Long vs. short action

[mrugly]

Just curious as to benefit of one over the other. I have heard that short actions are move accurate because shorter is stiffer, and that they possibly have a faster lock time. Seems like a long action would be more versatile though. My interest is a rifle that is capable of taking elk, as well as for punching paper. I'm thinking .260 as a minimum and more realistically 6.5x55 or .280 with recoil being the concern on the last two.

 

[JDJones]

the only way you would be able to tell the differance in accuracy due to one being stiffer than the other would be to have them both fired from a machine rest, as shoulder fired weapon you'll never see it. The lock time on the SA may be slightly faster due to the firing pin assembly being lighter and that can be fixed with an after market pin and spring.
For a true SA round like the 308's and smaller I'd go with the SA but for things like the 6mmRem and the 6.5-284 you way better off using a LA as the bullets will have to be seated very deep in the case.

For an Elk gun and long range paper punching the 280 Ackley is a hell of a round as it can be handloaded to run with the 7mm Rem mag factory loads. hand laoeded with 180gr Berger VLD's its accurate to 1500yds easly if its built right. With a well desgined stock and good recoil pad the recoil from a 280 Ackley if very managable.

 

[mrugly]

Wouldnt the 7mm WSM then be a viable contender vs. the .280 AI? And the issue of a ADL vs. a box feed type action?

 

[BillK]

mrugly-The 7wsm is a great round!!! I shoot 180 grain Bergers at a little over 3100 fps!!!

 

[sbisch]

I have a factory Rem M700 7mm SAUM and a factory Rem M700 .280,both in pillar bedded stocks and after market triggers installed). The 7mm SAUM is a short action and the .280 is obviously a long action. In a factory rifle, I doubt that you will see any real accuracy adavantage attributable to the short action if you're talking about similar cartridges. I haven't seen it in my rifles. Both seem to shoot about the same, probably averaging a little better than 1 MOA, but occassionally shooting a frustrating 1.4 or 1.6 MOA.,I'm sure it's not the shooter's fault!)

I have shot 6 or 8 elk with the .280,2 at fairly long range), and it does the job very well with the right bullet and a good hit. I've had great results with Nosler Accubond bullets on elk, both 140 gr. and 160 gr. Recoil of the .280 definitely manageable. The reason I switched from a .300 Win Mag to .280 for elk hunting was for the reduced recoil. Although recoil is only an issue on the bench!

 

[mrugly]

Thanks for the feedback. I suppose what I'm looking for is the most accurate real-world rifle possible, not a dedicated bench gun, but a 3 position rifle to hunt with and compete in perhaps hunter bench-rest, silhouette and other events. I'm not a games-man and am not necessarily interested in being at the forefront of the competition at the expense of a "practical" rifle. I also want a rifle that I can easily shoot a lot which is why Im considering the .260. The 7mm is of more interest than the 6.5 because of the wider range of bullet weights. Can the 7mm WSM be loaded down to lower velosities of say 2700-2900 fps with 140-160gr. bullets?

 

[olympian]

The 6.5x55 is hard to beat for someone who does not want a lot of recoil and willing to carry a long action. The bullet selection is quite good; the Swede can be loaded on the hot end of the scale in a "modern" action with Lapua brass and on the light end if desired. The magnum numbers often do not out weigh the pounding you get considering the real world benefits. If you want a magnum, they by all means get one but you are not likely to want to shoot it as much as a non-magnum. To me, shooting = fun.

 

[4bycamper]

The 7mm is of more interest than the 6.5 because of the wider range of bullet weights. Can the 7mm WSM be loaded down to lower velocities of say 2700-2900 fps with 140-160gr. bullets?

I'm still loading my 7mm wsm down to 2700 or so for 100 yd targets. With Siera's 160 gr, I can get ".40" 3-shot groups this way,when I do my part).
The brass seems much happier this way also. Some of my Win WSM
brass is on its' 6th loading. When I load these to 3035 fps I can only get 3 loadings.

Oh, I forgot to mention all this shooting is done with a 7 lb. hunting rifle...Winchester 70 completely original.

Al