SHORT ACTIONS ARE STUPID!!

[C S Fever]

Witnessing this trend towards Short Actions when we already have a Standard Action makes absolutely no sense. Why would I deliberately limit the amount of powder room or bullet length in my Rifle. Instead I only care what the minimum case length that will reliably feed in my Standard Action. Recently I have decided to attempt a long Action WSM budget Rifle so that I can let the Bullet hang way out of the case. Short Actions just can't do that. Instead Manufacturers should alter dimensions of "Short Actions" to the length required for 6.5x55 or 7mm Mauser. We've also witnessed these intentional Castration in AR15 & AR10 Military Rifles where short OAL diminishes the capability of the Rifles. All this over a few ounces that can cost 500 Yards.

Witnessing this trend towards Short Actions when we already have a Standard Action makes absolutely no sense. Why would I deliberately limit the amount of powder room or bullet length in my Rifle. Instead I only care what the minimum case length that will reliably feed in my Standard Action. Recently I have decided to attempt a long Action WSM budget Rifle so that I can let the Bullet hang way out of the case. Short Actions just can't do that. Instead Manufacturers should alter dimensions of "Short Actions" to the length required for 6.5x55 or 7mm Mauser. We've also witnessed these intentional Castration in AR15 & AR10 Military Rifles where short OAL diminishes the capability of the Rifles. All this over a few ounces that can cost 500 Yards.

 

[Toad67]

And maybe we should have stuck with open sights, or the super advanced fixed 4x scopes of their day's?

Wait, is this going to be another "school experiment" thread, kinda like the primers that were for sale a while back, where the OP gets everyone wound up, and then says ha, just kidding???

 

[VLD Pilot]

Mini action is interesting. Considering a 6.5 Grendel on one. Someday

 

[Antarcticchamp]

Long actions are stupid.
In terms of ethical killing distance you don't see any significant improvement over a length restricted SAUM/WSM until you are shooting a 300 PRC or a 338 Norma/Lapua/RUM. The increase in recoil is exponential.
I guess they have the upside of being able to handle the dangerous game cartridges for the tiny fraction of people that will ever be able to hunt them.

 

[Susquatch]

Witnessing this trend towards Short Actions when we already have a Standard Action makes absolutely no sense. Why would I deliberately limit the amount of powder room or bullet length in my Rifle. Instead I only care what the minimum case length that will reliably feed in my Standard Action. Recently I have decided to attempt a long Action WSM budget Rifle so that I can let the Bullet hang way out of the case. Short Actions just can't do that. Instead Manufacturers should alter dimensions of "Short Actions" to the length required for 6.5x55 or 7mm Mauser. We've also witnessed these intentional Castration in AR15 & AR10 Military Rifles where short OAL diminishes the capability of the Rifles. All this over a few ounces that can cost 500 Yards.

Others have said it already but here is my view. Just like food, partners, dogs, and cars, not everyone likes the same things. Thank God the industry makes different actions for different preferences.....

I love my long range rifles.

But I also love my small caliber misters like the 204, the 20Tac, and my lovable little 222s. Nothing sweeter than a tiny little 20cal pill that you can actually watch turning its target into fine red mist without alerting the world to your presence. Sweetness is a highly desirable trait best achieved with tiny loads fired from tiny little actions.

 

[redmag]

Witnessing this trend towards Short Actions when we already have a Standard Action makes absolutely no sense. Why would I deliberately limit the amount of powder room or bullet length in my Rifle. Instead I only care what the minimum case length that will reliably feed in my Standard Action. Recently I have decided to attempt a long Action WSM budget Rifle so that I can let the Bullet hang way out of the case. Short Actions just can't do that. Instead Manufacturers should alter dimensions of "Short Actions" to the length required for 6.5x55 or 7mm Mauser. We've also witnessed these intentional Castration in AR15 & AR10 Military Rifles where short OAL diminishes the capability of the Rifles. All this over a few ounces that can cost 500 Yards.

actually , there is better numbers for the short action, then the PRC, in 6.5 Creedmoor. According to the experts, in all the literature. Accuracy is what is about. More is not always better.

