Rem 700 long vs short action

[Axkiker]

Well I got suckered into building a rifle for vintage Sniper matches. A new division allows any year of rem 700;s to be used as long as they are in .308. Well I have a long action ADL hanging out I got cheap so thought why not see what I can do with it.

Seems I see people are running short action cartridges in long action 700's. Any issues to be aware of? Good idea or bad ??? The stock it has is crap so I'll be buying new. Most custom"ish" stocks out there are for BDL rifles. Much headache converting an ADL action over to a BDL ? I will probably single feed so it wouldn't hurt my feelings to not even have the magazine for a BLD but I think I have to run BDL trigger guard / metal for it to mount to a BDL stock. So I'm not sure I Can get away without.

Anyways just curious if this is just dumb and get a short action 700 or see what I can do. Whatever I get will be built from a receiver on So I'm not worried about what I Can find out of box etc.

[1Holeshot]

With the Remington long action you can seat bullets further out i.e. Longer overall length. This often allows greater accuracy and the oal will still fit the in the action.

Hopefully someone who is a gunsmith will post and explain the options better than me.

[Transom]

I do not think I have ever owned a short action bolt gun. Everything I want them chambered in requires a ling action.

[crank68]

I think a long is like 7 3/8 or 7 1/2 a short is 6 1/2 so a .223, .308, 6.5, etc would be short and a 30-06, .270, 7mm, etc would be long. Some run shorts in longs due to overall cartridge lengths…

[1Holeshot]

I think a long is like 7 3/8 or 7 1/2 a short is 6 1/2 so a .223, .308, 6.5, etc would be short and a 30-06, .270, 7mm, etc would be long. Some run shorts in longs due to overall cartridge lengths…

Good explanation. I had a Remington 700 in 7MM-08 and my most accurate hand loads were too long to fit in the magazine box.

This makes it a single shot when using ammo with projectile seated further out than normal.

[Skeet'r89]

I think the only major difference between the ADL and the BDL is that the BDL has a flip door mag release. The ADL did not have the trap door. Yes it may have had a plastic trigger guard but there was no other difference.

So I am guessing that you are going to have the long action rebarreled to 308? Are you going to a varmit weight barrel? What lenght?

[Axkiker]

I think the only major difference between the ADL and the BDL is that the BDL has a flip door mag release. The ADL did not have the trap door. Yes it may have had a plastic trigger guard but there was no other difference.

So I am guessing that you are going to have the long action rebarreled to 308? Are you going to a varmit weight barrel? What lenght?

Yup just gotta order the barrel and get to cutting. Length 24" and .850 at muzzle.

[1Holeshot]

Yup just gotta order the barrel and get to cutting. Length 24" and .850 at muzzle.

I think you will love the .308 and this is from a guy who used 30-06 for many years before going to .270 Win. and .280 Rem.

My favorite deer rifle now is a Kimber 84M in .308 Win. Old as I am that light weight little bugger is the cats meow.

[EKYRanger]

HS Precision makes a nice stock for the ADL.