Short BoltActions

Making aCase for a

Short Throw

Rifle 27444 www.riflemagazine.com

John Barsness

In the early twentieth century,shooters weren’t obsessed withbolt actions precisely fitting theircartridges. The rifle now known

as the pre-1964 Model 70 Winchesteris a perfect example. Only one size of the pre-’64 action was produced,but with modifications to the maga-zine it accommodated cartridges asshort as the .22 Hornet and .250 Sav-age and as long as the .300 and .375H&H. Today, however, it’s a minor bal-listic sin to have too much actionaround smaller cartridges, and weighthas also become a factor, since afterabout 1980 it apparently become ex-tremely difficult to lift hunting rifles.

Remington Model 700, Ruger Model 77 or WinchesterModel 70 should flex less than their long versions, reducing barrel vibrations. Thus, anybody wanting a really accurate rifle should use a short action and a shorter, smaller-caliber cartridge, since they’re “in-herently” accurate and also recoil less. (Many twenty-first-century shooters have rediscovered a basicprinciple of riflery: Not getting the snot kicked out ofus results in more accurate shooting. Apparently thislesson has to be relearned by every generation.)

Just exactly what is a “short” bolt action? While somewere made long before World War II (the kurzMausersand Savage Model 20 come immediately to mind), thearchetype for the present definition appeared in 1948.

From 1920 until early in the war, Remington’s com-mercial bolt-action centerfires were based on the1914/1917 Enfield action, which required extensiveand expensive machining. Like other manufacturers,when America entered the war, Remington switchedto making military equipment, in the process acquiringa bunch of new machinery and learning how to up pro-duction rates at lower costs.

After the war the company decided to design a newbolt action that would be easier and cheaper to make than the Enfield-based Models 30 and 720. It appeared with two model names, 721 for longer car-tridges and 722 for shorter cartridges; the actions areexactly the same except for length. Though obviouslymore cheaply made than the 30 and 720, the new rifleswere still very accurate, thanks in part to a quickermethod of rifling barrels, accomplished by pulling a “button” through the reamed bore. Before then all rifling had been cut, in sporting rifles usually onegroove at a time. But the floorplate was a fixed stamp-ing of sheet steel, and the stocks of the basic modelsweren’t checkered.

As a result, the 721 and 722 retailed for about two-thirds the price of Winchester’s 12-year-old Model 70.American rifle snobs considered the 70 the very bestbolt action ever made, but in 1950 the average house-

The reason for this obsession with inches andounces is the availability of dozens of “short” bolt ac-tions, and they also feed our obsession with accuracy.Theoretically, shorter actions are stiffer, so a short

45www.riflemagazine.com

In 1948, when the Remington 722 .257 Roberts appeared, hunters wore red plaid and huntingknives wore leather. Below, the Remington 722 action (bottom) eventually became the Remington700 short action (top), probably the most popular short bolt action ever made.

hold income in the U.S. was a little under $5,000,around $45,000 in today’s money. The difference inprice between the Remington and Winchester was athird of a month’s income. Consequently, a lot ofAmericans bought Remingtons, especially the plainestmodels.

The 721 was originally chambered for the .270 Win-chester, .30-06 and .300 Holland & Holland, while the722 was chambered in .257 Roberts and .300 Savage.At the time the .257 was the longest “short” cartridgefactory loaded in America, with a maximum SAAMIlength of 2.78 inches, so Remington made the 722’smagazine box just slightly longer. (SAAMI, the Sport-ing Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute,was established in the 1920s, mostly to make sure all factory ammunition worked in all factory rifles.) I also suspect Mike Walker, the principal designer of the 721/722 action, was already thinking of a new.22-caliber centerfire cartridge that would functionhandily in the shorter action. His other brainchild, the.222 Remington, appeared in 1950, only two years afterthe 722.

Short Bolt Actions

Benchrest gunsmiths often “sleeve” short Remington 700 actions to make them stiffer.

The “cheap” Remington 788 has a reputation for being veryaccurate, partly because the small ejection slot makes theshort action very stiff.

46 www.riflemagazine.com

but Remington’s popular postwarrifles firmly established the lengthof short-action magazines at 2.8inches, where it remains over 70years later.

In 1962 Remington decided todress up its cheap rifle, calling itthe Model 700 and dropping sepa-rate model designations for actionlengths. This helped kill off thepre-’64 Model 70, and the 700 soonbecame the best-selling centerfirerifle in America.

