Remington 700 LA/SA question

4040peters · November 30, 2015, 04:19 AM

Would it be feasible to rebarrel a Remington 700 LA with a short action barrel to magazine feed handloads that are too long for the SA magazine?

Scorch · November 30, 2015, 03:49 PM

Yes, it can be done. But why? Just seat your bullets deeper.

4040peters · November 30, 2015, 05:49 PM

It was just a feasibility question as some of these newer bullets like the Berger SLDs perform best seated closer to the rifling. When I start testing .308 loads for accuracy, my maximum C.O.A.L. will be .010 off the rifling not the 2.810 SAAMI dimension. My magazine is 2.840 so I'll probably have to single load most of my development rounds.

jmr40 · November 30, 2015, 06:26 PM

This was part of the rational of the military using long actions in their 308 sniper rifles. They wanted to shoot some of the longer bullets that wouldn't fit the short magazines.

Scorch · November 30, 2015, 10:32 PM

Berger VLDs do best when seated .050"-.080" off the lands. Read about it on Berger's website. So your idea does not have much merit.

The US Army chose the long action 700s for the M24 back in the 1970s so they could use 30-06 or 7.62x51, then researched using the 300 Win Mag as a sniper round (later they dropped the idea due to the difficulty training marksmen due to increased recoil.).

Roughedge · December 1, 2015, 06:02 AM

I built a 308 and a 6.5x284 on LA actions so I could shoot the longer bullets and never had a problem.

DAVID NANCARROW · December 1, 2015, 08:03 AM

I feel your pain, 4040. I have a Remington Varmint Synthetic short action in 308 with the standard short action magazine which will accept and feed OALs no more than 2.840". In order to get VLDs closer to the lands, I have to set my OAL at 2.9 inches, which still leaves about .050 inch to the lands. That precludes feeding from the magazine.

Some VLD bullets and secant ogives just don't like that much of a jump. Big green puts a lot of freebore into their short action rifles as they come from the factory.

Yep, it is possible to put a 308 barrel on a long action receiver, but it might be better yet to have a new barrel installed on what you have already. The reason I say this is that you might have issues feeding factory length rounds from a long action magazine.

If you notice, some of the Savage models use a long action for 308 length cartridges, but they put a block in the back of the magazine to correctly orient the cartridge.

In reality, the reason the army went to a long action on their sniper rifles initially was because they wanted to use proven match 30/06 ammo, then found out they didn't have enough of it on hand. The 300 Win mag was also considered, but that would call for a change of bolt head, magazine and barrel.

4040peters · December 1, 2015, 10:12 AM

I never thought about solving the problem by swapping in a shorter throated barrel. Not sure if you can gain enough that way without going well below the SAAMI chamber spec to make enough of a difference and/or adversely affecting performance with shorter bullets. In any case I don't intend to make any changes at this time as I can single feed for target shooting and there are several bullets and loads that are seated at 2.810 and work acceptably well for hunting. I will make a mold of my current chamber and throat area with repro-rubber to see where things stand. In the future, I may opt for a long action with one of it's shorter offerings. I think the maximum magazine size on a long action is 3.8 inches. 30-06 and 300 Winchester MAG have a C.O.A.L. of 3.340 and the300 Remington Ultra Mag is 3.600. Lots of room to play with bullet seating depth there.

**4V50 Gary** · December 1, 2015, 11:32 AM

If nothing else, a short action follower with a wood magazine filler should make it work.

DAVID NANCARROW · December 1, 2015, 08:38 PM

If you like the accuracy of your present barrel and trust your gunsmith, have him cut off an inch of the barrel at the chamber end and rechamber the barrel with less freebore. He can and should keep it within SAAMI specs in order for you to shoot standard factory ammo, or he can go minimum spec which will give you closer tolerances, but might not accept everyone's factory ammo.

I've decided to get a custom barrel for my Varmint Synthetic, and not wanting to wait the months it will take to have it put together, I bought a Remington Long Range rifle in 30-06 for a pretty good price. Unlike the short actions, it doesn't have that long freebore and I can seat bullets close to the rifling yet still have them short enough to feed from the magazine.

