308 LA
- Thread starter Cade
- Start date
I can't think of any advantage and can think of several disadvantages such as longer bolt throw than necessary, mag might not feed the rounds as well...etc. If I were you, I do one of two things. 1. Rebarrel it in 30-06 and shoot your old loads. 2. Rebarrel to something cool like 280 Ackley, 6.5x284, 6.5x55 Swede and enjoy the ballistic advantages you gain.
Provided you have the barrel throat cut to the optimal length for your 185g bullets you can enjoy the benefit of seating the bearing surface of the bullet above the neck shoulder junction of the case, thus avoiding any doughnut issues that may occur with your brass. This has the added benefit of increasing your available case capacity and will allow you to increase the velocity for your chosen bullet, or if you prefer, to shoot it at lower pressures for increased case life. Best of all the long action will let you do all of this and still feed your rounds from the magazine. There is an abundance of load data on her for .308's and 185 Berger Juggernauts using longer than factory throats. The old 308 is still capable of excellent long and short range performance especially when set up to run at longer lengths.
I see the long action as an advantage. With the proper throat length for 185's, I can eject a loaded Juggernaut but not a Hybrid at their best seating depth, from my medium length port. I don't think feeding from the mag should be a problem.
DirtySteve
Gold $$ Contributor
With a long action you could load 210 grain Berger VLDs. If the chamber is cut for them to be seated out long it will give you more room for powder. I would recommend a 1 in 10 twist for these or the 185's.
I think that to really hot rod a 308, a long action would work fine. I have a 308 built on a Remington short action , with a Krieger 10 twist that I shoot 208 Amaxes with CFE 223 powder. . I file down the tips of the bullets in the clip as they are a little long for the clip in my Manners bottom metal , but those are my back up shots that I rarely use as it will kill flies at 100 yards.
A long action should allow use of heavy bullets loaded long to get maximal performance out of a 308.I stuck with my short action as it was my first center fire rifle bought when I was a teenager, from Tony's H&T Sporting Goods , Longview, Texas about 1966.There are lots of other ways to skin a cat , but I love my 308.
A long action should allow use of heavy bullets loaded long to get maximal performance out of a 308.I stuck with my short action as it was my first center fire rifle bought when I was a teenager, from Tony's H&T Sporting Goods , Longview, Texas about 1966.There are lots of other ways to skin a cat , but I love my 308.
I use 185 VLDs in my SA Rem 700/308. They are long and must be fed single and they will not eject from the action as a loaded round, the bolt must be removed. It isn't a problem for me as for it's use, single feed works fine. The long action would be handier if primarily using long loaded rounds vs saami rounds.
My Palma Rifle is a 700 LA. No complaints
200 20x bullets as well... benefit..
If I had a long action though, id jump to a more fun caliber like what was said above. 280 Ackley, 6.5-280 Ackley, 284 win or varient, etc etc.
If your not shooting FTR a 308 honestly sucks imo. Its a specific reason cartridge to me. 7mm08 blows away 308 ballistics.. if it wasnt for FTR the 308s only leg to stand on is its an old military round, thats over rated and only made popular by sniper wanna-be's.
If I had a long action though, id jump to a more fun caliber like what was said above. 280 Ackley, 6.5-280 Ackley, 284 win or varient, etc etc.
If your not shooting FTR a 308 honestly sucks imo. Its a specific reason cartridge to me. 7mm08 blows away 308 ballistics.. if it wasnt for FTR the 308s only leg to stand on is its an old military round, thats over rated and only made popular by sniper wanna-be's.
nicholst55
Brass Whore
A good friend had a LA .308 that he shot High Power with. He experienced feeding problems severe enough that he switched to a short action. It's been a long time ago, and I don't recall all of the details.