For many years we’ve been toldRemington 700 actions are stifferbecause they’re round, one of sev-eral reasons they’re more accurate

than older “square” actions, likethe Model 70. This isn’t exactly so,because of the major cut-out inthe bottom of the action for themagazine box. Stuart Ottesonpoints this out in his fine book TheBolt-Action – A Design Analysis.On page 100 of my copy there’s adrawing of the smallest cross-sec-tional area of the Remington 700,pre-’64 Model 70 and Remington40-XB actions. The 700’s cross-section is by far the smallest of thethree, the reason gunsmiths whobuild benchrest rifles on shortRemington 700 actions usually gluean aluminum “sleeve” around theaction.

The round shape of a Remington700 receiver does affect accuracy,but in a different way than stan-dard theory suggests. In 1998 a remarkable book entitled RifleAccuracy Facts appeared, writtenby Harold R. Vaughan, a WorldWar II fighter pilot and, after thewar, one of the top aeronautics en-gineers in the world, among other

jobs working for NASA. Aside frombeing a world-renowned scientist,Vaughan was a rifle loony andused his science background to investigate factors in accuracy,choosing a Remington 721 cham-bered in .270 Winchester.

Among dozens of experiments,Vaughan used extremely sensitivestrain gauges to measure the “mo-ment” in the front receiver ringwhen the 721 was fired and vari-ous parts of the ring compressedand expanded. In this context “mo-ment” basically means momentarymovement, and since the front re-ceiver ring holds the barrel, itsmoment directly affects accuracy.

Vaughan discovered most of thereceiver’s moment occurs “betweenthe rear face of the bolt lugs and therear face of the barrel.” The biggestcause was the recoil lug: When re-coil slammed the barreled actionbackward in the stock, the lug acted

Short actions are supposedly muchligher than longer models. In reality,the difference isn’t much; this Kimberwould weigh around 6 pounds, 8ounces with the same stock and barreland a long action.

Before 1948 most centerfire bolt-action rifles had magazine boxesaround 3.3 inches long, thanks tothe 8x57 Mauser and .30-06. Aswith the pre-’64 Model 70, thesewere often modified to accommo-date shorter and longer cartridges,

May-June 2014 47www.riflemagazine.com

like a lever on the bottom of theaction, flipping the muzzle upward.Vaughan built what he called a“Recoil Isolater,” a sophisticatedshock absorber that delayed theeffects of recoil on the lug untilafter the bullet left the muzzle.

After installing the Recoil Isolater,however, Vaughan discovered someup-and-down moment was also created by the front receiver ring’s

“asymmetry.” The theoreticallyround ring still bent slightly duringfiring, due to having a .25-inchhole for the front action screw inthe bottom but only a pair of smallscope-mount holes in the top.

Vaughan made several modifica-tions to the receiver ring, includ-ing drilling another large hole inthe top to “balance” the action-screw hole in the bottom. This

further reduced the up-and-downmoment, but his strain gauges thenfound a slight sideways moment.Vaughan pinpointed the cause asthe gas vent hole in the side of the ring, so drilled another hole ofthe same size on the opposite side.The action ended up with only atiny amount of moment comparedto the unmodified action.

Like many of Vaughan’s experi-

Some short-action magazines, like the detachable model onthis Ruger American .308 Winchester, are longer than 2.8inches, providing a little leeway to handloaders.

Some recent “accuracy” cartridges, such as the 6.5 Creed-moor, are specifically designed to provide a little more roomfor bullet seating in short magazines. Overall cartridgelength is considerably shorter than the .257 Roberts.

Rifle 27448 www.riflemagazine.com

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ments on the 721, his results con-tradict a lot of theory from ac -curacy gunsmiths and indicate ashort action probably doesn’t have

by modifications to the recoil lugbedding and the front receiverring itself.

Some of my own far more lim-ited shooting also contradicts theshort-action theory of accuracy. In 2001 a heavy-barreled, short-action Remington 700 in .223 Rem-ington was purchased at a localstore. The rifle was “accurized” tothe extent of my modest abilityand the trigger adjusted to a 1.5-pound pull. When relatively new,the rifle averaged .25 inch for five-shot groups at 100 yards, usingNosler 50-grain Ballistic Tips sortedwith a Juenke Internal Bullet Con-centricity Comparator, loaded inuniformed brass with ReddingCompetition dies. A 6-24x scopeand the use of wind flags even oncalm mornings also helped. Todaythe barrel’s shot a few thousandmore rounds, mostly at prairie dogs,but still averages around .5 inchwith most ammunition.

A decade later I bought a used“heavy varmint” benchrest rifle in6mm PPC made on a sleeved Rem-ington 700 short action by Helena,Montana, gunsmith and benchrestshooter Arnold Erhardt. With a4.5-30x Bushnell 6500 Elite scope,it weighs almost two pounds morethan the .223 Remington, partlybecause the Hart barrel measures.950 inch at the muzzle versus the.870 of the .223’s barrel. After quitea bit of experimenting with vari-ous powders and bullets, its bestload uses Berger 65-grain bullets,with five-shot groups averaging.18 inch at 100 yards.