Had my first-and last experience with the new and utterly unimproved Mark X trigger. Couldn't get the pull weight under 4+pounds no matter where I dialed the adjustment, so off it came and put in a Timney. Feels better than the old Walker trigger without the danger in the design, and the Walker trigger can be adjusted for a very nice pull.

T. O'Heir · December 2, 2015, 02:48 PM

"...a short action barrel..." The only part that is short or long is the receiver(that includes the mag well). A barrel is a barrel. When you're building a custom rifle you can pretty much do anything you're willing to pay for.
"...with a wood magazine filler..." Neoprene or nylon. snicker.

4040peters · December 8, 2015, 09:14 PM

Thanks for all the information. Except for bedding the scope rail and pillar bedding the action, I'm not going to make any other changes to my rifle. I intend to develop two rounds. One round that will be the most consistent that will fit the magazine for hunting and the other will be a single feed target round that will be as long as it needs to be.

DAVID NANCARROW · December 9, 2015, 06:06 AM

For feeding from the magazine, I would recommend a tangent ogive bullet-they are a lot more forgiving when it comes to bullet jump. Ive used Hornady 165 grain boat tailed soft points for a lot of years, as well as Sierra Game Kings in the same grain weight. Both of them get me under an inch at 100 yards and do the job as they should on deer and hog.

Luck to ya!

November 30, 2015, 04:19 AM	#1
4040peters Member Join Date: May 26, 2015 Location: Florida Posts: 31	Remington 700 LA/SA question Would it be feasible to rebarrel a Remington 700 LA with a short action barrel to magazine feed handloads that are too long for the SA magazine?

November 30, 2015, 03:49 PM	#2
Scorch Senior Member Join Date: February 13, 2006 Location: Washington state Posts: 15,248	Yes, it can be done. But why? Just seat your bullets deeper. __________________ Never try to educate someone who resists knowledge at all costs. But what do I know? Summit Arms Services

November 30, 2015, 05:49 PM	#3
4040peters Member Join Date: May 26, 2015 Location: Florida Posts: 31	It was just a feasibility question as some of these newer bullets like the Berger SLDs perform best seated closer to the rifling. When I start testing .308 loads for accuracy, my maximum C.O.A.L. will be .010 off the rifling not the 2.810 SAAMI dimension. My magazine is 2.840 so I'll probably have to single load most of my development rounds. Last edited by 4040peters; November 30, 2015 at 05:56 PM.

November 30, 2015, 10:32 PM	#5
Scorch Senior Member Join Date: February 13, 2006 Location: Washington state Posts: 15,248	Berger VLDs do best when seated .050"-.080" off the lands. Read about it on Berger's website. So your idea does not have much merit. The US Army chose the long action 700s for the M24 back in the 1970s so they could use 30-06 or 7.62x51, then researched using the 300 Win Mag as a sniper round (later they dropped the idea due to the difficulty training marksmen due to increased recoil.). __________________ Never try to educate someone who resists knowledge at all costs. But what do I know? Summit Arms Services Last edited by Scorch; December 1, 2015 at 10:21 PM.

December 1, 2015, 06:02 AM	#6
Roughedge Senior Member Join Date: January 24, 2011 Location: Monroe,NC Posts: 669	I built a 308 and a 6.5x284 on LA actions so I could shoot the longer bullets and never had a problem. __________________ The man that die's with the most stuff win's!

November 30, 2015, 06:26 PM	#4
jmr40 Senior Member Join Date: June 15, 2008 Location: Georgia Posts: 10,809	This was part of the rational of the military using long actions in their 308 sniper rifles. They wanted to shoot some of the longer bullets that wouldn't fit the short magazines.

December 1, 2015, 08:03 AM	#7
DAVID NANCARROW Senior Member Join Date: November 5, 2000 Location: Wyoming Posts: 1,761	I feel your pain, 4040. I have a Remington Varmint Synthetic short action in 308 with the standard short action magazine which will accept and feed OALs no more than 2.840". In order to get VLDs closer to the lands, I have to set my OAL at 2.9 inches, which still leaves about .050 inch to the lands. That precludes feeding from the magazine. Some VLD bullets and secant ogives just don't like that much of a jump. Big green puts a lot of freebore into their short action rifles as they come from the factory. Yep, it is possible to put a 308 barrel on a long action receiver, but it might be better yet to have a new barrel installed on what you have already. The reason I say this is that you might have issues feeding factory length rounds from a long action magazine. If you notice, some of the Savage models use a long action for 308 length cartridges, but they put a block in the back of the magazine to correctly orient the cartridge. In reality, the reason the army went to a long action on their sniper rifles initially was because they wanted to use proven match 30/06 ammo, then found out they didn't have enough of it on hand. The 300 Win mag was also considered, but that would call for a change of bolt head, magazine and barrel. Last edited by DAVID NANCARROW; December 1, 2015 at 08:13 AM.