If feeding was a concern to me, I would try it in that rifle by either getting a 308 dummy round or removing the cocking piece from the bolt a using some factory ammo. I'm not sure how far a 308 will go into an '06 chamber but depending on the chamber tolerances, I would bet it would go far enough to validate feeding.
nicholst55, you don't specify what action was the feed problem. There could be more than one reason why that rifle wouldn't feed.
Snipper338, I'll have to disagree with your admonishment of the 308. We all have our preferences. The 308 is one of the friendliest cartridges to get a good load for. For a rifle to just shoot a lot, the 308 provides much greater accurate barrel life than your suggestions. I have 4 308's and a 7-08. I have had other 308's and several other 7-08's which has become my favorite hunting rifle cartridge. Yes, I have had 280's and 6.5's but for a general purpose rifle cartridge for someone who just wants an easy cartridge to load and shoot, it's tough to beat a 308.
nicholst55, you don't specify what action was the feed problem. There could be more than one reason why that rifle wouldn't feed.
Snipper338, I'll have to disagree with your admonishment of the 308. We all have our preferences. The 308 is one of the friendliest cartridges to get a good load for. For a rifle to just shoot a lot, the 308 provides much greater accurate barrel life than your suggestions. I have 4 308's and a 7-08. I have had other 308's and several other 7-08's which has become my favorite hunting rifle cartridge. Yes, I have had 280's and 6.5's but for a general purpose rifle cartridge for someone who just wants an easy cartridge to load and shoot, it's tough to beat a 308.
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carlsbad
Lions don't lose sleep over the opinions of sheep.
My 308 is SA because I single feed it. My rounds would not fit in an SA Mag. If you plan to mag feed 185s and above, and don't want to be cramped with your bullets shoved way too deep, then build it on a long action. Feeds fine out of a 30-06 mag.
For twist the longest heaviest bullets now want a 1x8 twist. 185s shoot fine in a 1x10 twist...just look at the recommended twist from the bullet manufacturer you intend to use.
For twist the longest heaviest bullets now want a 1x8 twist. 185s shoot fine in a 1x10 twist...just look at the recommended twist from the bullet manufacturer you intend to use.
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Same for me.
Remmy 700 LR in 30/06 to switch over to 308 Winchester,,, that way all 3 of my rifles will have 1 cartridge.
The Remmy bottom feed and bolt face remains the same.
Our gun Smith has done a few of them over the years.
The benefit is being able to seat the bullets closer to the lands.
178 Hornady or 185 Juggernauts.
Remmy 700 LR in 30/06 to switch over to 308 Winchester,,, that way all 3 of my rifles will have 1 cartridge.
The Remmy bottom feed and bolt face remains the same.
Our gun Smith has done a few of them over the years.
The benefit is being able to seat the bullets closer to the lands.
178 Hornady or 185 Juggernauts.
I've thought long that the problem with most 308's is the 2.800" max OL limit because of magazine length calls it just a little bit too close. That's why the Army model has a 30-06 magazine length, which pretty much says it should have been that all along for all bolt actions and that the 2.800" idea was for M-14's, just to keep it from being called an M1 Runt or something else to challenge the morale of the ordinary GI.
Steyr Pro Hunter 308 pictured can shoot a 190 Nosler Custom Competition from .020" off the lands with an OL of 2.861" and still have 3/16ths" of air space past the nose of the bullet. Longer than normal magazine. Pictured is four at 400 yards this morning with 175 MatchKings and a close to max charge of IMR 8208 XBR.
The first two made the one mark on the right, then the middle mark was #2, etc.
Steyr Pro Hunter 308 pictured can shoot a 190 Nosler Custom Competition from .020" off the lands with an OL of 2.861" and still have 3/16ths" of air space past the nose of the bullet. Longer than normal magazine. Pictured is four at 400 yards this morning with 175 MatchKings and a close to max charge of IMR 8208 XBR.
The first two made the one mark on the right, then the middle mark was #2, etc.
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Kevin Taylor
Gold $$ Contributor
This was my first thought too!
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