Is the .07-inch difference betweenthe .223’s and 6mm PPC’s most ac-curate groups due to the sleevingof the action? Or is it due to the6mm PPC cartridge, heavier Hartbarrel, two extra pounds of rifleweight or 2-ounce trigger?

I don’t know, but do own anothervery accurate small-caliber riflebuilt on a Remington 700 actionwith a Brux barrel measuring .675inch at the muzzle, chambered forthe .22/6mm Remington wildcat.Its most accurate load uses Berger80-grain VLDs, and five-shot groups

nearly as much effect on receivermoment as other factors. Remem-ber, Vaughan’s rifle was a long-action 721, and he was able to al-most eliminate receiver moment

May-June 2014 49www.riflemagazine.com

average about .35 inch. It’s a poundlighter than the .223 Remington,and the scope is a 3-15x WeaverSuper Slam, but I haven’t botheredto “uniform” cases like I did withthe .223 and 6mm PPC, becausethe rifle’s meant for shooting ani-mals from 30 pounds up, not prairiedogs or paper.

With worked-over cases and ahigher magnification scope, I betthe .22/6mm would group into .25inch, or close to it, but it’s built ona long Remington 700 action, be-cause rounds loaded with the long80-grain Bergers won’t fit in a 2.8-inch magazine. (By the way, thecartridges feed perfectly throughthe half-inch of unused air-spacein the front of the magazine.)

Short Remington 700 actions doweigh three ounces less than long 700 actions. This might makea difference in benchrest shoot-ing, where rifles must conform to weight limits, but doesn’t makeany practical difference otherwise.However, the bolt of a short 700action is almost an inch shorterthan a long-action bolt, and thedifference can affect shooterswho might also be termed “short.”

I know a woman who’s barely fivefeet tall. Her much taller husbandinsisted she use a long-action .270Winchester for hunting elk andthoughtfully had the stock cutdown to fit her. She had to pull her head back when working thebolt, because otherwise it wouldpunch her in the cheek. She nowhas a short-action 7mm-08 Rem-ington, an ex-husband and is muchhappier.

Eventually 2.8-inch magazines be-came too short to accommodatesome of the longer, sleeker bulletsmany of today’s shooters prefer. Incases based on the .308 Winches-ter, the rear of these bullets’ ogivesended up behind the case mouthand the front of the ogive far fromthe lands. Thus the Remington 722is the reason, 70+ years later, forcartridges such as the 6x47 Lapua,6XC and 6.5 Creedmoor. All havepowder capacities similar to the.243 Winchester and .260 Reming-

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May-June 2014 75www.riflemagazine.com

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ton, both based on the necked-down .308 Winchester case butleave enough space in the frontend of a 2.8-inch magazine to usevery long bullets – and also enoughto “chase the lands” by seating bul-lets farther out as throats erode.

Of course, today some actionsare also slightly longer for muchthe same reason. The New UltraLight Arms Model 20 has a 3-inchmagazine, and the “short” Montana1999 (a Mauser 98/Model 70 hybrid),a 3.1-inch magazine. You can alsopurchase custom mag azines andfit them to standard actions. Butby and large, the 2.8-inch maga-zine is now the length for shortbolt actions. Oh, it’s been extendedslightly in some factory actions,notably for the Winchester ShortMagnums, but most short cartridgeswork fine in the standard length.

Any company introducing a bolt-action rifle today almost has tochamber it for eight rounds, the.223 Remington, .22-250 Reming-ton, .243 Winchester, .270 Winches-ter, 7mm Remington Magnum, .308Winchester, .30-06 and .300 Win-chester Magnum. Half are short-action rounds. The .25-06 Reming -ton, 7mm-08 Remington, .300 Win-chester Short Magnum and .338Winchester Magnum are semireg-ulars, and again half are for shortactions. While most shooters con-sider the .300 WSM an ultra-mod-ern, twenty-first-century cartridge,its prototype appeared shortly afterthe Remington 722 action, when acouple of wildcatters turned therim off .348 Winchester cases, thennecked them down and blew themout to create stumpy “magnums”to fit the new Remington rifle.

The 2.8-inch magazine isn’t nec-essary, but it’s not going anywhereeither and originated due to themaximum length of factory .257Roberts ammunition. While manyshooters still argue about the rightlength for .257 cartridges, thereisn’t any realistic argument overshort bolt actions. They’re here tostay.

(Continued from page 49)

R