 

[Deleted member 107796]

Short actions definitely have their place. If you're looking to build a light weight mountain rifle- using a short action is an easy way to drop weight.
I have a wife that shoots/hunts, as well as 4 kids. Short action's work well for them. Lightweight, and they don't need a magnum cartridge in it that will develop into bad habits.....
My 2 cents.

I thought I'd add this... my Tikka T3 Lite in 338wm is 6.375lb stock! The short actions are not necessarily lighter. Just sayin'.

The best thing about a short action is you won't accidentally screw some garbage 270 win barrel on it

Whoooaaa! 270 blasphemy.
Jesus is right, it's not what goes into, but what comes out of our mouths, that defile us and I'm working on that constantly.

 

[lyle2231]

Witnessing this trend towards Short Actions when we already have a Standard Action makes absolutely no sense. Why would I deliberately limit the amount of powder room or bullet length in my Rifle. Instead I only care what the minimum case length that will reliably feed in my Standard Action. Recently I have decided to attempt a long Action WSM budget Rifle so that I can let the Bullet hang way out of the case. Short Actions just can't do that. Instead Manufacturers should alter dimensions of "Short Actions" to the length required for 6.5x55 or 7mm Mauser. We've also witnessed these intentional Castration in AR15 & AR10 Military Rifles where short OAL diminishes the capability of the Rifles. All this over a few ounces that can cost 500 Yards.

Most of the guys don't go to field with crew served weapons.

 

[Frogman77]

I haven't seen anyone mention this yet so I will:

Bolt throw and binding.

But before I get to that, I will color my statement with the information that I have A magnum length action(surgeon 1581xl), 3 short actions (bighorn Tl3), and a standard long action (also bighorn Tl3).

the standard length long action is actually a 300 wsm built purposely on a long action to shoot really long solids and have the Exact seating depth I want without crunching the powder column. If I use a 300 win mag or 300 prc I would still be crunching powder using long for caliber solids.

So back to my statement about bolt throw and binding. Fortunately with my particular actions I don't have any issues with binding. That does hold not true across the board. Suffice it to say I have owned other customs actions that do bind with just the slightest off center pressure when running the bolt. The symptom is much more pronounced with long actions. I also no longer own those actions.

For hunting this isn't really that big of a deal (since this is a hunting forum). Where the short action shines is in competitions where bolt throw does matter for speed and reliability on the clock. I have seen guys short stroke a long action on the clock and not chamber a round costing them time and points.

If you run the bolt all the way to the bolt stop it's a non issue but I have seen where lack of training and running the bolt fast under pressure Has resulted in short stroking the bolt and not chambering a round.

For guys running 6brs and creedmoors having the extra mag length and bolt throw makes no sense. Plus mag feeding can be finicky with the really short competition cartridges.

 

[kengel2]

Recently I have decided to attempt a long Action WSM budget Rifle so that I can let the Bullet hang way out of the case.

Lol. Why use a wsm then?

 

[mitebeck]

I must say, this thread has been very entertaining, and good for many a laugh!

 

[Chuckrub]

Here have a snickers !

 

[Frogman77]

Lol. Why use a wsm then?

my 300 wsm Oal seated with long solids Varies from 3.470" To around 3.565". They won't fit in a standard short action Mag with internal Dimension capacity of 2.950".

 

[DJ Fergus]

Witnessing this trend towards Short Actions when we already have a Standard Action makes absolutely no sense. Why would I deliberately limit the amount of powder room or bullet length in my Rifle. Instead I only care what the minimum case length that will reliably feed in my Standard Action. Recently I have decided to attempt a long Action WSM budget Rifle so that I can let the Bullet hang way out of the case. Short Actions just can't do that. Instead Manufacturers should alter dimensions of "Short Actions" to the length required for 6.5x55 or 7mm Mauser. We've also witnessed these intentional Castration in AR15 & AR10 Military Rifles where short OAL diminishes the capability of the Rifles. All this over a few ounces that can cost 500 Yards.

I honestly thought the same thing a few years ago. All I bought was long actions. I ran up on some deals that were too good to refuse on a few short actions and they were my ball of clay. I had fun with those balls of clay. Either way its no big deal to me anymore. Just added variety.