Rem 700 in 300 winmag... caliber options? and other questions

[nra-for-life]

I have a very nice rem 700, trued, krieger, mcmillan stock, jewel trigger etc etc. It has been a great gun for me and it is a 300 win mag. I was thinking of selling though as I have grown kinda bored with the caliber... I just want to switch to something else. I am wondering what my caliber options are if I re barrel. This is a long action obviously .... but is there also a long action magnum?? Is there a guide to rem 700 actions somewhere that sort of shows what caliber would fit in what action? Specifically I would really love to leave everything the same and just re-chamber in 6.5x284? Is this possible? Thanks

 

[BigDMT]

Well you would have to buy a whole new barrel to do a 6.5-284. Plus a whole new bolt or bush the face and install a M16 or Sako extractor. It would be a lot more work and money than re-chambering to a different magnum 30 cal, but can be done.

If you wanted to keep it with the same barrel and just set back and re-chamber it to something more powerful, you should consider the 30-375 Ruger. It has more case capacity than the 300 Win Mag, but is a little shorter so bigger bullets can be seated in the magazine with more room.

Could set the barrel back and re-chamber to 300 WSM as well, but then you would have to make magazine modifications for proper feeding and you will probably only ever be able to fit 2 rounds in the bottom.

 

[nra-for-life]

Yes I would definitely replace the barrel. So is the bolt face also different? I don't want something more powerful than a 300 winmag... I want less power. Hmmm I guess what I am wondering is: Will this long action be okay for a 6.5x284? obviously I would be getting a new barrel but what else? Is the bolt face also different? Thanks.

In rem 700's is there a long action and a long action magnum? or is there just a long action? I'm a little confused on this?

 

[DCRYDER]

Remington 700's come in long and short action. Short actions can have a 223, 308, or magnum boltface. Long actions either have 30-06 or magnum boltface.

 

[BigDMT]

Yes I would definitely replace the barrel. So is the bolt face also different? I don't want something more powerful than a 300 winmag... I want less power. Hmmm I guess what I am wondering is: Will this long action be okay for a 6.5x284? obviously I would be getting a new barrel but what else? Is the bolt face also different? Thanks.

In rem 700's is there a long action and a long action magnum? or is there just a long action? I'm a little confused on this?

YES, the bolt faces of the 300 Win Wag and 284 case are different. .532" and 473" respectively.

So you would have to have a smith insert a bushing in your magnum bolt face to make it .473" and install a sako or M16 extractor. You cannot bush the bolt face with paying to have the extractor installed.

As far as the magazine goes, you shouldn't have to make any changes. It will actually be better because it will give you more room in the magazine to seat long heavy VLD style bullets out to the lands if you want.

If you don't want to change the bolt face, there are many magnum faced 6.5mm options.
6.5-300 WSM
6.5 SAUM
6.5 Rem Mag
264 Win Mag
6.5 Extreme (6.5-300 Compact Magnum)
etc....

PS: Pretty much all those rounds listed above will beat out the 6.5-284 on speeds with any bullet weight in identical barrel lengths.

 

[Preacher]

Use the bolt you have with a 7mm SAUM chambering..
The 6.5x284 will have you buying a new bolt, or bushing the one you have..

 

[VaniB]

Or....you can keep it simple and change it to a 7mmMag. This way your existing factory bolt face and magazine box/follower are ready to go. The .284 caliber bullets have some of the most impressive ballistics, besting even those of your current .308 cal 300Mag, while producing less punishing recoil too. Of course, whether you switched to a 7mmMag, kept your 300Win, or entirely changed your bolt face and went to a new cartridge, you can always put a muzzle brake on your barrel to tame it considerably. Daryl Holland can put his very effective "quick discharge" muzzle brake onto your barrel without having to remove the barrel from the action. Just a simpler avenue or two you can consider before doing a complete overhaul to everything in your current action.

 

[nra-for-life]

Hmmm. I really want a 6.5x284. I've never owned one. On paper it looks fantastic... Lapua brass and is available for it. Lots of guys have developed accurate load data for it already and it seems as though it has a fairly tame recoil. I guess I'll need a new bolt but it is only $135 from ptg for a two piece bolt... That seems like a very fair price. I know there are lots of good calibers but to me it seems like 6.5x284 is hard to beat. All things being equal I'll take a caliber that lapua makes brass for.

It says on the article here on the accurateshooter.com website that a gunsmith should measure the action to give ptg the correct dimensions for a new ptg bolt. Hmmm seems like a fairly simple task to just measure the existing bolt that I have with a caliper??? Am I missing something here? Perhaps I will see if I can get Dave Kiff on the phone and ask him about it tomorrow. One thing I love about ordering from ptg is that Dave Kiff himself actually will answer questions and is available to speak to people on the phone.

I'm kind of a wimp I guess in terms of recoil. I always put brakes on my rifles. Even softer hitting calibers like 223. I feel like it helps me to be able to focus on a clean trigger pull off I don't have s big punch to worry about.

 

[wwbrown]

If you want the 6.5 x 284 order a new bolt from PT&G, if I have questions about any of their products I always just talk to Dave Kiff, I would either go with the mini M16 or factory style extractor. While on the phone with Dave you could tell him about bullet you want to shoot and whether you want to turn your neck and he can spec a reamer for you and may have it right on the shelf. You do not need to order a reamer for such a popular caliber as many gunsmiths will have a 6.5 x 284 reamer on hand, but if do order your own reamer it will be specc'ed for what you want.

When you order the bolt also order a barrel blank in 6.5 mm in the contour you want from one the barrel manufactures, or got to bugholes.com and check his inventory you may find a 6.5 mm in the correct contour as Jay has quite a stock in barrel.

When you have the reamer, barrel and bolt in hand take or ship the rifle new bolt and barrel blank to him for installing and chambering the barrel. When you get it back enjoy the fine-shooting gun you have that has much less recoil than it originally did.