December 1, 2015, 10:12 AM	#8
4040peters Member Join Date: May 26, 2015 Location: Florida Posts: 31	I never thought about solving the problem by swapping in a shorter throated barrel. Not sure if you can gain enough that way without going well below the SAAMI chamber spec to make enough of a difference and/or adversely affecting performance with shorter bullets. In any case I don't intend to make any changes at this time as I can single feed for target shooting and there are several bullets and loads that are seated at 2.810 and work acceptably well for hunting. I will make a mold of my current chamber and throat area with repro-rubber to see where things stand. In the future, I may opt for a long action with one of it's shorter offerings. I think the maximum magazine size on a long action is 3.8 inches. 30-06 and 300 Winchester MAG have a C.O.A.L. of 3.340 and the300 Remington Ultra Mag is 3.600. Lots of room to play with bullet seating depth there. Last edited by 4040peters; December 1, 2015 at 10:30 AM.

December 1, 2015, 11:32 AM	#9
4V50 Gary Staff Join Date: November 2, 1998 Location: Colorado Posts: 21,841	If nothing else, a short action follower with a wood magazine filler should make it work. __________________ Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt. *Molon Labe!*

December 1, 2015, 08:38 PM	#10
DAVID NANCARROW Senior Member Join Date: November 5, 2000 Location: Wyoming Posts: 1,761	If you like the accuracy of your present barrel and trust your gunsmith, have him cut off an inch of the barrel at the chamber end and rechamber the barrel with less freebore. He can and should keep it within SAAMI specs in order for you to shoot standard factory ammo, or he can go minimum spec which will give you closer tolerances, but might not accept everyone's factory ammo. I've decided to get a custom barrel for my Varmint Synthetic, and not wanting to wait the months it will take to have it put together, I bought a Remington Long Range rifle in 30-06 for a pretty good price. Unlike the short actions, it doesn't have that long freebore and I can seat bullets close to the rifling yet still have them short enough to feed from the magazine. Had my first-and last experience with the new and utterly unimproved Mark X trigger. Couldn't get the pull weight under 4+pounds no matter where I dialed the adjustment, so off it came and put in a Timney. Feels better than the old Walker trigger without the danger in the design, and the Walker trigger can be adjusted for a very nice pull. Last edited by DAVID NANCARROW; December 1, 2015 at 08:49 PM.

December 2, 2015, 02:48 PM	#11
T. O'Heir Senior Member Join Date: February 13, 2002 Location: Canada Posts: 12,453	"...a short action barrel..." The only part that is short or long is the receiver(that includes the mag well). A barrel is a barrel. When you're building a custom rifle you can pretty much do anything you're willing to pay for. "...with a wood magazine filler..." Neoprene or nylon. snicker. __________________ Spelling and grammar count!

December 8, 2015, 09:14 PM	#12
4040peters Member Join Date: May 26, 2015 Location: Florida Posts: 31	Thanks for all the information. Except for bedding the scope rail and pillar bedding the action, I'm not going to make any other changes to my rifle. I intend to develop two rounds. One round that will be the most consistent that will fit the magazine for hunting and the other will be a single feed target round that will be as long as it needs to be.

December 9, 2015, 06:06 AM	#13
DAVID NANCARROW Senior Member Join Date: November 5, 2000 Location: Wyoming Posts: 1,761	For feeding from the magazine, I would recommend a tangent ogive bullet-they are a lot more forgiving when it comes to bullet jump. Ive used Hornady 165 grain boat tailed soft points for a lot of years, as well as Sierra Game Kings in the same grain weight. Both of them get me under an inch at 100 yards and do the job as they should on deer and hog. Luck to ya!