I can only relate to what my own experience has been.
Mind you i bought my first Savage bolt gun in the 60s.
But im not into building guns myself, with any action.
I got into long range hunting in a serious way in the early 70s.
Up untill then, the 6.5x300 Wetherby had been by far the most popular cartridge used by long rangers in my state of Pa.
But due to the introduction of the 7 mm 162 gr Hornady BTHP bullet which had a much better BC, the 6.5 was fast becoming a hasbeen cartridge. So i never had one, and instead started out with the 300 Wetherby case necked down to 7mm.
But for some reason i always felt that i missed out on something by not having a hot 6.5 rifle.
So when the short mag 6.5 craze came along a few years back i decided i had to build one.
I found a used Savage 243 rifle in as i recall a model 111, maybe a 112?
Anyway i took it to a gunsmith i knew who had a 6.5 x300 short mag of his own, built on a Rem 700.
So he had the reamer for it.
We ordered a new bolt head, and some other parts including magazine parts.
I also found a new Brux barrel in stock for it.
It had a very plain wood stock which i decided to keep, just bed and refinish it.
The gun turned out very nice, and was also probably my most accurate shooting rifle.
One problem however, the magazine wouldnt feed properly.
My gunsmith friend finally told me not to bring that *** action back, as he couldnt fix the problem.
I joined the Savage shooter site, and got all kinds of good advice there, non of which worked, at least for me.
On day in the same store i bought the gun originally, there was another nice used one for sale.
A model 116, all stainless, and chambered in 300 short mag.
Problem solved i thought, just swap the barrel over to this gun and wala, no more magazine issues.
So i bought the gun.
Took it to my friend and said hey Tom, i solved the problem, just switch this barrel over while i wait. lol
He looked at the gun and said that wont work.
I can make it work if you want to rechamber and change the threads.
So thats how i learned about long shank, short shank.
I did use the gun as a single shot to kill 2 antelope, one in Wyoming and one in Montana on the same trip.
And i found a gunsmith in Gillette Wy. who fixed the magazine problem.
But by then i also learned that i hadnt really missed out by never having had a hot 6.5.
Because my 7x300s were in fact better guns.
Both of those Savages found happier homes.
But i still at last count own five of them, all factory, and dont ask what type actions they have, cause i dont really care. lol
