M14 Forum

82nd ABN

I have a early 80's vintage long action in 30-06. I want to build it into a nice long range rifle. What if any calibers does the action support aside from 30-06, if any?

JD Russell

.25-06 up to belted magnums.....

Bamban

Warren,

That would be a nice project.

If I were doing one I would take a look at the excellent bullets these days not available even just 10 years ago. For a long time the 7mm variety took a back seat to the 6.5 for long range till Berger came up with the 7mm 180 VLD. The 180 VLD prompted lots of long range shooters and long range hunters to consider this sleek high BC slug. Just food for thought when you select the cartridge.

I toyed with the idea of re-barreling my old Howa 270 with a 280 Ackley throated for the 180 VLD.

Here is a thought. Maybe we can split the cost of a custom reamer from Dave Kiff.

Keep us posted.

bd111

German Salazar's articles on the very subject will tell you everything you wanted to know. www.riflemansjournal.blogspot.com

You could open up the boltface for a belted magnum, but I wouldn't mess with that, not with the powders and bullets available nowadays for 7 mm and 6.5 mm. Think truing, trigger (Anchutz 54 match trigger easily adapted), and barreling + the sighting system you want.

cfl18

I made mine into a long action .308

losok

Why change caliber, just get a better 30-06 barrel. With proper powder/bullet combos you get a rifle than can hit hard at 1500M and also one that can kill groundhogs with 110gr bullets. The 30-06 is the ultimate jack of all trades round. PM me if you want some load suggestions.

Bamban

Though I would love to have a 280 AI, Losok has a good point, his 210 VLD load should do just about anything you want. I shoot the 210s at a mild load of 2900 out of my AI AW and the 06 should come close to that with the right barrel and length and powder.

cfl18

I agree with losok, but I don't reload so other calibers are cheaper to shoot that's why I went to .3o8 My was a 270 neck down 30.06

Beavis1971

6.5/06 It would be a 260 Rem on steroids.

MFD

Shot Long Range for some 30 yrs and always stuck with the 308(Palma Matches require that caliber) but the "darling" of long range shooters for non Palma is the 6.5/284 round.
As mentioned there are some 7mm that do very well also, but based on your action selection the 6.5/284 is a very good round overall. Don't believe you would have to do any mods to the bolt face, .473 diameter as '06,308, etc. Brass is not scarce now as it once was and the Sierra 142 MK's are excellent and not that expensive compared to others. Again, I would not dismiss the '06 for compenents/ammo very easy to come by and not overly expensive. Can well remember several years ago we used to say that for every shot of 308 down range, there went a quarter. Now even with reloading it is near 3 times that, so exotic rounds, magnums, etc. can get a bit pricey.
As for magnum calibers, I have used the 300WinMag fair amount and it is an excellent 1000yd arrangement. Neither round has as good as barrel life as the 308, but not a deal killer. Me, too old to change now and will stick with the lowly 308

wbm

.284

82nd ABN

Thank you all very much for your assistance. I was not sure where the build would take me. A friend I have know since 1974 had this rifle stashed away in his attic. We each bought a rifle around the same time in 1980. He got the 700 and I got a Ruger M77. My M77 looks like it did the day it came out of the box, however he left his in his case in the attic for a very long time and it pitted pretty bad. The receiver is salvageable but the barrel is pretty bad. Still has a very shiny bore and I know the rifle would work but it is screaming rebuild. I have decided to keep it simple and stick with -06 round. I will eventually get a barrel on order from Krieger just not sure what contour yet. I would like a heavier barrel yet maybe something that still has a contour. Not 100% sure yet.
On was thinking about dropping it into one of JAE's new 700 stocks but after talking to Lisa, she explained that there are no mags yet for the long action. Kind of puzzles me how they can offer the stock in long action but not have any mags that work. I have several Mcmillan stocks so I may stick with what I know but not counting anything out yet. I do however want to convert it to use box magazines. I wont be using any sights, it will be yet another scoped rifle. Seems like a much easier project than an M14 considering the limited number of parts needed. Seems like just the basics, lol, good trigger and barrel. I will probably have krieger screw the barrel on considering all my tools are for the 14 but that might change as well. All I would need is a set of bushing and a different action wrench.

Nez will I need to modify the bolt if I went with 7MM?

losok

I would look at the 208 amax, 210 Berger(VLD and NON VLD), the 220 match king, 165 and 180 cutting edge bullets(copper solids), and last but not least the Speer 180 BTSP, it has a BC of .540 and is dirt cheep. You can launch the 165s over 3000FPS with 22 inch nitrided barrel and the 180s at 2900 or so. The heavier stuff can be pushed nearly as fast. I have easily gotten 2750 with the 208-220 from 22 inch barrels, and 2800 with 24s. All of these will be supersonic to well over 1000 yards, and many of them to 1500 or more. I am crunching some numbers tonight on the new 225BTHP from Hornady, I need to try it the BC on it is testing out close to .7 in real life shooting. If that is the case its a 1700 yard supersonic bullet in 30-06 launched at 2700(easy to get) at sea level.

BDH

Better yet, turn it into a tube gun. Gary Eliseo makes a wonderful stock for a Remington action. http://www.competitionshootingstuff.com/

With your skills, this should be fun! (and cheaper than an AI stock)

Bruce

82nd ABN

losok thanks for the suggestions on bullets, I will definitely take those into consideration. Please keep us posted on your findings.

BDH those are some interesting looking rifles.