Case in point is my 300WSM. I have that rifle in a long action Savage, it feeds well and I can shoot our 175 gr BD2 bullet 3200 fps and the 195 gr BD2 at 2995 fps. From a short action that would be difficult to do if not dangerous with those bullets loaded to magazine length. Finding the same thing using a 6.5PRC. Would like to get some rational discussion about this subject from the obviously experienced reloaders on this site.

I agree the main reason why I built my 260 on a Remington long action is because it feeds silky smooth and I don't have to worry about how far receipt my projectiles out

 

[jpfrog]

I thought my feed was pulling up old posts from 20+ years ago when I saw this thread, lol.

 

[Mike D Texas]

I had been opposed to medium length actions in the past due to lack of support. But it looks like the market is catching up with the availability of actions, stock, bottom metal, etc….

If I had to do it all over again I would build my 6.5 SAUM on a medium length action. But the action I wanted to use wasn't available in medium length.

I used to run my 6.5-284 in a long action and it worked fine.

 

[Slick8]

Same for me, when I built mine the stock I wanted wasn't available in the medium.